I Like It Like That

by Cecily von Ziegesar

  Dinner with Leo's emaciated thousand-year-old parents who didn't even drink wine? There was nothing crazy or romantic about that!

  Jenny didn't know what was wrong with her, but if she didn't bust out of Leo's tiny room very soon, she was going to explode.

  “I think I have to go now,” she muttered, practically running for the door. Her face was hot, and she couldn't possibly stop to say good-bye to his parents. The front door was only eight feet down the hall. She lunged for her coat, already anticipating the cool air on her cheeks and the soothing bus ride across town.

  “Wait!” she heard Leo call after her, but she was already gone.

  Elise had told her to figure out if the real Leo was someone she could like. Now she had the answer.

  And it wasn't pretty.

  B feels the first flush of sisterhood

  “It's so wonderful to see you home!” Blair's mother gushed when Blair stepped out of the elevator, wheeling her Louis Vuitton valises. Mookie, Aaron's dog, waggled up to her and rubbed his butt against her knees.

  “Fuck off,” Blair hissed at him under her breath, even though she was kind of glad to be home. She took off her coat and tossed it onto the antique settee in the corner of the foyer. “Hi, Mom. Where's Kitty Minky?”

  Eleanor waddled over and kissed Blair noisily. Then she handed her the phone. “It's your father, dear. We've been having the most wonderful chat.”

  As far as Blair knew, her parents hadn't spoken to each other—civilly, that is—in over a year. “Dad?” she said, taking the phone.

  “Blair Bear,” her dad's cheerful, wine-infused voice darted over the airwaves from his chateau in France. “Ça va bien?”

  “Sort of,” Blair replied.

  “Haven't heard from Yale yet?”

  “Nope.” Blair hadn't given her father any inkling that her chances at Yale—his alma mater—were almost completely destroyed. She wandered down the hallway to her old room and stood in the doorway. “Not yet.”

  “All right. Well, be nice to your mother. She's absolutely glowing, isn't she?”

  “I guess.” Blair walked into the room and sat down on the floor. “I miss you, Dad.”

  “Miss you too, Bear,” her father said before clicking off.

  “So what do you think?” Her mother walked into the room behind her, breathing heavily. Her stomach seemed to have expanded about twelve inches while Blair was away, but her face was nicely bronzed from the Hawaii trip, and she looked kind of pretty in a dark-green-and-black Diane von Furstenberg maternity dress. Even her black velvet headband didn't seem so bad.

  Blair attempted a half-smile from where she sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the room. “You look nice.”

  “No, I mean the room.”

  Blair shrugged and went back to studying the room. The familiar mother-of-pearl-white walls had been repainted the palest yellow-green, with celery green trim and a stenciled daisy border. Instead of her rose-colored Oriental carpet, a creamy yellow shag rug covered the floor. A bassinet stood in the corner, covered with white lace, and inside it was a folded yellow blanket, stitched intricately with white daisies. Along the far wall stood a changing table and an armoire, both painted pale yellow. To Blair's right was a wooden rocking chair with daisies stenciled on its back. Kitty Minky, her cat, lay curled up on a cushion on the seat of the chair, fast asleep.

  Her mother waddled over to the armoire and ran her hand over the drawers. “We wanted to monogram all the furniture, but we haven't decided on a name yet.” She smiled brilliantly at Blair. “Your father suggested that you come up with a name. You've always been so creative, darling. I think it's a wonderful idea!”

  “Me?” Blair blanched. This baby had nothing to do with her. Why on earth would they want her to name it?

  “Don't worry about it being a Jewish name or anything. Cyrus doesn't care. We just need a good name.” Her mother smiled encouragingly. “And don't rush into it. Think about it for a while.” She walked over to the bassinet, shook out the yellow daisy blanket and refolded it again. “Cyrus and I are going to the 21 Club now for a wine tasting. Let Myrtle know what you want for dinner, and she'll fix you something.” She bent down to kiss Blair on top of her head. “Just a good name,” she repeated before leaving the room.

