We get to the party. It's on the top floor of a fancy New York apartment building. I skim the crowd, but see no one I know. Unlike in The Mortal Instruments I don't have any of Serena's memories. I do have a vague feeling that everyone knows me, though. It feels like they're all talking about me. I look back, but Serena's mom is gone and I'm all alone.

"Serena van der Woodsen!" I hear behind me. I turn and see a woman racing towards me as she embraces me. "What a lovely surprise!"

She squeezes me tighter. "I-I can't breathe." I get out. She loosens up.

"Sorry dearie. But I'm just so excited."

"It's fine. It's, um, great to see you." I fake a smile. She jabbers on about good old times and Blair and I miss most of it because she's talking so fast. "Hello, hello, hello!" And then she's talking to Serena's mom, who had reappeared. I try to slip away while they rush into a conversation. Unfortunately all the other parents have started hugging and welcoming me. Who are these people? Jeez, this girl is popular.

"Got you a drink." I hear behind me. It's a boy. He's elbowing the clusters of parents out of the way. "Welcome back." He adds, ducking down to kiss my cheek and missing it intentionally, so that his lips landed on mine.

"Do I know you?" I ask in shock. He looks back at me also shocked. Before he can answer I take a step away from him. I'm so tempted to explain to him why kissing people without their consent is wrong and if I wanted to I could report him for sexual harassment. But I remember that Serena probably wouldn't say that. So instead I just say coolly, "And I don't drink." I don't know this guy, but I can tell already that I don't like him.

Then I catch sight of two people across the room. A very handsome boy and a girl tailing behind him stare back at me.

"Who's that?" I ask the guy from before. He stares at me in confusion again.

"Nate and Blair? Your best friend and her boyfriend?"

I take a moment to remember who he's talking about. Then I remember the little summary that Nemo gave me. Oh, then the guy next to me must be Chuck. Captain Nemo was right, Chuck is a man whore.

I look back at Blair and Nate, but they're gone.

"So, what have you been up to?" I hear behind me. I jump. I turn, and there's Blair and Nate.

"Oh, hi. Sorry. I guess I'm still a little skittish from The Mortal Instruments." They look at me with confusion, and I don't think it's possible for Chuck to look any more confused than he is. Did I say that out loud?

"I mean, um, I'm skittish from, um, The Mortal Instruments. It's a movie, yeah, this really scary movie that I just watched. It's horrifying."

Blair raises an eyebrow in disgust (guess she's not a horror movie fan?), Nate is still goo-goo eyeing me, and I think I just broke Chuck. I think back about what Nemo said about me messing up The Mortal Instruments and The Outsiders. Oh no, he was right. No. I'm not going to mess this up. I look again at Blair, Nate, and Chuck, and they seem to be buying it. Whew, nice save.

"We missed you." Nate says.

"I missed you two, too." I lie. I don't know where to go from there. I was never good at small talk…

Then Nate holds up his glass, "Who wants another?" I wish I could fill awkward silences as naturally as him. "I'll make them." He says.

Everyone raises their hands, except for me. Nate looks at me, confused. "You're not going to drink?" He asks.

"Oh no, I don't drink." They all stare at me. Way to mess up again. "I mean I don't drink anymore." I add a smile. They stare for another moment, then just let it go.

Then Serena's mother reappears. "Serena, Eleanor would like us all to sit down. She made an extra place next to Blair for you, so you two girls can catch up." Wonderful.

I trudge over to where Blair is sitting. The seat right beside her has my name on it. I reluctantly sit down. Before I can say anything a woman comes over and offers me a drink.

"No thank you." I simply say. If these people want to drink, they can go right ahead but why don't they understand that I am legally a minor and don't want to drink?

My palms are starting to feel all gross and sweaty. I was never good at small talk, especially not with the "popular crowd". I really just liked to stick to my friend group. A wave of homesickness mixed with nausea crashes over me. My friends. My home, my school, all gone now. The worst part is I try to recall what the name of my school is, or was, but I can't. This only makes me feel worse and I now have a headache. I need to take my mind off this.

