CHAPTER ONE: The Return of Gossip Girl
"Students, I expect you to be responsible and exemplary young adults this summer. Stay productive and I'll see you all in September!" Headmistress Edison's voice rang out amongst the loud speakers of Constance Billard and St. Jude's. Generally, it went unnoticed. The uniformed heirs and heiresses were all buzzing around the hallways, desperate to begin their summer vacation. They all seemed to be raving about different summer plans. Everyone, down to their plaid skirt or necktie, was absorbed in soaking up the sun and their newly gained freedom. That is, until the identical ring of smartphones sounded in everyone's ears. The rings were coming from every girl's phone.
Gossip Girl here. Your prayers have been answered. You begged for it, so now you've got it. Us Upper East Siders always seem to get what we want, don't you think? So, I'm back, bitches. And this time, I might decide to stay. Be careful what you wish for.
You Know You Love Me,
XOXO, Gossip Girl
Aurelia Charlotte Victoire Waldorf-Bass (known by the people around her as 'Elle') had been born into the lap of luxury, with a silver spoon in her mouth, with gold between her teeth… practically any idiom referring to a high status of effortless affluence applied to her. Her parents, Chuck and Blair Bass, had been dubbed the King and Queen of New York, which made her the one and only princess.
In her entire fifteen (almost sixteen) years of life, Elle always got what she wanted. She was a princess, after all. But when Elle saw the Gossip Girl post on her last day of school, she felt her insides curl up into a cold, tight ball in her stomach despite her initial happiness. She wasn't sure of it yet, but she had a creeping feeling that was not what she wanted.
"Elle. You okay?" The soft voice of Laney Humphrey, her best friend, hit her ears at a lowered volume. Laney soothed Elle's phone away from her hands and into her own. Elle looked down, surprised to find her hands were trembling slightly. Laney, too, had read the message. She tucked Elle's phone away, and with a worry-stricken face, grasped Elle's shaking hands in her own steady ones. Elle could feel the eyes on her, and felt tempted to shrink back under the attention for the first time in her life.
You're Elle Bass. Since when do you shy away from the light? That's right, not ever, and certainly not now. A tiny voice shouted at her from the back of her head. Within a fraction of a second, Elle willed the hand convulsions to cease and tugged her hands free of Laney's grip. A perfectly orchestrated smile graced her features and Elle brushed her plaid skirt with her now-soothed hands.
"Why wouldn't I be, D?" Elle countered back smoothly, relying on her gift of charm to complete her façade. The eyes that once peered curiously at Elle removed themselves once they caught wind of her tone. It was clear to everyone that she was fine, and Elle had everyone convinced of it too. Well, nearly everyone. Laney, her best friend since diapers, knew Elle well enough to be able to detect the miniscule flaws in her act. However, she also knew well enough to play along until she could speak to her in private.
"I don't know. Maybe you're upset you won't be able to see Headmistress Edison until fall," Laney teased, nudging her friend in the ribs with her elbow. Her playful banter was enough to throw off any lingering suspicion of Elle's previous and curious behavior. Elle breathed out a barely noticeable sigh of relief, and her feigned smile grew genuinely.
"Ah, yes. How will I go on without that beautiful smile greeting me in the hallway everyday?" Elle and Laney snickered to themselves. Headmistress Edison was notorious for having dentures (her relatively 'young' age of fifty made it even more laughable), and as well for the inability to apply lipstick without red splotches ending up on her fake teeth.
"Aw, don't worry, Elle. I don't go to college for another year," Elle flinched slightly at the smooth, teasing voice from just behind her. She twisted her head back to catch a view of the person behind her. She was greeted with an endearing smirk and light brown eyes, all framed in a tall, lean boy with dark hair.
"I don't want you to worry either, Miles- because I wasn't talking about you. The day you go to college will be a day of celebration for me," Elle snapped back with a condescending pout. A small curl of amusement on the edge of her mouth contradicted her otherwise harsh tone and expression. Eventually, she allowed the smile to take over her face. Miles chuckled quietly and shook his head.
