REMINDER! REMINDER! REMINDER!
WARNING: I know that there are spoilers floating around about the new episodes due to begin April 21st. Please remember, I hate spoilers. If anything I write resembles those spoilers in any way, I don't want to know—and it is pure coincidence (which HAS happened before). Please respect my wishes and do not refer to them in any reviews.
Thank you! XOXO Sharon
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Friday, February 15th. The Sweetheart Gala PART ONE
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He didn't want to be here.
Well, he sort of did, but then again he didn't.
He knew he had to come. It wasn't some party a guy from school was throwing that Nate could pass on if he felt like it.
The Sweetheart Gala was a school dance and everyone was expected to be there.
The past two days had passed in a blur.
When he left Blair's, it felt sort of anti-climactic. He'd told her he didn't know if he could ever forgive her… and that was mostly the truth.
That was the same thing he'd been wrestling with since he first found out. Things were getting easier, and if he was honest with himself, he did care about her. If he didn't, she wouldn't have been able to hurt him as much as she did.
And he was gradually seeing her side of things. Her words had stayed with him now that he had finally given her the chance to explain.
"All I ever wanted was to be with you. All I ever wanted was for you to love me and you couldn't even do that. My entire world revolved around you and you didn't even see me."
"But Chuck, he actually saw me. He was there for me when you couldn't be bothered. No, it had nothing to do with revenge and everything to do with being with someone who saw only me and not my best friend,"
Oddly enough, talking to her had helped him a lot. It was such a relief to have the answers to so many of his questions. No longer did he have to wonder about her doing this to deliberately hurt him. She hadn't done that. And she hadn't stayed away from him because she was in love with Chuck. She'd done it because Chuck forced her to.
He had been shocked to find out that Chuck was sending Blair presents and that Blair was planning on going to the gala with him. Truthfully? He'd felt this odd feeling in his chest when she told him… like all the air had gone away. Like he was too late… he panicked. That was why he became so completely flabbergasted. That was why he asked her, completely incredulous, how she could forgive Chuck for destroying her.
He remembered thinking the night of the ball that Blair really must love him, Nate, if she was willing to forgive him after everything. That previous thought was where the panic and shock came from on Wednesday. For a few brief seconds he thought that Blair might actually have those same feelings for Chuck. She would have only ever been able to forgive Chuck for doing something so hurtful if she cared deeply about him.
But she hadn't known, and she hadn't forgiven Chuck, and the look on her face showed how hurt she was by the revelation. And it tore at him…
It wasn't possible to just throw away twelve years of love, friendship, and respect… especially when he was responsible for everything falling apart to begin with. He had been the one to disrespect Blair. He was the one to start this downward spiral.
And maybe that was the problem. He'd never forgiven himself for what he'd done to Blair. Maybe that was why he couldn't forgive Blair for doing the same thing to him.
Hadn't he heard somewhere that what you dislike in others is usually what you dislike most about yourself?
But the fact that his first reaction upon learning that Blair and Chuck were back together was to think that he was too late… freaked him out a little. It made him realize that he wasn't over Blair. No amount of closure and arguing was going to make him forget her.
And the more that he kept thinking about everything… the more he kept thinking that maybe he had been the one to betray her again by turning his back on her. She'd only turned to Chuck because Nate had turned her away. How could he hold that against her?
And that was why he wanted to be at the gala even though he really didn't want to be. He was finding himself more and more anxious to see her. He was starting to realize that he might, might, be able to forgive her after all… he did love her—there was no longer any doubt about that.
So maybe he'd be able to get her alone tonight. He knew she probably wasn't coming with Chuck now, not after Wednesday—and not after the post from Gossip Girl about Chuck's "problem". Nate didn't believe that was true anyway. He knew Chuck well enough to know that he was very careful when it came to his favorite pastime.
The plan was to talk to Blair… the plan was to maybe ask her to dance… the plan was to try to figure out the huge snafu that had become their non-relationship.
Or at least that was the plan before he looked away from the silly blonde girl named Hazel, who was once again trying to hit on him, and saw the object of his thoughts entering into The Palace's Villard Ballroom... on the arm of the last person he ever expected to see her with.