"So Blair, um, how've you been? I've missed you so much!" I say over exaggeratedly, trying hard to show that I care. Blair doesn't appreciate my enthusiasm though and just rolls her eyes as if I wasn't sitting right next to her.

"Fine." She mumbles under her breath. I feel the anger well up inside of me. Don't say anything, stay calm, stay calm, I tell myself. I know that if I mess this up I may never get home, but this girl is asking for it. I take a deep breath.

"Fine? That's it?" I say. I don't even know why I do it but I really want to get back at Blair and I blurt out, "I guess it's no fun around here without me." I add a condescending smile just to piss her off. I see anger flare in her eyes.

"Well, we can't all be sluts like you." That's it. I stand up and tower over Blair.

"How dare you." I say, drawing every eye on the room to me, and I don't even care. "How dare you accuse me of being a slut. You have no proof to go on but rumors. And not even creative rumors. It's called slut-shaming and when you equalize a woman's worth to her sexual activities you are degrading her and all other women. Calling me a slut as a means to harm me and my reputation and elevate yourself, hurts everyone. It keeps women oppressed by limiting their freedom which men can experience without any negative repercussions. A woman has just as much a right as any man to have sexual intercourse with anyone and as many people as they want without being shamed for it."

Everyone in the room has their eyes fixed on me, but I just hosed everything up and might as well go all out at this point. I jump up onto my chair and on the table.

"And it's not just Blair, its all of you." I say, really hamming it up. I raise my arms and circle motioning to everyone. "You are all so content to sit safely in your high towers and look down and judge everyone below you. That's all you do with your lives. You have a chance to do something with this privilege you've been given. All this money you have and you do what? You throw extravagant parties that mean nothing. They're just a chance to flaunt your power. Pathetic." I spit out. I reach down and grab a candlestick off the table.

"Tell me how much was this? $100, $200, $1000? Blair, tell me how much was that dress you're wearing. $2000, $5000? A dress you're only ever going to wear once. And how many other dresses do you have just sitting in your closet? And I'm just as bad. As I was getting ready for this party I literally got lost in my closet. For a good fifteen, twenty minutes. That's how big my closet is." I gaze out over them all dramatically. I've completely killed all my chances of passing for normal, and I don't care anymore.

"All I'm saying is if we focus our money and influence on something important, something worthwhile, we can change the world. I know it. We can leave something helpful on this Earth when we die. Something that actually means something." Everyone is silent. I'm not sure if they're in scared or in shock.

"Wow that was pretty inspiring." I hear Nemo say behind me. I turn to look at him. He now has red spiky hair and seems lanker and taller.

"New look?" I ask mockingly.

Of course no one else in the room can see or hear Nemo, so I'm pretty sure that if they thought I was mad before, they must think I'm freaking insane now. Oh well.

"I picked it up in the Capital." He says.

"Capital, like the Hunger Games?" I ask. He nods.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Chuck asks impatiently.

"None of your business, and I would watch that mouth of yours if I was you." I turn back to Nemo.

"So what now?" I ask. He shrugs.

"You can't really jump safely without a proper climax. At least not at your amateur level." I roll my eyes.

"So what am I supposed to do?" I ask. He shrugs again.

"No idea. You could wait it out I guess, but you really screwed with the plot line this time, so…"

"Some help you are." I mumble under my breath.

"That's it." Chuck says standing up. "I'm not going to just sit here while this crazy girl-"

I "accidentally" knock his glass of red wine onto his pants. "Ooo. Sorry about that. Those pants looked expensive. And that's red wine." I say sarcastically. I'm really enjoying this too much.

Suddenly I hear a commotion coming from the next room over which I think is the kitchen. The door is opened a crack. I lean over to catch a view and see a flash of white move across it. I tense up and look at Nemo. "Editors."

I see him tense up too.

"Why are they here so soon? What do we do?" I ask revealing a little of my fear. I can see in his eyes he doesn't know. I quickly rack my brain. Then I get an idea.

