Chapter 1

Brooklyn, NY

Greenwood Apartments

8:51 P.M.

6 weeks later...

Can't believe it was that long ago..., thought Dan. Daniel Humphrey, a.k.a. Dan, was seated with Vanessa beside him on her couch. It was the day before Vanessa's first day at Constance Billard. But instead of excited or nervous, it was filled with dreaded confessions. They were at Vanessa's Brooklyn apartment. It was originally a night to get ready and hang out but quickly turned another direction. "I just can't keep pretending," he said, "not to you, Vanessa."

"What do mean?" she asked with confusion and fear of the truth, not sure if she wanted to understand.

"I really want to be committed to this but..." he trailed off. He dreaded this all night and wished that it wasn't tonight he did it. But he's couldn't start the new school year with a lie. So instead of waiting, he wanted to tell her the truth. "I can't pretend that I'm in love with you when I'm not."

Vanessa thought she heard her heart literally break. She shook her head as she thought of the last couple of weeks. He acted a little weird but nothing serious. Or so she thought. "You still in love with her." she stated, "You're still in love with Serena."

Serena was Dan's ex and his first love. She was so worried when they got together that she was just a rebound. She right. Unfortunately. Serena was a nice person but right now, Vanessa hated her. Dan didn't say anything to her. He need to leave. There was nothing left for them.

Dan waited to see what she would say. She spoke through grated teeth. "Get. Out." she hissed making each word it's own. Dan got up and to the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob before turning to her. "I'm sorry." he exited the apartment. Vanessa waited until he was a safe distance away.

One tear made it down her face before a river started to flow. She sat down and held her head in her hand and cried. She sobbed until she fell asleep.

Waking up after a night of crying sucked. Vanessa looked a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was...well let's not elaborate on that. Never the less, she showered, dressed, and was out on the streets by 7.

She walked to the school which was 10 minutes from the apartment. She was wary of going to the school. She could easily blow it off and go to the gallery and get paid to be there. But she promised herself she would at least try it.

She approached the front gate. The school looked like any other Ivy League prep school. She swallowed and started to climb the steps. There she was confronted by the school's queen bee, Blair Waldorf.

Your typical rich, social-climbing bad girl. She was in charged and hated being upstaged. She stopped right in front of Vanessa. Not good. Vanessa hated girls like that but deiced to be the "bigger" person. "Excuse me." she said trying to get through. Blair didn't move. Neither did here posy.

"Oh, your excused." she sneered. Well the high road didn't work. Instead, Blair pushed Vanessa out her way. But not liked being pushed, Vanessa pushed Blair. Blair stumbled down stairs.

The morning crowd stopped their conversation and watched the conflict. Blair regained her footing and turned to Vanessa with furious eyes. "Do you want to go arrested? Or was getting dumped by lonely boy not enough?" she said.

Vanessa looked at her with shock but quickly recovered. How could she have known? "What are you talking about?" she asked acting like she didn't know.

"Oh, don't play dumb." Blair ordered, "You and your castoff nobody of a boyfriend dumped you. For my best friend. He never loved you. Even I could tell Nesi." Blair told her with a smug look. Now it was Vanessa's turn to be mad. That was another thing about Serena. Her best friend was a bitch.

Vanessa walked away before she did anything stupid. She heard whispers and snicker follow her. Can this day get any worst, she thought, yes. It can.

Manhattan, NY

Manhattan Elite High School

1:35 P.M.

Vanessa walked down the hallways of Constance Billard. She was ready to go home. She was sick of everyone whispering about her. She ran into Serena earlier that day it was well after Blair's announcement. "Hey." she said to Vanessa. "Look, I'm sorry about Blair's outburst-"

"Don't worry about it." Vanessa told her cutting off her worthless apology. They stayed like that for a moment or two.

"So...," Serena said trying to break the awkward silence, "I'm having a back-to-school party this weekend. Maybe you and Dan want to come." Why, so you rub it in my face that he still wants you, Vanessa thought. She wasn't in the mood for Serena. Her innocents in the situation only made her feel worst.

"I'll think about." Vanessa walked off down the hall, leaving Serena standing there shocked by the cold shoulder. She was tired and ready to go. But fate doesn't seem to like her that must. That was proven by her crashing in to Chuck Bass.

Chuck is the school playboy and rich kid. He's also Serena 's ex-stepbrother. They're surprisingly close. He was handsome but was also very rude. "Watch newbie!" he told her when they crashed. Nothing dropped. Except Vanessa's patience.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going. Or are you too drugged to even be close to having common sense." she shot back. She didn't even attempt to calm down. She was too far gone to be intimidated by Chuck.

He made his body hold her back by her shoulder. "I don't have to be polite to you." He said so low only they could hear him.

"Who the-"

"I'm the one you need to respect."

"Wrong. I'm the one you need to respect."

"Or what? Little Daniel will come and get me?" he smirked, "Face it. You're no one special." He bumped her shoulder and walked away. Vanessa stood there until she could calm down enough to not punch the next person she sees.

Vanessa and Chuck met once the year before. She was working at a cafe and he came in to order. He tried to make a move but it failed. After that she never saw him again. But she felt there was something familiar about him to her. She didn't know what. He just did. The thought bothered her as she came back to the apartment.

She came in to her apartment and was exhausted. Her nerves were shot and she just wanted to go to sleep. She went to her closet to look for her uniform to for tomorrow. She was almost done. All she had to do was find the jacket which was somewhere at the bottom of the closet.

She dug around the messy bottom trying to find her jacket. After a few minutes she found it. It was on top of her old shoe boxes. She took of the jacket and looked at the shoe box. It was labeled at the top B&N.

She pulled it out and looked inside. There were picture and trinkets in it.

She looked at the picture. It was with her and a boy. The boy was cute with messy brown hair and cute deep brown eyes. They were both smiling. He looked so familiar…

She looked at the back. It was written on. BRANDON & VANESSA '06.

Brandon! She dropped the picture in shock. She stayed that way for a moment before looking at the picture again, her mind going haywire with memories.

Brandon was her ex-high school sweetheart from Vermont. At one point, though she'll never admit it, she loved him more than she loved Dan and herself combined.

She said down on her couch and looked through the box. Every item made her think of a different memory. And how he one day mysteriously disappeared from Vermont with his family. She never heard from him again. She didn't look through the entire box. She stopped after she felt tears down her face. She never found out why he left. He just did. No number or letter. It was like he vanished out thin air.

She was soon crying herself to sleep again. First her first love then her best friend. She lost two of the most important people in her life. She could all too well remember the first day her and Brandon met.