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"You look absolutely gorgeous Kati," Melissa said reassuringly.
Kati and Is were upset and more than slightly frazzled. They had arrived moments before, later than Hazel had commanded. They couldn't help it, they were having a catastrophe.
And all the girls—Melissa included—wanted to arrive later but Hazel was hearing none of it. It was bad enough that Jenny wouldn't be arriving until after eight, everyone else was trying to avoid Hazel's wrath by getting there early.
Hazel was the "genius" who decided to schedule the gala for seven o'clock. The girls at the meeting had tried to explain to her that eight o'clock would be more suitable—they weren't in middle school after all. But Hazel hadn't listened.
So, all the girls were forced to rush to get back to the gala by seven. Hazel didn't want to look like an idiot by being the only one there.
Most people didn't start showing up until closer to seven thirty, seven forty-five. Hazel was a little peeved, but she forgot all about the oversight when she noticed Nate Archibald arrive.
Hazel waited all of ten minutes before making her way over to Nate for her first attempt of the evening. She had bragged to her friends that she was going to dance with Nate, and there was no time like the present.
Meanwhile, Melissa was trying to calm Kati and Is and reassure them that they didn't blend in with the decorations….
Or at least she was trying to calm them… until a few heads, including Nate's, turned toward the entrance of the ballroom… and she saw a sight that made her blood run cold.
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Chuck had almost successfully diffused the situation with the herpes rumor.
He'd gotten a hold of the people who found the beneficiaries for this "grant". He ended up donating more money to the cause and issuing a public statement on the site. He felt a lot like John Tucker, pretending to actually give a shit about the poor losers who weren't careful enough to stay away from diseased body parts. But it worked. And, apparently the post from Gossip Girl had encouraged other students to donate to the "cause". A few of those donations came from concerned girls who seemed to be upset for Chuck. They wanted to do anything they could to help find the "cure" to save Chuck Bass—or so he'd been told.
He found it amusing that even after such a harsh blow to his reputation he still had his very own fan club… though they were a little dumb for his tastes. He'd read all about this "grant" he had supposedly created and discovered that it had nothing to do with researching a cure for herpes and everything to do with providing health care for the fools who suffered from it.
It was completely beyond him where this whole thing had come from. He knew a lot of people didn't like him but the ones currently gunning for him were Blair, Jenny, and possibly Nate. Of the three, only two of them could afford to create the grant. Blair said she hadn't done it, and he believed her… and he didn't think Nate was smart enough to come up with this scheme… which left Jenny. But Jenny couldn't afford to create that grant. She'd have used the money for her first pair of Manolos or something.
He had found out that the grant was originally created with ten grand. He checked the date and it was at a time when he was arguing with Blair… but he'd also given ten grand to Docu Girl for that tape which turned out to be blank. He knew that Jenny knew Docu Girl so he started to think that maybe Jenny was behind the herpes slam with an assist from the Brooklyn wench. But then he did some more snooping and found out that her rent had been paid for the year… which meant she had used his bribe for its intended purpose.
So he was back to square one in the hunt for the person responsible. He would have probably thought it was Blair, but his gut told him that she was too upset to do it and lie about it. She said she hadn't done it and he believed her.
The herpes dilemma was just a small blip on his radar over the past twenty four hours though. He'd resolved it and moved on—even gotten a mention from Gossip Girl which made everyone check out his "grant" site again so they could see his public "service" announcement.
There was still going to be people who believed that it was true, or possibly true, but for the most part he would be fine. He gave no credence to the rumor and laughed it off just like he'd done the first time he'd read Gossip Girls' post which went a long way to convincing people it was all a lie.
So yeah, it was just a small blip on his mind.
The rest of the past twenty-four hours was occupied with thinking about Blair.
"I care, Waldorf," Chuck insisted. "I want to be with you."
Blair laughed with disbelief and sarcasm. She stopped and shook her head. "No, you don't. If you cared about me, you would have never done that to me. You did it out of spite. You knew how much it would hurt me. Once again, you did something for your own enjoyment. Well, I hope it was worth it."
