Chapter 24 -Part 3

Chapter 24
Part 3

A teary-eyed Serena burst into the penthouse, and pulled Blair from her fans. Bringing her upstairs, S told her best friend everything. Blair just sat there, soaking up every word. When Serena had finished, Blair didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry,” S said, anxious for Blair to respond.
“Quite frankly, I’m not surprised,” B said finally. “A part of me always knew he would never get over you. But it doesn’t matter to me, because we’re over and I never wish to have to say another word to him for as long as I live. But what are you going to do about it?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Serena said honestly. “I mean, I don’t know what to tell him. I’m with Dan, and I swear on my life I’ll never be with Nate. But I suppose I’ll have to talk to him eventually.”
At that moment, the door to Blair’s room opened, and Chuck slowly came in. “Are you okay?” he asked Serena.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I mean, Nate Archibald just confessed his love to me, but I tried to play it cool.” Chuck laughed a little and came to sit with them.
“Yep, that guy’s been on you for a while now.”
“I kind of guessed that.” Serena smiled a little sorrowfully.
“I should have paid more attention to it,” Blair said, playing with Chuck’s fingers. “It was there to see all along.”
“Well, the important thing is that now everyone knows, and you’ll just have to find a way to deal with this, Serena.”
“Can’t you have him move to Vermont?” S asked desperately. “And maybe take Vanessa back with him?”
“I wish,” Chuck said, rubbing Blair’s palm. “I know he’s supposed to be my best friend, but it would be much easier to deal with this whole ‘I stole Blair’ thing if he was dead or something. I mean, he’s the only one who doesn’t know by now, and eventually someone’ll tell him, and then his fist will have a seizure all over my face.”
The girls laughed. “Yeah, well, at least the scars will bring down your ego a bit.”
“I doubt it. Scars are hot. I’ll just tell people I got in a motorcycle accident.”
Blair looked at him. “In Manhattan?”
“Hey, it happens,” Chuck insisted. They all laughed.
“Well, I think I’ll just head home.” Serena went to get up, but Blair stopped her.
“Why? The night’s still young, and I doubt Nate will show up after what happened.”
“I guess you’re right,” Serena said slowly. “I’ll just hang out with you and Jenny for a while.”
“Okay. Hey, we’ll meet you down there, okay?” Blair winked at her.
Serena rolled her eyes. “You two are disgusting,” she said, laughing.
“Close the door on your way out,” Chuck called after her as he pushed Blair onto the bed. Laughing, Blair reached up and kissed him.

Shortly after Serena had arrived downstairs, Jenny was whisked off by some sophomore from St. Jude’s. They had talked a lot, and laughed a lot, and Jenny was really having fun. The guy was only slightly taller than she was, with curly light brown hair and emerald green eyes. His name was Oliver Jacobs, and he was extremely loaded.
“So you and Blair are good friends then?” Oliver asked as he handed her a virgin cocktail.
“Um, yeah, pretty good friends. But our relationship’s kind of been rocky lately.” She daintily sipped the fruity drink.
“From what I’ve heard, all of Blair’s relationships are rocky.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “Besides, of course, the one with her boyfriend.”
Jenny looked at him anxiously. Which boyfriend was he talking about? Was he thinking of Nate, or was ‘Chair’ not that big a secret after all?
“Nate? Nate Archibald?” Oliver looked a little confused.
“Oh, um, yes, that boyfriend. Actually, they split up a while ago.”
“Oh. Well, my sympathies to Blair.” Jenny, not wanting to explain that Blair had been the one to dump Nate, and then explain further about B’s latest beau, just smiled and sipped her drink.
“Well, it’s getting kind of late, and I have a charity drive in the morning, so I should be heading off. Would you do me the honour of giving me your phone number?”
“Of course,” Jenny said, trying her best to sound ladylike. She wrote it on a slip of paper and handed it to him.
“Excellent. See you on Monday.” Oliver kissed her cheek, and said goodbye as he headed towards the door.
Jenny sighed. Oliver was smart, funny, handsome, and was interested in her. Little J reran their whole conversation through her mind. He’s sweet, too, she thought. How nice of him to help with a charity drive.
Smiling, J headed back towards her friends. Maybe Blair didn’t have to be her only way into the Upper East Side after all. And of course, Jenny could do with someone to keep her mind off of Nate.