"You never give me a break, do you? Anyways, how are you, babe?" Miles took Elle's chin between his fingers and made the motion to bring his lips against hers. Quickly, Elle jerked her chin from his grasp and rocked up on her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek instead.
"I'm great. See you at the party tonight?" Elle mustered a half-hearted smile and nodded once, almost as if she was dismissing him. His face shown over with a faint tint of rejection and disappointment, but he too managed a smile. Miles nodded in response and turned on his heel, being on his way.
"Jeez. Why didn't you just call him your brother and shake his hand while you're at it?" Elle hadn't noticed the boy standing next to Laney. It was Monty Humphrey. When most people saw Laney and Monty together, they hardly guessed that they were siblings, much less twins. Laney took after her mother, mirroring all of the socialite's features except for her dad's big brown eyes and his square jaw. Monty, on the other hand, took after his father, only inheriting his mom's lips. The only common feature that they shared was their eyes. And at the moment, two identical pairs of eyes scoured Elle for an answer. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the comment.
"I did not brother-zone him. C'mon, Mont, you know me. I just…" Elle paused for a moment, obviously struggling with her words. Finally, she settled on two simple ones. She breathed out a puff of air, followed by a dainty shrug of her shoulders. "Don't date."
"You're one to speak about zoning people. You've kept Taylor Kent on your hook for two years, Monty," Laney interjected, sending a pointed look at her twin. "You even had her doing your homework in eighth grade." Monty scoffed.
"Yeah, that was a bust. I should've realized that she was a straight-C student." Monty turned up his nose in disgust at the memory before shaking his head. "Besides, dear sister, you're getting it all wrong. Taylor's taken her infatuation from me and focused it into someone else."
"Yeah? And who's the lucky guy?" Elle's voice dripped with sarcasm as she finished her question with another signature roll of her eyes. In her opinion, Taylor Kent was a social ladder climbing wannabe, with eyes like a beetle and lips drawn in to appear as big as Kylie Jenner's. Although Elle had given up her position of Queen of Constance mid-sophomore year and named Clare Paterson her successor, Taylor had thrown a fit because she had the audacity to think that she was an actual candidate. Elle didn't openly dislike anybody at school, but that didn't mean she wasn't above voicing her dislike among the people she trusted.
"I'll see you tonight, baby." The nasally voice of Taylor floated from across the courtyard to the Humphrey twins and Elle. Elle visibly cringed at the sound, prompting a wave of stifled laughter from Monty and Laney.
'Do I dare look?' Elle mouthed the words to the twins, and her eyes flicked over to meet with Laney, whose eyes were wide and staring at something behind Elle. Laney shook her head quickly.
Elle turned around, only to be met by the sight of red-haired Taylor Kent locking lips with a tall boy with dirty blonde hair. Elle recognized the back of his head easily, and narrowed her eyes deeply. It was Theo. Fucking. Archibald.
Within a few seconds, the couple parted ways and Theo made their way to the group. Elle had turned back around and had her eyes fixed on Laney's. Her eyes blazed dangerously. Theo slung his arm around Monty, his best friend, and greeted Laney and Elle with a triumphant smirk.
"Enjoy the show?" Theo flaunted, clearly reveling in Elle's look of annoyance and fluster. Elle returned Theo's smirk with a dazzling smile of her own, and they all knew what was coming next. When Elle Bass looked at you with that smile of hers, you knew that she was about to dish out some signature Waldorf commentary.
"Of course I did, Archibald. It has always been my dream to see a mama bird feeding her young, if that's what you're referring to as your little show. Why go to the zoo when I could see it here, in our very school?" Elle spoke her words with equal parts sass and mock sincerity. The spitting image of her mother, everyone knew she inherited her biting sarcasm and wit as well. Theo's mouth crumpled into a scowl, and before he had a chance to respond, Elle made a clean escape once she heard the sound of a honking limo. "If you'll excuse me, Paul is here. Let's go, Laney. We'll see you boys tonight." She finished off with a certain smugness in her voice, and took a step forward to plant a sisterly kiss on Monty's cheek before taking one sharp look at Theo and stepping around him and towards the limo. Laney patted Theo's shoulder once as she made her way to follow Elle, almost as a silent consolation. It stung to get a verbal beating from a Bass.
