yellow pee behind it in the white snow。 Well； it？s nice to knowshe hasn？t changed。
May your Valentine？s Day be filled with adoration； pampering； and a pair of gorgeous；
tiny…heeled Jimmy Choo sandals that are pletely useless in this weather。 Just remember： You
are totally worth it。
You know you love me。
gossip girl
the icing onb ？s cake
All Monday morning Blair had been dreading peer group。 Not that she minded talking about
hooking up with boys； or peer pressure； or whatever else the freshmen wanted to talk about。 After
all； today was Valentine？s Day； soeveryone at Constance was talking about hooking up with boys。
What she dreaded were all the questions the ninth graders in the group were going to ask Serena
about walking the runway in the Les Best show； what it had been like to hang out with all those
famous models； and blah； blah； blah。 They？d probably ask about her stupid I
LOVEAARONT…shirt and what was going on with her and Aaron； becausethey？d heard blah； blah；
blah。 As if it was all so very interesting。
Not。
Why was it that the world was so full of followers when there were so many choices in life？
Blair slipped an extra slice of chocolate cake onto her tray just to make sure she？d have something
to do while the girls in peer group were boring her to death。
？Hello；？ she practically yawned when she sat down at the crowded table a few minutes after the
group had begun。 ？Sorry I？m late。？
？That？s okay；？ Serena replied gaily。 She？d gotten a plimentary trim and highlight job before
the fashion show； and her long blond hair was even shinier and more perfect than it had been
before。 ？We were just talking about Elise？s parental problems。 She thinks her dad might be having
an affair。？
Elise？s thick； straw…colored bangs were pulled back and clipped to the sides of her head with tiny
pink heart barrettes。 There were dark circles under her bright blue eyes； like she？d been up all
night worrying。 ？That sucks；？ Blair said sympathetically。 ？Believe me； Iknow 。？ She decided to
leave it at that。 Peer group might have been a place for sharing； but she wasn？t about to go into the
details of her father？s affairs with other men while he was still married to her mother。
Serena nodded vigorously。 ？I was just telling them how all families are totally fucked up。
Actually； Blair； your family is a perfect example；？ she added cheerfully。
Blair bristled。 ？Thanks a lot；？ she shot back。 ？But I don？t think everyone needs to hear about my
problems right now。？
Jenny bit a cuticle and banged her foot nervously against the leg of her chair。 She？d been fretting
all morning that as soon as peer group started； Elise was going to dive right in and start talking
about same…sex kissing。 Thank God Elise had other things on her mind。
？Anyway； we don？t have to talk about our messed…up families if it？s going bother you；？ Blair
told Elise； trying to be supportive。
Elise nodded unhappily。 ？Actually therewas something else I wanted to talk about。？
Jenny winced。
Oops。
Blair nodded encouragingly； ？Yes？ What is it？？ Vicky Reinerson waved her hand in the air。 She
was wearing a red wool cape similar to the one Serena had modeled in the Les Best show； except
hers was a little used looking； like she？d borrowed it from her grandmother or something。
Guess she didn？t get the message that capes are back in style thisfall ； not this spring。
？Oh； but after she？s done will youplease tell us all about the Les Best show； Serena？？ Vicky
pleaded。 ？Youpromised 。？
Serena giggled as if she hadtons of crazy stories to tell。 Blair wanted to smack her。 ？The craziest
thing was that I had a snowball fight with Les Best himself and I didn？t even know it was him！？
Serena glanced at Blair； who was glaring at her。 ？Anyway； I？ll save it for the end； if there？s time。？
She turned back to Elise。 ？What was it you were saying？？
Elise？s face turned purple as a plum。 ？I…I wanted to talk about kissing；？ she stammered。 ？About
kissinggirls 。？
Jenny kicked the legs of Elise？s chair。 Mary； Cassie； and Vicky snickered and nudged each
other？s elbows。 This was going to be good。 A rumor had gone around awhile back that Blair and
Serena had kissed each other in the hot tub in the hotel suite Chuck Bass？s family kept downtown
in the Tribeca Star。
？I think anyone should be able to kiss anyone；？ Serena replied。 ？Kissing is fun！？
Blair forked a giant piece of chocolate cake into her mouth； trying to e up with something to
top what Serena had just said。 ？Guys like to watch girls kiss；？ she declared with her mouth
full。 ？They do it all the time in the movies； just to turn guys on。？ This was true。 They？d even
talked about it in Mr。 Beckham？s film class。
？So Serena； whatwas it like to wear all those cool Les Best clothes？？ Jenny asked； desperate to
change the subject。
Serena stretched her long； lithe arms over her gorgeous blond head and sighed happily。 ？You
really want to know？？
Everyone in the group except Blair and Elise nodded eagerly。 ？Okay； I？ll tell you。？