He'd never felt worse than he did at that moment. He didn't normally feel bad about his actions…sure he'd been a little disgruntled when he'd almost ruined things for his dad with Lily, but he hadn't really cared. Remorse was foreign to him…as was regret.
He had apologized to Nate and told him that he wished he had a little time machine to go back and fix things. He lied. He didn't regret being with Blair. He didn't want to take away that memory for anything.
But until he told Blair, desperation in his voice: "It wasn't worth it… if I could, I'd take it back, but I can't," he hadn't truly felt regret.
He'd thought long and hard all night about what he'd done to screw things up. And he was finally blaming himself for everything that went wrong between him and Blair.
He knew that he had screwed things up back at the ball, but he hadn't listened to what she said. He'd heard, but not listened… and definitely hadn't learned.
"You did all this for your own enjoyment and didn't care what it would do to me… which is exactly why you and I can never work."
She had spelled it out for him plainly. He just didn't know at the time how to think about someone else before himself. He'd done everything he could so that he'd come out on top. He wanted to make Nate look like a fool. He wanted Blair in his arms. He laughed when his plan fell into place. He was overjoyed that Nate was the one to cause the "scene" for once.
And he'd tipped off Gossip Girl.
Last night he finally allowed himself to take a walk in her shoes. He thought about everything from her point of view… it was the most selfless night he'd ever had… and it made him feel even worse.
She hadn't broken up with him at the ball out of spite. She'd broken up with him because he didn't know how to put her first. She hadn't gone to Nate because she was trying to hurt him. She had gone to Nate because she loved him and didn't want to be alone.
When she asked him to keep silent about "them", she hadn't done it out of spite either. She'd been desperate to bring her life back to normal. He remembered the sound of her voice Christmas Eve. She hadn't wanted to keep fighting. She was trying to be somewhat friendly—trying not to create waves.
But he was the one who couldn't go back to pretending. He was the one who couldn't make his feelings for her go away. He was the one who wanted to be spiteful and get her back for all the feelings she'd stirred up and trampled on.
And he just kept pushing and hurting, trying his hardest to control her the only way he knew how.
And that wasn't even the worst part of his little "walk" in her shoes.
The worst part came when he started to think about her scared to death because she thought she might be pregnant. It didn't matter who the father was, she would have still been pregnant. Her life would have changed forever.
And on the heels of her relief at finding out that she was okay, he turned around and used that information to hurt her. He told everyone… and she was then faced with the reality of what would have happened to her if she had been pregnant.
And after she'd lost every single other person in her life, she came crawling back to him.
And he rejected her.
And that was what made him feel the absolute worse.
He finally understood what she had wanted from him from the start… and he had failed her three times.
She was right. If he really cared about her, he would have never hurt her the way he had.
And remorse and regret, those two foreign feelings, were becoming his new best friends.
He didn't know how to convince her that he did care. He didn't know how to fix this mess.
But he knew that he did still want her. He knew that he was the most selfish son of a bitch on the planet, but he would give anything to have her back.
He arrived at the gala a little early, around seven thirty. He knew she wasn't going to miss it. He also knew without her telling him that they weren't coming together. He wanted the opportunity to talk to her if he could get her away from the crowd. He knew she wouldn't want to cause a scene, so she might at least listen to him.
He figured she'd come with Serena and Dan.
He was wrong.
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Blair waited until ten after eight to make her appearance. The seven o'clock time was just silly, but she had to be there before Jenny's meeting time.
Actually, as soon as Jenny entered the room, all bets were off on whether she'd make it to eight thirty.
Blair knew that Jenny and Dan were coming together—one of the perks of Serena's relationship with Dan was the information Blair received from her. Serena hadn't wanted to get there until after eight either, so Dan and Jenny weren't rushing.
Blair didn't know if Jenny would arrive with Dan and Serena, or if Dan would go up to meet Serena at her suite to escort her while Jenny came in by herself.
