Rich

Serena propped her feet up on an empty chair as she read her art history textbook. She cursed herself for letting Nate distract her with a dinner date. Then again, it was payback for all the times she made him miss/be late for work.

A group of girls giggled in the row before Serena's. She looked over to see they were on the Gossip Girl website. Serena internally groaned and focused back on the book.

College students had better things to do than worry about what someone on the internet said about someone from the Upper East Side. That knowledge gave Serena a sense of relief.

The girls in front of Serena were freshmen like her, except younger by a few years and unaccustomed to Gossip Girl, it seemed.

"Find out what she has on Nate Archibald," one said.

Serena raised her book higher to hide her smile. Going into Gossip Girl's archives wasn't something Serena did often, unless she wanted to reminisce on old memories captured by a much more accurate Gossip Girl.

She heard her classmates swoon over Nate, pity the situation he got into because of his father, and curse Blair when she cheated on Nate with Chuck. Serena wondered when they would get to the part about him and Serena.

When she enrolled in college, Serena made the point of keeping her affluence a secret from any new friends she acquired. She realized not all were as lucky as she to have a mother who married rich, and she didn't want the girls (and guys) she befriended to see her differently, or to try and use her for her money. It had happened once, and it ended in Nate threatening to call the cops of the friend.

She doubted these girls in her art history class knew just how loaded she was, and she wanted to keep it that way.

The giggling stopped. Serena looked up to see the girls staring at her with a picture of Nate and Serena kissing on the computer screen.

Before they could question her about Nate, the professor walked in and pulled up the PowerPoint for the day. Throughout class, she caught the girls sneaking glances at her in between note taking and Gossip Girl stalking. Once it was over, she grabbed her things and headed for the door. Serena heard them behind her.

"Do you think she still does drugs?"

"I wonder how Nate puts up with her."

"She should get some help."

Serena's eyes narrowed. She pulled out her phone and called Nate. "Hi Nate, how are you? Oh I'm fine, just listening to some girls talk about me. They think I still do drugs. Isn't that funny? I know, so shallow. They should really learn some manners. I'll stop by the office. We can go to lunch. Love you." She clicked it off then headed out of the hallway, feeling a little more satisfied than before.