"Hello Miss Elle, Miss Laney. You want food?" Dorota greeted Elle and Laney once they appeared in the elevator doors of the Bass penthouse. Elle, who had always thought of Dorota as her second-grandma, in turn greeted Dorota with a kiss on her cheek and a smile.
"Yes, please. Thank you, Dorota." Elle and Laney set their bags down near the door and made their way deeper into the home. It was simulataneously grandly and tastefully furnished, without being too over-the-top. The walls were adorned with art masterpieces, family portraits, and school pictures. A mahogany grand piano was nestled in the corner of the living room.
Elle and Laney set themselves down in the dining room, phones in hand. Elle was absorbed in her phone and seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Laney. The sounds of Dorota working in the kitchen floated from the open door.
"So, Elle, about today…"
"What about it?" Elle responded. She kept her eyes glued on her phone. Laney tugged it out of your grasp, with a large deal of resistance from the brunette.
"Gossip Girl coming back. What happened to you?" Laney asked, her dark brows furrowed together. She rested a hand on Elle's arm, in another attempt to coax the truth out of her. Elle heaved a small sigh of defeat and turned to look at Laney with pursed lips.
"Haven't you heard the stories about Gossip Girl when our parents were in high school? How miserable she tried to make their lives? Who's to say that she won't try to do the exact same thing to us?" Elle blurted out, her brows creased in worry. "We don't know anything about this Gossip Girl. How are we supposed to live our lives when her minions could be anywhere?"
Laney sighed quietly and rubbed at her eyes. She could see exactly where Elle was coming from. Of course, her dad had been Gossip Girl last time, so only one of her parents was a true victim. Gossip Girl had affected Elle's parents' relationship too many times during Chuck and Blair's adolescence. Nothing could stop the new Gossip Girl from trying to tear her friends apart and pit them against each other.
"Listen. We're not going to let this affect us. We're going to live our lives, just like we did before. Just now… there's going to be a couple more people watching us. We'll be fine, we always have been." Laney mustered up her most reassuring smile and squeezed Elle's hand. "Remember who we are. A and D. Unstoppable together."
Elle breathed out a small sigh of relief at Laney's comforting words and gave Laney's hand a squeeze of her own. She smiled weakly at her best friend, and nodded once. She wasn't convinced that their friendship would be able to conquer everything. With one look at their parents' past, how inseparable S and B were and then how much they hated each other, Elle couldn't help but worry. She could only hope and try to convince herself that her and Laney's bond was that much stronger.
A/N: Woo-hoo! First chapter done! I'm going to just do a cast list real quick below, but keep in mind that my descriptions of the characters may deviate a bit from what the actors/actresses actually look like. I'm probably going to add more characters as we go, just keep that in mind.
MAIN CHARACTERS
· Aurelia "Elle" Bass… Lily Collins
· Delaney "Laney" Humphrey… Carlson Young
· Montgomery "Monty" Humphrey… Dylan O'Brien
· Theodore "Theo" Archibald… Alex Pettyfer
· Miles Arlington… Drew Roy
· Leonard "Leon" Bass… Sean Faris
· Henry Bass… Douglas Booth
· Rosalie Humphrey… Amber Heard
MINOR CHARACTERS
· Clarisse "Clare" Paterson… Lacey Chabert
· Connor Harrison… Logan Lerman
· Teresa "Tess" Archibald… Mackenzie Foy (young)
· Magnolia "Maggie" Fitzgerald… Peyton List
· Franklin "Frankie" Baizen… Evan Peters
· Thomas Sparks… Gregg Sulkin
PARENTS
· Blair Bass… Leighton Meester
· Chuck Bass… Ed Westwick
· Serena van der Woodsen… Blake Lively
· Dan Humphrey… Penn Badgely
· Nate Archibald… Chace Crawford
· Virginia Hyatt (new character)… Julianne Hough
This is my first story in a while so I'm completely open to criticism and suggestions. Hopefully, my writing will grow smoother as I write more. Love you guys!
- Madison