  Blair stayed where she was, contemplating the color scheme and her new role of Big Sister, Namer of Babies. Her room didn't even smell the same. It smelled new, new and full of promise.

  “I've been pushing for Daisy,” Aaron said, ambling into the room in a pair of maroon flannel Harvard boxer shorts and nothing else. His baby dreadlocks had grown past his ears again, and his bare chest was tan from his week in Hawaii. He would've looked good if he wasn't so annoying.

  “How was Hawaii?” Blair asked, although she really didn't care.

  Aaron's dark eyes widened excitedly. “Even better than I thought. I met this girl who's like, even more into being a vegetarian than me. Her parents are Haitian refugees. From Berkeley. She taught me to surf. We had some trippy times.”

  Blair raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. “But now you're back,” she remarked.

  He nodded. “So, what do you think of Daisy—for the kid's name?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Duh, Harvard Boy, that's way too obvious.” She twirled her ruby ring around and around on her finger. “So what was that Haitian girl's name, anyway?”

  Aaron frowned. “Yael. She said a lot of people say it like ‘Yai-elle’ or something, but she pronounced just like the school: Yale.”

  “Yale.” Blair stopped twirling her ring, the corners of her mouth curving up into a smile. “Yale.”

  Of course.

  S and n get it out of their systems

  With Blair out of the apartment, there was no reason not to invite Nate over.

  “Hey,” he said when she greeted him at the door. It felt kind of strange seeing Serena back in her old surroundings. But it was also kind of nice.

  “Hey.” She kissed his cheek and helped him out of his rain-soaked trench coat, hanging it neatly in the coat closet. His gray Abercrombie T-shirt looked worn and soft, and she couldn't wait to get her hands on it.

  “Sorry things got so weird at the party,” she said. Thinking about it now, she didn't know why she hadn't kissed Nate back in Sun Valley, after he'd rescued her from the ditch and she was already naked and everything.

  Well, she'd just have to get naked again, wouldn't she?

  “That's okay.” Nate seemed to be waiting for something, like an explanation for why she'd summoned him there.

  She took a step toward him, her bare feet cold on the hardwood floor. She was wearing only a thin white cotton undershirt and a denim miniskirt, and she shivered, partly from the chill, but mostly out of nervous anticipation. Nate reached out and rubbed her bare arms.

  “Nate?” Serena asked, collapsing into him. She could feel his breath on her face. Oh, Natie. “You know how we're always such good buds and we understand each other perfectly and we're always there for each other, even when things get really messed up?”

  “Uh-huh,” Nate replied hoarsely, still rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

  “Well, why can't we just be together?”

  Nate stopped rubbing. It was impossible even to think of saying no to the most gorgeous girl in his entire universe when she was already one of his best friends and was practically throwing herself at him. Maybe if he just gave her a little kiss and told her gently that it wasn't meant to be … He leaned in and kissed her, very tentatively, on the mouth. A nice, sweet, innocent kiss.

  But Serena wasn't looking for sweet and innocent, she was looking for true love, and she kissed him back hungrily, like someone who had been waiting for this for a long, long time. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom.

  “Hey,” Nate said, stopping in the doorway. “Is Blair still staying here?”

  “Hey,” Serena said back, dropping his hand. How could it be true love if Nate was in love
with someone else? She sighed and fell back on her bed, smiling sadly up at the ceiling. “Blair moved back home.”

  “Oh.” Nate went over and sat down on the bed next to her. He touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  Serena grinned. Even if he wasn't her one true love, Nate was still her sweetie. “Blair and Erik didn't go all the way,” she told him, because she knew he'd want to know.

  “How do you know that?” Nate asked suspiciously. He hadn't missed the fact that Serena and Blair were fighting.

  Serena rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in her arms like a little girl. “I asked him?” Her voice was muffled. “He is my brother, you know.”

  Nate didn't say anything. He was relieved, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

  She propped herself up on her elbows. “You know I love you, Natie. But I think we both know who you really wanna be kissing.”