"Alright fine. If I can't make it to the author's climax, I'm just going to have to have to make my own." I reach down and grab a pie off the table. Just as the first Editor enters I pull back my arm and then propel it forward with as much force as I can. It hits him squarely in the face. "Score." I say involuntarily.

"What the hell?" Chuck says. "Who the hell are they?" He gives me another idea.

I jump down and grab him by the waist. I grasp him as dramatically as I can, and it looks like we've just finished a tango dance of some sort. "Chuck, my darling. How have I lived without you all this time? I want you to know I've always loved you and always will." I say like the overly dramatic women on soap operas.

Then I lean in and kiss him as passionately as I can. His breath stinks of wine but I hold back my gag. I'd rather take one for the team then let those Editors get me. I spin him back up and he nearly collapses (I guess I'm just that great a kisser) but I hold him up. Then I begin to fake tears. "You bastard, how could you? It's over between us." I say and slap him squarely across the face. It leaves a red welt. I can't help but smile a little.

I steal a glance at the Editor. I'm lucky because he seems to be down for the count and his body is blocking the way for the other Editors. I still have a few seconds. People have already started to panic and run away. The room is in chaos. I cross over to Nate and Blair. "Blair I just want you to know that Nate and I had sex and we love each other and we're going to run away and elope. Isn't that right Nate?"

Then I repeat what I did to Chuck to Nate. "You bastard." I say, trying hard not to laugh. I know my life may be potentially in danger, but the absurdity of it all makes me giggle. "I can't believe you cheated on me. I thought you were the one!"

Just as I finish slapping Nate across the face I glance over at the Editors. They've finally cleared the body off to the side. I realize my time is out. I make a run for the door. I take one last look back. "It's been fun and I'd love to stay, but I've gotta run." And I bolt out the door down the hallway.

I hear the door open behind me and a lot of shouting. I don't dare look back. I keep running, but then trip head first over my feet. One of my heels has broken. I don't have time to do anything so I rip them both off and then throw them as hard as I can at my pursuers. One of them misses, but the other hits one right in the face. He goes down and takes the man behind him with him.

I keep running. I come to an intersection. Stairs or elevator? Stairs, obviously. I notice the thick bannister leading down. I smile. This is also something I've always wanted to do. I jump up and start sliding down the railing, butt first and clutching the bannister. I can hear the Editors behind me, but I think they're falling behind.

I finally reach the lobby. I run up to the desk clerk. "There's a fire on the seventy fifth floor! And those men over there are responsible. Call the police, have them arrested!" I scream at him and then run off. He'll figure out eventually that I've been lying, but at least it'll slow down the Editors a bit. Hopefully.

I run out into the cool New York City air. I don't really know my way around and I'm suddenly at a loss for ideas. The thrill from a moment before is gone now, replaced with panic. What other things can I do to make a climax? Jump off another building? Maybe, but if that doesn't work then I'm cur-splat. And I'd rather not take that chance. Then I see the flashing light on the top of the Empire State Building. I decide it's better than staying here and would make a hell of a good spot for a climax. I wave for a taxi.

One pulls over and I hop in. "Empire State Building. Now. If you can get me there in less than two minutes I'll pay you double." The driver's eyes widen and he slams on the gas. We shoot forward. I was never one for car rides and I'm already feeling queasy. I focus on the scenes flashing past us. I can barely make anything out. I notice it's begun to drizzle though. I look back out the front. I can see tall skyscrapers rising up all around us. The Empire State Building is very close now.

I realize I have nothing to pay him with though. I quickly search my pockets, but to no avail. In fact, I don't even have pockets on this dress. Then I remember I'm wearing a golden bracelet. It looks pretty expensive to me, hopefully the taxi driver agrees. We suddenly pull to a quick stop. I nearly summersault out the front window, but luckily I'm wearing my seatbelt. I hand the bracelet over.

