Chapter Two

That afternoon, Chad made his way out the door to the steps in front of Riverside Prep. He'd only been there for two weeks and he was already adjusted to the new teachers and guys around him… except for maybe one.

Chuck Bass was talking rather loudly to a group of guys he recognized from his chemistry class.

"Get this: the guy is actually fucking her now. I heard she's paying him to pose as her boyfriend to get rid of her slutty image. Too bad Nate is still getting some, too. Trust me, I've seen it."

Chad rolled his eyes and considered punching Chuck in his rather large mouth. He knew that Chuck was referring to him and Serena. He had heard all these rumors about her; she was on drugs and sold them, she had a baby by some guy in France, she was in a sex-crazed cult, and blah, blah, blah. Chad wasn't the type to listen to such things, however. Serena was his goddess. She wasn't like how all the guys described her.

Chuck spotted Chad walking and smirked. "And there's the man of the hour himself. " He sneered.

Chad ignored him and kept walking.

"Hey, come on, man. Tell us what it's like to be with a freak like that." Chuck pressed.

Chad gritted his teeth and ran his hand through his thick chocolate-colored hair. "Sounds like you're still mad she turned you down, man."

Serena had told him about all the crap Chuck tried to pull on her and her sometimes-oblivious classmates. Chuck was the sex-crazed freak, not Serena. And he was a sore loser. Serena rejected him flat one time he was trying to feel her up in his hotel suite. He'd been sore about it ever since.

"Turn me down?" Chuck looked defensive and smug all at the same time. "Please. Girls don't turn me down. Serena's just too much of a stuck-up bitch to give me any. That's fine. I've had way hotter. And cleaner, too." The guys around him all snickered.

Chad was getting angry. "Watch your mouth, asshole." He warned.

Chuck got right in his face. "What you gonna do if I don't, tough guy?"

Chad considered breaking his neck right then and there, but he felt his cell phone vibrate in his jacket pocket. He took it out and read the little screen: Serena.

Chad backed away and answered it. "Hey, what's up?"

Chuck took a step back, half-pleased for standing his ground, and half-relieved the guy didn't hit him. Chad was kind of a big guy, built like a football player, and Chuck just got a manicure.

Chad walked down to catch a cab and talked to Serena.

"Your little friend Chuck was about to get knocked the hell out." Chad said, still a bit heated from the exchange.

Serena scoffed. "Forget him. He's totally not worth the effort. He picks on people. That's just what he does."

"Anyways, where are you going after school? I wanted to take you to that restaurant you were talking about." Chad said.

"I'm going over to Blair's house for a few. Her mom has some big announcement or whatever. Given her history, those aren't ever that good. So I'm going with Blair for, you know, moral support."Serena explained.

Chad chuckled. Serena had told him about the time Blair's mom had announced her marriage proposal to that weird-looking guy, Cyrus Rose, and her pregnancy soon after.

"Just call me after, okay?" Chad asked. "Love you."

He could practically feel Serena smiling on the other end. "Love you, too." She hung up.

Blair angrily jabbed at the keys on her phone, dialing Nate's number for what seemed like the hundredth time in five minutes. His phone rang once or twice then went to voicemail, which meant he was ignoring her calls. Well, she would blow up his phone until he answered. He was blowing her off, and she demanded an explanation as to why.

Serena wasn't about to share the information that she had spoken to Nate 45 minutes ago, and he said that he was going to an art auction with his parents. She figured that he would call Blair when he got a chance, and Blair needed to learn the art of patience. And Serena didn't want to start another argument over Nate.

"Call him later." Serena said. They were both sitting on Blair's bed, an old Audrey Hepburn movie playing in the background. They very well couldn't enjoy the movie with Blair in a fit and on the phone like a jealous wife. She was glad Chad never blew off her phone calls.

Serena grimaced slightly for harboring such selfish thoughts. She knew how much Nate meant to Blair and how much it hurt her to be ignored by him.

"He's at an art auction with his parents." Serena confessed. She watched as Blair snapped her phone shut and glare at her.

"How do you know that?" Blair challenged.