She really really hoped that Jenny came by herself. She knew that she was going to have to tread very lightly if she wanted to get through Jenny's takedown without angering Serena. She had all the details worked out in her mind but there was still a possibility that Serena would figure everything out. If Jenny came first, Serena and Dan might miss Jenny's humiliation completely and be none-the-wiser when they finally arrived.
In the meantime, she was concentrating on her entry to the gala.
She was waiting for the moment when all eyes fell on her with her date. She knew that flashes were going to go off all around the room but she would maintain her composure.
Thus far Matt had been nothing less than a gentleman.
He had picked her up in a limo he rented for the night. He wore the black suit she'd told him to purchase very well, with a purple breast-pocket accessory that matched his button-down shirt. He'd greeted her in the front hall of her penthouse apartment, bowing over her proffered hand. He's escorted her to the limo and opened the door for her. He didn't sit too close during the ride to The Palace. He'd assisted her out of the limo and escorted her to the entrance of the fifth floor ballroom that the dance was to take place.
But she definitely didn't trust him.
But at least she looked gorgeous. Her dress, off the shoulder and purple as well, was form-fitting and sleek. It conformed to her curves and was deliciously sexy without revealing anything else. Her hair was down and curly, as she'd taken to wearing it when she went out these past few weeks.
She'd almost worn the sea-green dress she'd had her eye on all week in her mother's collection. In fact, if she'd gone to the gala with Chuck, she would have worn it. As it was, she caught sight of Chuck as she entered the room and saw that he had indeed decided to still wear the black suit with sea-green. He'd teased her about wearing a pink dress instead but she'd drawn the line at that.
Heads started to turn. There were people on the dance floor, people congregating around tables, people walking to the hors d'oeuvres, but as one person's head turned, others followed suit.
She didn't shy away from the attention, instead she reveled in it. She had walked in on Matt's arm, and as she stood there, she felt him lean toward her and whisper, "Everyone's jealous that I'm with the most beautiful girl here."
She grinned and held onto his arm more firmly. "Shall we dance?" she asked flirtatiously.
He nodded and led the way to the dance floor.
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air
Nate couldn't believe it.
Never in his wildest dreams, or nightmares, would he have ever thought of Matt and Blair together. Sure, he had seen them dancing last week at the PVD Party, but he'd also seen Blair leave Matt to dance with Serena.
Why was Blair here with Matt? Try as he might, he couldn't come up with one reason. But from the sly triumphant look Matt directed toward him as the pair arrived on the dance floor and Matt took her into his arms, he had a sneaking suspicion that Matt was using Blair to get to him.
If I should die before I wake
It's 'cause you took my breath away
Losing you is like living in a world with no air
Oh
And he didn't like that one bit. Not at all.
I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave
My heart won't move, it's incomplete
Wish there was a way that I can make you understand
Chuck couldn't stop the odd ache shooting through him.
That was supposed to be him.
He was supposed to be the one with Blair.
He was supposed to be the one wrapping her in his arms.
Blair wasn't supposed to come to the gala with a date.
How had this happened? She couldn't possibly feel anything for that jerk. Was she trying to hurt him this time? But she'd hardly looked in his direction. He didn't know what to do.
All he could do was watch as Matt took a hold of her hand and twirled her before taking her in his arms again. This wasn't like last week. Last week it had become obvious that she didn't want to dance with Matt when Serena "rescued" her. He had witnessed that. He'd be relieved… he wasn't now. Because now Blair was dancing with Matt and acting like she was really enjoying it.
But how do you expect me
to live alone with just me
'Cause my world revolves around you
It's so hard for me to breathe
Melissa didn't know whether to cry or scream.
She'd dressed with extra care this evening. She'd done her hair up flawlessly. She dressed in a beautiful, sleeveless, crisscross in the back, apricot dress with a high waist and flowing skirt. She knew she looked good. She even applied an apricot/skin toned lip gloss so as to avoid any comparisons to Blair Waldorf.
She just knew that Matt would take one look at her and he wouldn't want to be with anyone else except her. He wasn't supposed to have a date. He told everyone that he was going stag so he could play the field.
And then he walked through those doors with none other than Blair Waldorf on his arm. Not only were they together, but they looked perfect together. They were holding onto each other, and as Melissa watched, Matt leaned in to ask Blair a question. He seemed to be hanging onto her every word.