  Nate nodded and turned his head to look out the rain-spattered window. A big bird was perched on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He wondered if it was one of those peregrine falcons that were always flying around Central Park, surprising people by not being pigeons. The falcons were elegant and beautiful, and seeing them every now and again was somehow reassuring.

  He lay down next to Serena and wrapped his arms around her in a brotherly embrace. “I love you, too,” he whispered in her ear.

  Serena smiled and closed her eyes. She could imagine herself and Nate lying like this in her dorm room at college—wherever it was she wound up. They would never be a couple, but every once in a while, they would get together and hug and kiss, just like this. It would always be completely harmless, and Blair would never have to know. And eventually they'd stop doing it, when Serena finally found true love.

  If that ever happened.

  V has more talent than a commune full of hippies

  When Vanessa arrived home, Ruby, Gabriela, and Arlo were huddled around the television, eating raw soybeans and drinking warm sake.

  “What's going on? I thought you guys were leaving today.” Vanessa set down her heavy bag of camera equipment and peeled off her jacket. She'd been caught in a sudden downpour and was soaked through.

  “They're leaving soon.” Ruby clicked off the TV, and the three of them flashed the fakest smiles Vanessa had ever seen. “How was your day, dear?”

  Vanessa untied her Doc Martens and kicked them off. From the corner of the living room, Ruby's parakeet, Tofu, squawked inside his cage, as if to warn her, Something's up! Something's up!

  Gabriela stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of the elaborately printed pink-and-purple Japanese kimono she was wearing. Her gray braids were pinned on top of her head, Heidi style.

  “What're you guys still doing here, anyway?” Vanessa asked. “I thought you were going home today.”

  Her father blew his nose noisily in response. He was wearing a red wool sweater that had very obviously been made for a woman, because the three-quarter-length sleeves pouffed out at the shoulders.

  Vanessa walked toward him, squinting. His face was all splotchy and his eyes were red. “Dad, are you sick?”

  Arlo Abrams shook his head and blew his nose once more. Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks.

  “Hush, sweetheart,” Gabriela whispered, although it wasn't clear to whom.

  “It's your films,” Ruby finally burst out. She'd never been able to keep quiet about anything. “I showed them your films.”

  Excuse me?

  Vanessa glared at her older sister, too furious to say anything. Then Arlo blew his nose again, his chest heaving with sobs. Vanessa was sort of worried he might be having a heart attack or something.

  “Dad?”

  “We just had no idea you were so … artistic,” Gabriela faltered. “No idea.”

  It wasn't exactly a compliment, but Vanessa hadn't exactly been fishing for compliments. Her films were so dark and weird, hardly anyone ever really liked them.

  Arlo grabbed the remote and switched the TV on again. They'd been watching the reinterpretation she'd done of a scene from War and Peace, starring none other than Dan. The camera followed a scrap of dirty paper being blown by the wind through Madison Square Park at sunset and then settled on Dan, lying collapsed on a park bench. It zoomed in on his face, and Vanessa's heart dropped into her knees.

  “Can we turn that off now?” she pleaded. But no one paid any attention.

  “It's not just that you can tell a story,” Arlo gushed, entranced. “But the way you do it, like a painter.” He turned his teary, bloodshot eyes to Vanessa. “You put us all to shame.”

  “She got into NYU early, too, cuz she's so freakin' good,” Ruby burbled proudly.

  Vanessa's face burned. “Shut up.”

  Gabriela wrapped a tentative, kimonoed arm around her shoulder. “We're so proud of you, Eggplant,” she whispered, using the endearing name Vanessa hadn't heard since she was a baby.

  Then Arlo came over and hugged the both of them, his face damp with tears. Ruby reached out to rub his back, and soon the four of them were wrapped in a group hug even the hippiest of hippies couldn't top. It was totally un-Vanessa, but it wasn't like anyone was filming it or anything.

  “Jordy's going to come stay with us for a while this summer. Is that all right?” Gabriela murmured while they were still hugging.

