Author's note: Just a reminder, I own nothing! Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming? I'll keep the chapters rolling out.

[Oh, look who just showed up in the Palace lobby. None other than N, the golden boy! But wait, it looks like he's not headed for B and the bar. Is he going to visit C at his suite? No, that doesn't make sense, since apparently C is at his usual seat watching the dancers at Victrola. I wonder what N's up to… You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

Blair had forced the girls to turn their phones off, using the excuse that they wouldn't have any fun if they spent the whole time reading texts. But that didn't mean she had taken herself out of the loop.

She flipped her phone open as Penelope babbled on about her summer fling. Blair didn't really give a crap about the son of an Apple Penelope met on St. Barths, so she was glad she had her phone to distract her – until she read the text. It took all of her carefully cultivated self-control not to yelp out a "Holy crap!"

She and N had been over for a while, but she was still jealous of any girl he was with, if only for having a king when she didn't. Then again, maybe he was here for some other reason.

Just to be sure, she thought she'd hurry to the lobby to catch him. But that would seem like she wasn't over him, when she totally was.

So she just stuck her phone back in her purse and started paying attention to the conversation again.

Miranda ended her call with Dan and threw her phone onto the bed next to her purse. She grabbed her brush and starting untangling her curls.

She'd just finished when her phone beeped. She quickly grabbed it and the screen read "two new messages."

One was from Gigi – "Good luck, M! Have fun, but not too much fun! Stay classy and you'll have him wrapped around your finger! XOXO."

The other was from Nate. She paused before opening it – how the heck did he get her number? She pressed open – "Hey, GG sent me your #. I'm in the lobby, see ya in a few?"

She smiled and raced to her jewelry box to grab some gold hoop earrings. She heard a knock a few seconds later and she yelled, "It's open, come in!" She heard Nate open up the door tentatively and then walk into the "living room" of her suite. He called out, "Miranda? You ready?"

"One sec, I'm in here, I just have to get my shoes on, you can come in if you want." He heard her voice coming from behind a partially open door. He walked over and looked in; his mind froze as he saw Miranda bending over to fix the ties on her shoes and got a nice view of almost all of her very long legs.

Boys… they're all the same, even the good ones.

She popped back up and he tried to get the glazed look out of his eyes, but he saw her notice. Crap, now she thinks I'm a perv. Actually, she'd only thought Aww, even N the golden boy has hormones! How cute!

She ignored his sheepish grin, "Ok, I'm ready, let's go get those drinks." He did a cute little "after you" gesture, and she led the way out of her suite.

Meanwhile, across town…

"Chuck?" He looked up, surprised at the voice and annoyed by the interruption. He didn't even look away from the stage, "Jenny Humphrey, of all the people I know, you are the last one I expected to see here." He was sarcastic and condescending, as usual, but at least he didn't seem angry.

"Yea, I know, I just…," she giggled nervously, "I'm surprised you didn't kick me out immediately." He sipped his drink, and finally took his eyes off the dancers to look at her, "You're my brother's best friend. I wouldn't be that rude."

He settled back into his seat and returned to watching the stage, and muttered under his breath, "Not that you wouldn't deserve it." Jenny heard him and immediately got defensive, "Excuse me? You try to rape me, and I'm the rude one for playing one prank?"

He paused, set his drink down, and turned to her, "Point taken. Can we call it even? I promise I'm a changed man: I don't force myself on girls anymore, no matter how hot they are. My own charms seal the deal often enough."

Jenny pretended to think about it, but she'd already spotted her opening. "Okay, Chuck, I'll forget about all our history, if you'll do one little thing for me." Chuck opened his mouth to say something perverted, and then noticed the excited glint in Jenny's eyes, and a light bulb went on in his head.

"Oh, I know what this is about. You want to know about the fabulous night Eric had here recently." Jenny bit her lip and nodded. Chuck sneered, "Isn't that precious? Well, suffice it to say, Eric is definitely into girls, and he seems pretty sure about guys too."

Chuck stood up and stepped towards Jenny, who automatically stepped back. "You really think you could handle the competition, though? Not only girls, but guys as well?"

Jenny laughed nervously and tried to play innocent, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to make sure Eric wasn't making a mistake letting Gossip Girl announce it."

Chuck just smirked, "Sure, Jenny, sure. Just, next time, don't try to pump me for information unless you're gonna tell me the truth."

[ I asked and my M provided, in her usual all-out fashion. This is drama with a capital D! Here comes M now, heading down from her suite to the bar – with N in tow. Oh, and did I mention she looks killer in her red Eleanor original? Careful, M. I wouldn't want you to get blood on it. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl.]