Chapter 23

Chapter 23

“Blair, darling, I’m telling you, Nate will simply love you in this dress.” Eleanor walked into the room, carrying a white vintage dress lined with pearls. She held it up in front of Blair as they stood in front of a large mirror.
“I told you already, Mother,” Blair sighed, “Me and Nate broke up. For good.”
Smoothing out the dress, Eleanor said, “Exactly. And this is the perfect way to win him back.”
“But I don’t want him back! I broke up with him! Besides, I already have someone else.”
“Darling, a lady doesn’t run from man to man,” Mrs. Waldorf said, frowning. “It is most…”
“Unladylike?” Blair finished. Her mother nodded, and Blair walked over to her bed. Sitting down, she looked wearily at the white pearled dress. “Mother, I don’t care. I want nothing more to do with Nate Archibald. End of story.”
“Well,” Eleanor said, placing the dress down on a chair, “I suppose it’s a bad thing that Nathaniel will be coming to the dinner party.”
Blair stared at her mother, shocked. “What?”
“Yes. I invited him and his mother over. Mrs. Archibald’s invitation was out of sympathy for her husband, of course, but Nate really wanted to come.”
Blair put a hand to her head and fell backwards into the soft sheets. “Mother…”
“Blair, I will have no more of this nonsense. Nathaniel is coming to this dinner party, and you will be a sweet and courteous hostess. You know what I expect of you, my dear.”
B glared at her mother. Mrs. Waldorf gave her a tight-lipped smile, and handed her the white dress.
“This one, then?”
Sighing, Blair nodded.

“I’m still surprised that Blair agreed to invite me to her party,” Nate said, adjusting his tie. “You know, she’s not a virgin anymore. Well, at least that’s what she told me.”
Chuck and Nate were up in his room, trying on their suits for the dinner party. Chuck had selected a bright red bow tie; the very same one he had worn during a certain first date.
“Maybe she just lied to you,” Chuck said. “You know, she didn’t want to look like a loser in front of you.”
“Maybe...” Nate took out his cell phone. No messages again. “Hey, do you know anything about yesterday? I asked Serena to meet me for lunch, and she never showed.”
“Of course not. But Serena van der Woodsen isn’t the most reliable person in the world.”
“Yeah, but she is pretty hot.” Chuck raised his eyebrows at Nate, who avoided his stare.
“Uh huh,” Chuck said, still looking at Nate. “Sure is.”

“So are you coming with me to Blair’s dinner party?” Serena was in a cab, going to pick up some accessories from Tiffany’s.
“Well, you know how I’m usually against that kind of thing, but sure.” Serena laughed. “Dan, I promise, it won’t be as bad as some of the other parties we’ve been to.”
“Oh, you mean like the Bass Brunch? That was the worst morning of my life.” Serena laughed again.
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, besides Blair getting pissed at me, Blair almost telling you about me and Nate, Chuck blurting it out instead, and us breaking up, it was a pretty fun day.”
“Don’t forget the part where I shoved Bass into a waiter. That was my favourite part.”
“Oh, yes, how could I forget? You sure love beating on him, don’t you?”
“Well, anything to protect Jenny.”
“Hmm, yes. But I don’t think you’ll need to protect Jenny from him anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but Chuck kind of has a thing for Blair.”
“You mean, Blair Waldorf? The girlfriend of Chuck Bass’s best friend?”
“Hey, I never said he would stop being himself.”
Dan laughed. “That guy never ceases to amaze.”
Serena smiled. “That’s what everyone says.”

Well, the Waldorfs are hosting a dinner party in a few days, and all our favourite UESers are getting ready for the special night. We hear N was invited, against B’s will. This should be... interesting.
V’s been flying under the radar lately; we’re guessing her next attack on SVDW will be silent and sweet. Well, not for Serena, of course.
And what about our notoriously devilish Chuck Bass? What will he be planning for the evening? Well, we know what he’ll be wearing. And someone should tell him that red bow ties and hydrangea corsages don’t go together.

xoxo, GOSSIP GIRL