Blair couldn't actually spit fire, but the look she had on her face right then definitely said she could.

"I called him a little while ago. I invited him over, and he said he was going there with his parents." Serena continued.

Blair flung herself off her bed and stormed over to the window. "Why in hell did he tell you that and not me? I'm his girlfriend, for fuck sake!"

Serena shrank back on the pillows, anticipating another one of Blair's jealous tirades. As many as she's witnessed, Blair could still scare the crap out of her.

"All this time he's been blowing me off for God knows how long, but he can call you and talk to you all the time. It's not fair." Blair continued. She bent over to take off her Gucci loafers, forgetting that she had on her dangerously short school uniform skirt and totally flashing Serena. She heaved one of her shoes at her walk-in closet door.

Serena cringed. Blair had started to get a lot more aggressive and more easily agitated lately. Jealousy brought out the worst in her.

Blair was seething. Serena had Chad, but yet and still she insisted to sink her claws into Nate. She hated that Nate always went to Serena with his problems, and vice versa. It just wasn't fair.

"Calm down. I'm sure he'll call you later." Serena offered. "He loves you, not me." She added quickly. She gathered her long blonde hair in her fist and tied it into a loose knot on top of her head.

Blair allowed herself to take a deep breath. The way those two ran to each other made her sick. They took each other's virginities; what else did they need? But Serena did have a point. They were destined to be together. Nate was her true love. It was fate.

"You're right. Sorry." Blair sighed.

Serena raised an eyebrow. Blair never apologized. Maybe she had finally broken through. It might have not been an on-her-knees-begging type of apology, but Blair still said "sorry". Now that was something.

"I wonder what Chad is doing. I told him I would be at your house for a while." Serena pondered. The only thing Blair's mom had announced was that she and Blair's step-father, Cyrus Rose, were going to St. Barts for a week on a honeymoon-esque getaway, even though Mrs. Rose just had a baby several months ago. The nanny staff would have to be on full alert because even though Blair loved her baby sister, Serena knew she wasn't going to waste a parent-free week babysitting.

Blair ran a hand through her walnut-colored hair, which she had recently had trimmed up at that new salon that opened up a few blocks from her house. Her pixie cut was sexier than ever. "Who knows?" She shrugged her shoulders. She flopped back onto the bed, mildly exhausted from her little moment.

Serena scooted off the bed. "I have to pee." She went to the bathroom and closed the door.

Blair felt a vibration through the mattress and realized that Serena's phone was going off. She just received a text message.

Doing what all best friends do, Blair opened the text message and read it:

I miss you. I'm waiting for you at your house. I need to talk to you. Love Nate.

Blair was close to hurling her phone across the room. No wonder Nate wasn't spending any time with her. He was too busy over at Serena's house.

What the fuck? Blair thought as she erased the text from the inbox. Her mind was racing. Her stomach began to churn. But before she decided to go make herself puke, she had to take action. For years, Serena had always driven a wedge between her and Nate. She had Chad now, so why in bloody hell was she still hanging out with Nate in an intimate setting like her bedroom? Well, Nate belonged to Blair, and she needed a way to make Serena see that.

Normally best friends would never let a guy come between them, but Blair was far from normal, and much too petty to let something like this go.

If only Blair could get Serena where it hurt the most; she wanted to show her what it was like to suffer. Serena never suffered. Blair always took the major blows: her parents' divorce, her mom marrying that fat bastard and inheriting a gross step-brother, finding out Nate and Serena slept together, giving up her birthday for her mom's tacky-ass wedding, two fucked up Yale interviews, her mother's rather embarrassing pregnancy… the list went on and on.

An idea suddenly flashed in Blair's mind as Serena stepped out the bathroom.

"Sorry I took so long." Serena said, flopping back down on the rose-colored bed spread. "I started picking at split ends."

"It's fine." Blair said distractedly, smirk still plastered on her face.

Serena glanced up at her best friend. "What's so funny?"

Blair turned to face her.

"Nothing." She replied. Her smirk turned into a sickeningly sweet smile. "Nothing at all."