Blair rolled her eyes； daring herself to shut Serena up by announcing the news of her torrid affair
with a married thirty…eight…year…old man； which was a hell of a lot more interesting than prancing
around on a runway in dumb clothes no one wanted to wear anyway。 She glanced down at the
table where Elise was furiously scribbling her name over and over on a sheet of notebook
paper。Elise Wells。 Miss Elise Wells。 Miss Elise Patricia Wells。 E。P。 Wells。
Suddenly Blair felt the entire contents of her stomach do a back walkover into her throat。Wells？
That wasOwen ？s last name。 And Elise had just said she thought herfather was having anaffair 。
Owen hadn？t said anything to her about a daughter； but now that she thought about it； Elise had
his same eyes； and on the stoop Elise had lit two cigarettes exactly the same way Owen had Friday
night in the bar。Christ 。 For all Blair knew； Owen hadten children that he？d just happened to forget
to mention。Fuck！
Blair scraped her chair back and bolted for the nurse？s office behind the cafeteria； getting there
just in time to spew chocolate cake all over Nurse O？Donnell？s hand…hooked farmhouse rug。 It
wasn？t pretty； but it was the quickest way to get sent home sick from school。
As soon as she left； the cafeteria began to hum with the sound of girls trading versions of what
was wrong with Blair Waldorf。
？I heard she has some rare disease。 She lost all her hair。 That？s really a wig；？ announced Laura
Salmon。
？I heard she？s pregnant with some old guy？s kid。 He？s married to a member of the royal family
and he wants to marry her； but his wife won？t give him a divorce；？ Rain Hoffstetter explained。
？Oh my God。 So she and her mom could like； have babies at the same time！？ Kati Farkas
shrieked。
？She？s not pregnant； stupid。 It？s her eating disorder；？ Isabel Coates told the girls at the same
table in a confidential whisper。 ？She？s been struggling with it for years。？
At the peer group table； Serena unwittingly set the record straight。 ？She？ll befine just as soon as
she finds out she？s into Yale。？
waspoid prince tries to score
When last…period French was finally over； Nate Archibald bid a hasty？ demain to his St。 Jude？s
School classmates and hurried up Madison Avenue to the pizza place on the corner of Eighty…sixth
Street； the workplace of his dependable pot dealer； Mitchell。 Lucky for Nate； St。 Jude？s was the
oldest boys？ school in Manhattan and had kept its tradition of ending the school day at 2P。M。 for
both lower… and upper…school boys； even though most of the other city schools let out at 4P。M。 The
school？s reasoning was that it gave the boys extra time to play sports and do the copious amounts
of homework they were sent home with every afternoon。 It also gave them plenty of time to kick
back and get high before； during； andafter they played sports and did their homework。
The last time Nate had seen Mitchell； the wisecracking Kangol hat？wearing dealer had said he？d
be moving back home to Amsterdam very soon。 Today was Nate？s last chance to score the biggest
bag of sweet； Peruvian…grown weed Mitchell could provide。 Blair had always plained about
Nate？s pot…smoking when they were together； whining about how boring it was to watch him
staring at the Persian rug on her bedroom floor for ten minutes when they could have been fooling
around or at a party somewhere。 Nate had always maintained that his pot…smoking was a mere
indulgence； like eating chocolate？something he could give up any time。 And just to prove it？not
that heneeded to prove anything to Blair anymore？he was going to go cold turkey after he？d
smoked every last leaf of pot from the giant bag he was going to buy today。 If he were careful； he
could make the bag last a good eight weeks。 Until then he preferred not to eventhink about
quitting。
？Two plain slices；？ Nate told the gangly； balding pizza chef wearing a bright purple WELE
TOLOSERVILLET…shirt。 He rested his elbows on the pizza joint？s red linoleum counter…top；
nudging aside plastic containers filled with garlic salt； red pepper flakes； and oregano。 ？Where？s
Mitchell？？
Mitchell？s little side business was no secret in the pizza parlor。 The pizza chef raised his bushy
black eyebrows。 His name might actually have been Ray； but even after years of buying pizza and
pot there Nate still wasn？t sure。 ？Mitchell？s gone already。 You missed him。？
Nate patted the back pocket of his khakis； where he？d shoved his bulging Coach wallet； a sour
lump of panic rising in his throat。 Of course he wasn？taddicted ； but he didn？t like being stuck
without any weed at all when he？d been planning to roll a nice big fatty to while away the
afternoon。 And tomorrow afternoon； and the day after that 。 。 。
？What？ You mean he left for Amsterdam already？？
Ray？or maybe it was Roy？pulled open the shiny chrome door of the pizza oven and in one expert
motion slipped two hot slices onto a double layer of paper plates and slid them across the counter
in Nate？s direction。 ？Sorry； buddy；？ he said only half sympathetically。 ？But from now on