  Ruby snorted. “I don't think she minds what you do with Jordy.”

  “Oh, I thought you liked him,” her mother said.

  “I do,” Vanessa faltered. And Jordy was nice while he lasted. “I just—”

  “She likes that Dan friend of hers from the picture a bit better,” Arlo interrupted, as if reading her mind. “He's really got something.”

  Ruby giggled, and Vanessa kicked her in her leather pants.

  Yeah, Dan definitely had something, and she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

  Her.

  gossipgirl.net

  Disclaimer: All the real names of places, people, and events have been altered or abbreviated to protect the innocent. Namely, me.

  hey people!

  Isn't it great to be back? Isn't it great to be back and still not know where we're going to school next year? Isn't it great to be back when it feels like our lives are hanging in the balance and we're all going completely bonkers? Well, here's a little something to look forward to:

  Calling all boys

  You know you want to meet me, and here's your chance. Tomorrow is our first day back at school, and the weather is supposed to be unseasonably warm and beautiful. As soon as school lets out, you'll find me lying on a red blanket, soaking up the sun on the grass in Sheep Meadow. You are all welcome to join me, and you are also all welcome to bring snacks and beverages. No pretzels or Gatorade, please. Sorry, girls, but this is a boys-only invite. Boys have never been as good at waiting as we are, and you know what they say—the best things come to people who wait.

  Your e-mail

  Q: Dear GG,

  You know that crazy girl N met in rehab? Well, I live down the road from her, and we went to Greenwich Saints together until she got kicked out. Anyway, I heard my parents talking about how she was in jail in Sun Valley for indecent exposure, and it's so crazy because her mom was in South America and had no idea she was even there so that kid C's parents had to bail her out, too, even though they didn't even know her.

  —Conngurl

  A: Dear Conngurl,

  That would explain a lot, I guess. And I have to say, C's parents deserve a medal for their generosity. Personally, I think she might have benefited from a few extra nights in the slammer. But what I really want to know is—what did they give her to wear in her jail cell??

  —GG

  Q: Dear GossipGurl,

  ok, so i'm not a stalking pervert, but i did sort of follow this boy i have a total crush on down to s's building and then sat on the met steps in the rain, waiting for him to come out, which he didn't until way after dark and now i have a really bad cold. i feel so stupid.
/>   —atishoo

  A: Dear atishoo,

  That's a little sad. Although I know which boy you're talking about, and had I spotted him on the street I probably would've done the same thing. What has S got that we haven't? Don't answer that—we're jealous enough of her as it is. BTW, I have a cold, too!

  —GG

  Q: Dear GG,

  I heard college acceptance letters are coming late this year because the schools can't decide whether to increase class size or just reject people. They're having a secret forum about it this week.

  —ino

  A: Dear ino,

  I don't talk to people who spread stupid rumors about college acceptance letters. We're all paranoid enough as it is.

  —GG

  Sightings

  B in the Wicker Garden buying an adorable yellow cashmere bunny rabbit—probably the first cashmere item ever she didn't a) buy for herself or b) steal. N staring up at B's building on Seventy-second Street like it had all the answers. Don't count on it, sweet pea. J and her gangly girlfriend stalking that poor boy from the Smale School again. What is it with those two? D on the L train to Williamsburg. D not getting off the L train in Williamsburg. V filming new grass growing in Central Park—I'm not kidding, she's that serious about her work.

  P.S.

  I won't totally spoil it for you, but has anyone seen C lately? He has a new little friend, and I'm dying to know where it came from. It's so exotic!

  See you in the park, boys!!

  You know you love me.

  gossip girl

  Why s and b are still friends

  “I made us tea.” Serena pointed to the white cups and saucers sitting on her orange plastic lunch tray. She sniffed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her pale green Calypso blouse. “With honey.”

  Blair permitted Serena to sit down across from her at the blond wood cafeteria table and accepted the tea. She had a terrible cold. Tea with honey would be just the thing. Besides, she and Serena always sat together at lunchtime, especially when they had peer group, for which they were both leaders.