"Take this. And keep driving as fast as you can. I don't care where, just get out of here as soon as you can." And I hop out. As soon as my feet have touched the pavement, he's already out of sight, streaming down the crowded NYC streets. I quickly glance around but see no sign of the Editors. I run inside the building.

Thankfully it's still opened and not that crowded. The floor is cold against my bare feet. I glance around and see some people waiting for an elevator. I have no time to wait though. I push through to the front of the line where a guard is filtering people onto the elevators.

"Sir," I say as innocently as possible. I make my eyes really big and pout my lips. "I've seemed to have lost my parents. I think they've went up on the elevator without me. Wouldn't you please let me on?"

He looks kind of skeptical. "How old are you?" he asks. I hear a commotion as the Editors enter the building. I start to panic a bit.

"Um, I have a glandular condition that makes me appear older than I am." I say. He's still looking skeptically at me as the elevator doors open up. It's clear he's not going to let me in, at least not before the Editors get me, so I do something crazy. I lunge out at his belt and grab his keys that pilot the elevator. "Sorry I've got an elevator to catch." I say and jump inside.

The doors close just as the Editors push through. I see the anger on one of them. I think he may have been the one I hit with my heel. His face disappears as the elevator begins to climb up. I'm all alone. The capsule is silent except for my heavy breathing and the occasional drip from my wet hair. By the time we had arrived at the building it was pouring, so I had gotten a little wet.

What do I do now? I guess I just need to take things one at a time. First, I need to stop/slow down the Editors. They'll be coming up in an elevator after me, so if I could somehow halt it then I could buy myself sometime. Okay that seems simple enough in theory. I guess I could just look for a power box or something and shut off the power to the elevator. The only problem is that I'm no electrician and I'd rather not get myself killed. I listen to my racing heart for a moment.

Where's Nemo? I could really use his help right now. I'd kind of lost track of him in the chaos at the party. My thoughts are halted by the click as the elevator reaches the top floor. The doors open and I run out into the cold hallway. It's empty. I guess everyone left for the end of the day. And maybe because it's also raining heavily outside now. Focus.

I run down the zig-zagging corridors. I only have so long before the Editors arrive on the 102nd floor. I turn a corner and suddenly I'm back at the elevators. My heart sinks. No, no, no. I begin to run in the opposite direction, but then notice a bronze square next to one of the elevators. I run over to it. It's screwed in, but I just kick it in really hard. Surprisingly it works. I rip off the plate and throw it to the ground. The crash echoes though the empty hallways.

Inside the panel is a labyrinth of different wires and plugs. I have no wire cutters and I have no idea which plug to pull. I begin to hyperventilate. Then I notice a big red switch over on the side. Perfect. I reach for it. It's stuck. Please work, please work. I pull harder and it suddenly gives way. I pull it down and suddenly all the lights go off and I hear the whir of the elevator stopping. I pull back just as a bolt of electricity explodes in my face. I'm unharmed, but badly shaken.

"It worked…IT WORKED!" I scream with joy. Now I just have to figure out an exciting climax. Hopefully I can safely jump from this world to the next and be done with the Editors.

I run to the gift shop and search for anything helpful. It's hard to see in the dark, but I remember I have the witchlight rune-stone thingy: The glowing rock Jace gave me. With my newly found rock I begin to explore the gift shop. All the little knickknacks and snowglobes look eerie in the light.

The only things helpful I can find are an umbrella, a rubber band, a statue of king-kong climbing the empire state building, and some mentos. I can use the umbrella as a weapon. And I successfully use the Y shape of the statue and the rubber band to make a sling-shot. I test it out with the mentos as ammo and it works surprisingly well. Now I just have to figure out a climax.

I wander to the windows to gaze out over the great city. I can barely see anything through the fog and rain. Suddenly I hear something. I crouch behind a shelf. I peer out and see the white feet of the Editors. I count five pairs of feet. They walk into the gift shop. I look for the nearest exit, but it leads out into the veranda. It'll have to do.