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air
Can't live, can't breathe with no air
It's how I feel when I know you ain't there
It's no air, no air
Then they walked together to the dance floor.
And all Melissa could do was stare and feel her heart being torn out all over again as Matt took Blair into his arms and focused his attention completely on her.
Got me out here in the water so deep
Tell me how you gonna be without me
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe
It's no air, no air
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"You sure you don't want to wait for Serena and Eric before going in?" Dan asked.
Jenny just grinned and shook her head 'No'. "Dan, I'm not a scared little girl, silly. This is my first big dance that I'm actually allowed to go to. I'm going to march in, find my friends, dance, have fun, and probably go to Hazel's after party."
"Where there will be absolutely no drinking, correct?" Dan said sharply and slyly.
"Dan, really," Jenny laughed. She hadn't answered his question of course.
"Go get Serena," Jenny continued quickly. "I'm sure she's anxiously awaiting her escort. Eric too," she winked.
"Whatever you say," Dan sighed. He took the elevator up to Serena's floor while Jenny walked down the fifth floor toward the ballroom entrance.
Jenny was feeling happier than she'd been for a while. She finally had her best friend back; she had missed Dan so much. Dan had been talking to her and texting her all day. He was trying to make absolutely certain that she was fine.
It was kind of nice actually—having someone care about her so much that they thought about her 24/7. Everyone else around her always had their mind on someone else. But Jenny? It was just her.
And no matter what Dan told her, she still felt responsible for the breakup of her parent's marriage. If only she hadn't gone to Hudson to bring her mother home. If only she hadn't disobeyed her mother.
Maybe if she'd been a better, more supportive daughter, her mother wouldn't have left.
She really missed her mother. She missed all the girl fun. She missed having a confidant. She always felt left out around Dan and Dad.
But now she had new friends. They weren't the best, but they were supportive and had each other's backs for the most part.
And now it looked like she would have the perfect boyfriend too. In a matter of minutes she would be on the dance floor, waiting for Nate Archibald to come to her and declare his love and desire for her. And in a matter of minutes he would come to her, he would speak the words, and they would spend the rest of the evening wrapped in each other's arms dancing—not caring about the rest of the school population.
She adjusted her gown and her accessories. She knew she looked good. She also knew that her dress would probably be the biggest concoction there, but she didn't mind. Nate had picked it out for her—it would be perfect in his eyes and that's all that mattered.
Only a matter of minutes…she thought as she smiled and entered the room.
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Blair had been waiting for Jenny to arrive. She'd deliberately kept an eye on the door, making sure that Matt didn't move too far away from the edge of the dance floor.
When she saw Jenny enter by her self and saw no sign of Dan or Serena, she couldn't help but grin widely. This was going to be so good.
Her eyes swung over to Kati and Is.
Now all she had to do was wait for them to notice.
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Kati was not happy.
When Hannah had mentioned the reason to change the gala decorations—when they were purple, red, and pink—that too many girls would blend into the background, Kati and Is had a brief flicker of thought that if the gala was decorated in white, they would blend into the background. White was the color they had chosen to wear.
But then they realized that it didn't matter because they had their mix-matched accessories as well as their new party tiaras.
They had purchased the tiaras on Sunday. It was the same day they'd gone shopping for their dress and ended up sending a tip to Gossip Girl to help Blair out.
Kati and Is brought the tiaras home and put them away, not worrying about the gala anymore because they were ready.
After they finished the very last details with Hazel, they went home and got ready for the dance.
That was the problem.
Kati tried to get ready, but something was missing…
And as she spotted a ball of pink fluff across the room, she also spotted something else… something that made her regret ever choosing Jenny over Blair in the first place.
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Is didn't even see it coming.
One minute Kati was standing next to her, both of them feeling a little dreary because their fun had been hampered for the evening, and the next minute Kati was walking furiously from their table straight up to Jenny Humphrey who was hovering on the edge of the dance floor.