I fling a mento to the opposite side of the room. It smashes into a snowglobe. The Editors quickly turn to go investigate it. I turn to make a run for it, but suddenly a silver pole comes flying at my face. I thrust my umbrella up to meet it, but the force knocks me to the floor. I roll away just as the Editor slams it into where my head was.

I quickly stand up and start to back away. He pick up his pole thing and holds it up. I notice him press a button and I suddenly hear a sizzling noise. Oh geez. This thing is electrified. I realize my umbrella won't be able to do anything against it. I start shooting mentos at him though. They don't hurt him much though, only irritate him further. I take a chance and throw my umbrella at him. He ducks out of the way, but it gives me a moment to run.

He hadn't realized but I had slowly been backing to the door. Now, I throw the doors open and run into the pouring rain. But my heart sinks as I come to the realization that I just cornered myself. This is the end. My parents will wonder what happened to me. I'm sure there'll be a search, I'll be pronounced disappeared, probably dead. I wonder what my funeral will look like. Will my mother cry? My father? Were they sentimental? I can barely remember. I have only the faintest memories of them crying at my graduation. Or was it my sister's graduation? Did I even have a sister?

I've backed up into the tall spears encircling the outside. There's no way I can climb that. I think hopelessly. Then I realize that it's raining and the Editor's stick thing is electrified. I wasn't always the smartest in school but I remember something about water and electricity not going well together.

Before I can say anything though, the Editor steps out into the freezing weather and suddenly starts convulsing the moment his pole brushes against a puddle on the ground. I start to do something, but realize that I'd probably only get in the way or get myself killed. I pull myself away from his twitching body and start to run along the outside of the perimeter.

I know the only way out is to jump, but I really don't think that's going to work anymore. But it's the only idea I have left, so I start to climb up one of the viewing telescopes. I make it to the top, but the metal is very slippery. I summon all my courage and start to climb the tall poles. They start to curve in at the top. The rain is pelting my face, but I keep climbing. I reach the top, and I fling my leg over. I think I can hear shouts from the other Editors, but I block it out. I have to focus. My wet hair snags at my face and my party dress (now horribly ruined) flies about freely in the wind.

I use all my strength and finally pull myself over. Just as I do, my hands slip. I try to grab the railing, fear pulsing though my veins. I know I have to jump but I instinctively grasp for a handhold. I'm able to grab onto the edge for a moment, but my fingers slip off and I'm falling.

My heart is racing and I can't breathe. I'm going to die like this…At least the Editors didn't get me though. But I never got to say goodbye to Nemo. Or Jace. Or my mom or dad or any of my friends. I squeeze my eyes open and I can swear I can see Jace's face poking through the bars looking down at me. The agony on his face tears me to pieces. I shut my eyes. It couldn't be him. I'm hallucinating.

Suddenly I feel an edge of the building race by beside me. That was too close. My fear is rejuvenated and I start to worry about hitting the building. I feel tears stream down my face, but I'm not sure if their mine, or if it's just the rain. I squeeze my eyes closed tighter, almost as if it will stop the pain of falling. All I can think is goodbye cruel world.

I can feel the ground racing up at me and I know it hasn't worked. The temperature drops twenty degrees. But suddenly I feel as if I've slowed down and I'm enveloped in a soft white cloud. The breath is knocked out of me, but at least nothing hurts. I guess this is what heaven feels like. Heaven's awfully cold though. I feel something wet on my face. I reach up to swipe at it, but my hand is all wet too. I force my eyes open, but all I see is whiteness.

I slowly sit up and the world around me spins. As it begins to slow down I realize I'm in a forest. Could I be in Central Park? No. Impossible. This forest is covered in snow, and seems much thicker. There are no walkways or benches either. And this forest just seems…I don't know, magicky. Call me crazy but that's the only way to describe it.

I peer down and realize I'm not sitting in on a cloud, but in a pile of snow. Does that mean…? It worked!YES! I'm ALIVE! Thank you god. I almost begin laughing at the wonder of it all, but I'm still out of breathe so I just end up panting. I'm alive…But the real question is…Where am I?

8