As Is, and a few other students, watched, Kati reached up and grabbed the tiara from Jenny's head and ripped it off, taking a few strands of hair with it.
At Jenny's startled semi-scream, heads started to turn.
"What are you doing?" Jenny cried, clutching a hand to her head.
Is hurried across the room at the same time that Melissa, Hazel, Hannah, Liz, and Natalie wondered by to see what was going on.
Kati stared in sheer disbelief at the tiara in Jenny's hand.
"You crafty little thief!" Kati exclaimed. "I can't believe I ever befriended you!"
Jenny's mouth dropped open and she tried to figure out what the hell Kati was talking about, "Wh-wh—what are you talking about?"
Kati gripped the tiara in her fist and held the front of it up in Jenny's face. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I wouldn't recognize my own tiara?"
"What!?" Jenny squeaked.
"Look at Is," Kati jerked her head toward Isabel.
Jenny, and everyone else in the crowd starting to form around the girls, looked at Is who was wearing one of the strangest looking pieces of headgear they had ever seen. It was a tiara. The base of it consisted of two silver hearts lying on their sides facing away from each other with another silver heart in the dead center. Little semi-soft stones were at the center of each heart. Is's tiara was resting on a flatbed of pink that gave a much more royal effect to the mix. There were other designs and ribbons hanging from the sides. It was truly a party tiara. Elegant but madly fun.
The head dress on Is only looked silly. If Kati and Is were both wearing their versions, they would have probably pulled it off flawlessly, but they weren't.
And it was obvious to everyone surrounding the group that the tiara on Jenny's head looked exactly like the silver part of Is' tiara. And everyone also knew that Jenny was extremely good with crafts.
She had removed all of the party aspects of the tiara and thought that would be enough to hide her theft from Kati.
"Kati," Jenny began, bewildered, "I didn't take this from you."
"Really?" Kati said in disbelief, "Then where did you get it?"
"It… it was a gift," Jenny said. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what was going on. Nate had sent it to her, it couldn't be stolen.
She looked around the dance floor until her eyes settled on Nate.
He was standing behind Hazel. Nate had finally given in and decided to dance with her after seeing Blair with someone else. Now that Hazel was eyeballing the situation between Jenny and Hazel, he had stopped and observed as well.
"Oh really?" Kati said, "From whom? You know what? I don't want to know. You are a liar. A liar and a thief. We never should have trusted a Brooklyn girl. Your true colors are showing. You are done here."
Jenny could feel the panic start to rise. She opened her mouth to continue to deny it—not wanting to say anything about Nate just yet—when Melissa spoke up.
"You know…" Melissa began, "I've been looking for a silver bracelet that's been missing since last Friday night. I assumed I left it at… a friend's house… but I haven't seen it since the PVD Party… since I went to the ladies with you."
Melissa could feel herself starting to get upset now. "What, did I remove it when I washed my hands and you felt the need to make off with it when I forgot about it?"
"Melissa, I swear," Jenny insisted. "I didn't take your bracelet! And I didn't take that tiara!"
"Because someone gave it to you," Kati responded with a smirk. "Whatever."
"It's true!" Jenny couldn't hold back her panic; the tears were starting to threaten. "Nate, Nate gave it to me."
Nate was startled. He looked up—he'd been admiring the floor, his thoughts turned toward Blair, not even paying attention to the conversation. "I did what?"
To Hazel, that was the final straw. "You have got to be kidding me! First you steal from Kati and Melissa, and now you expect us to believe that Nate Archibald bought you presents? Have you gone mad?"
"Ask him," Jenny insisted, looking toward Nate with pleading eyes.
Unfortunately, Nate was in one of his distracted moods and didn't understand what Jenny was trying to convey with her eyes. Instead, he answered with the truth.
"Jenny, I have no idea what you're talking about," Nate said, shaking his head. "I never sent you anything."
"But… but…," her bottom lip quivered and her eyes grew blurry. "You love me. You said it."
Hazel started laughing, "As if! He's an Archibald. What would he be doing with a gold digging thief like you?"
Nate looked with confusion, and a little disgust at Hazel, before turning his attention back to Jenny. "I never said that. I wouldn't have said that. You're a friend Jenny, that's it. I thought I'd made that clear."
"But if you didn't send those notes, who did?" Jenny whispered. The horror was starting to build even higher. She looked around at all her new friends. None of them believed that she was innocent. Every single one was looking at her with absolute disgust.
"Kati, Is," Jenny begged. "You have to believe me. There was a secret admirer. This person sent me letters. He sent the dress and the tiara and… and… made me think it was Nate. I swear, I didn't take any of your things. I have the letters at home. I'll bring them here!"
Hazel had grown over confident by Nate's dismissal of Jenny, and she was angry that Jenny had been lying to her all this time. Jenny had told Hazel that she was not interested in Nate, and all this time Jenny had feelings for him and thought she could snag him before Hazel could?
Hazel didn't want Jenny in the group anymore, and it didn't matter if Jenny was telling the truth or not, she was going down.
"Probably just something you've cooked up to cover your ass, Little J," Hazel hissed. "Everyone knows how smart you are. Who's to say you won't go home and write those letters yourself?"
"But I didn't, I won't," Jenny insisted.
"So, they're postmarked?" Hazel asked.
Jenny winced, "No."
"Likely story."
Jenny looked around wildly. She thought quickly, trying to figure out what to do. Her eyes passed Blair, who was smirking at her.
"Blair!" Jenny shouted. "It had to be Blair! She threatened me! She said she's ruin me! She did this!"
Blair heard the accusation and laughed. She turned around and leaned back into Matt who wrapped his arms around her. "Jenny, really, how would I get a hold of those things? None of them are my friends anymore. Although, this whole thievery thing doesn't surprise me at all."
Jenny sputtered.
"Really," Kati said, intrigued, "why not?"
"Because she stole a jacket from my mother, and probably would have stolen a diamond bracelet put on my account at the jewelers if I hadn't spotted her with it," Blair explained regally.
"The jacket was a dare! And the bracelet was a loan, I wasn't going to keep it," Jenny insisted. The girls surrounding her obviously didn't believe a word she said.
"The dare was to retrieve the jacket from my mother's store," Blair explained patiently. "I never said you could keep it. You did anyway. And the bracelet was loaned to you to wear to the Masquerade Ball—a ball that you, as a freshman, were not allowed to go to but went anyway. You lied your way in. You are nothing but a crafty little thief." Blair was laughing inside at the little insult Kati had bestowed on Jenny.
Everything was falling into place beautifully.
Nobody believed that Jenny was innocent. Nobody knew that Elise was the one who helped Blair procure the items. The fact that Melissa didn't know that she'd lost her bracelet the Monday after the PVD party and not the night of the party went a long way to covering Elise's ass too.
Of course Elise had only agreed to do this as long as all the items were returned to their rightful owners. They would be… in a matter of speaking.
Jenny tried to explain, she started pleading with Kati, but no one wanted to hear it. Hazel walked straight up to Jenny herself and stared her down. "Get out of my sight, you make me sick. Kati's right. You are done here. Done forever."
As Jenny looked around and saw the crowd of people that were still staring at her, she felt the tears fall. She hiked up the long skirts of her dress and tried to side step around the people blocking her path. Instead of moving out of her way, they bumped into her, pushing her around, laughing at her, calling her a thief. They told her to go back to Brooklyn; they compared her to trailer trash. They told her that she didn't belong, that she'd never belong.
Finally she couldn't stand it anymore and the sobs started and she found the strength to push her way through and run out of the room and down the stairs, forgoing the elevator.
Before she made her way out of the room though, she spotted Chuck Bass off to the side with the same smirk on his face that Blair had sported moments ago.
And the only thought running through her mind as she finished her mad dash was that she should have never messed with Chuck Bass… because surely he had done this to her.
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Blair turned back to Matt and tried to hide her glee.
Jenny was finished.
Ruined.
All it took was five minutes.
And Dan and Serena had missed the entire exchange.
Blair wondered what would become of the evening once they did find out.
She didn't worry though; she never worried.
Plus…the evening had only just begun.
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To be continued…
Song: "No Air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown