Blair sat down hard on the end of her bed, put her drink on the floor, and grasped the bedspread in tight, white-knuckled fists. She looked up at Nate. But Nate was already turning to go, striding back down the hall to see if it could possibly be true. Had Serena van der Woodsen really come back? The movie of Blair's life had taken a sudden, tragic turn. Blair clutched her stomach, ravenous again. She should have gone for the hot dog after all. s is back! “Hello, hello, hello!” Blair's mother crowed, kissing the smooth, hollow cheeks of each van der Woodsen. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss! “I know you weren't expecting Serena, dear,” Mrs. van der Woodsen whispered in a concerned, confidential tone. “I hope it's all right.” “Of course. Yes, it's fine,” Mrs. Waldorf said. “Did you come home for the weekend, Serena?” Serena van der Woodsen shook her head and handed her vintage Burberry coat to Esther, the maid. She pushed a stray blond hair behind her ear and smiled at her hostess. When Serena smiled, she used her eyes–those dark, almost navy blue eyes. It was the kind of smile you might try to imitate, posing in the bathroom mirror like an idiot. The magnetic, delicious, “you can't stop looking at me, can you?” smile supermodels spend years perfecting. Well, Serena smiled that way without even trying. “No, I'm here to–” Serena started to say. Serena's mother interrupted hastily. “Serena has decided that boarding school is not for her,” she announced, patting her hair casually, as if it were no big deal. She was the middle-aged version of utter coolness. The whole van der Woodsen family was like that. They were all tall, blond, thin, and super-poised, and they never did anything–play tennis, hail a cab, eat spaghetti, go to the toilet–without maintaining their cool. Serena especially. She was gifted with the kind of coolness that you can't acquire by buying the right handbag or the right pair of jeans. She was the girl every boy wants and every girl wants to be. “Serena will be back at Constance tomorrow,” Mr. van der Woodsen said, glancing at his daughter with steely blue eyes and an owl-like mixture of pride and disapproval that made him look scarier than he really was. “Well, Serena. You look lovely, dear. Blair will be thrilled to see you,” Blair's mother trilled. “You're one to talk,” Serena said, hugging her. “Look how skinny you are! And the house looks so fantastic. Wow. You've got some awesome art!” Mrs. Waldorf smiled, obviously pleased, and wrapped her arm around Serena's long, slender waist. “Darling, I'd like you to meet my special friend, Cyrus Rose,” she said. “Cyrus, this is Serena.” “Stunning,” Cyrus Rose boomed. He kissed Serena on both cheeks, and hugged her a little too tightly. “She's a good hugger, too,” Cyrus added, patting Serena on the hip. Serena giggled, but she didn't flinch. She'd spent a lot of time in Europe in the past two years, and she was used to being hugged by harmless, horny European gropers who found her completely irresistible. She was a full-on groper magnet. “Serena and Blair are best, best, best friends,” Eleanor Waldorf explained to Cyrus. “But Serena went away to Hanover Academy in eleventh grade and spent this summer traveling. It was so hard for poor Blair with you gone this past year, Serena,” Eleanor said, growing misty-eyed. “Especially with the divorce. But you're back now. Blair will be so pleased.” “Where is she?” Serena asked eagerly, her perfect, pale skin glowing pink with the prospect of seeing her old friend again. She stood on tip-toe and craned her head to look for Blair, but she soon found herself surrounded by parents–the Archibalds, the Coateses, the Basses, and Mr. Farkas–who each took turns kissing her and welcoming her back. Serena hugged them happily. These people were home to her, and she'd been gone a long time. She could hardly wait for life to return to the way it used to be. She and Blair would walk to school together, spend Double Photography in Sheep Meadow in Central Park, lying on their backs, taking pictures of pigeons and clouds, smoking and drinking Coke and feeling like hard-core artistes. They would have cocktails at the Star Lounge in the Tribeca Star Hotel again, which always turned into sleepover parties because they would get too drunk to get home, so they'd spend the night in the suite Chuck Bass's family kept there. They would sit on Blair's four-poster bed and watch Audrey Hepburn movies, wearing vintage lingerie and drinking gin and lime juice. They would cheat on their Latin tests like they always did–amo, amas, amat was still tattooed on the inside of Serena's elbow in permanent marker (thank God for three-quarter length sleeves!). They'd drive around Serena's parents' estate in Ridgefield, Connecticut, in the caretaker's old Buick station wagon, singing the stupid hymns they sang in school and acting like crazy old ladies. They'd pee in the downstairs entrances to their classmates' brownstones and then ring the doorbells and run away. They'd take Blair's little brother, Tyler, to the Lower East Side and leave him there to see how long it took for him to find his way home–a work of charity, really, since Tyler was now the most street-wise boy at St. George's. They'd go out dancing with a huge group and lose ten pounds just from sweating in their leather pants. As if they needed to lose the weight. They would go back to being their regular old fabulous selves, just like always. Serena couldn't wait. “Got you a drink,” Chuck Bass said, elbowing the clusters of parents out of the way and handing Serena a tumbler of whiskey. “Welcome back,” he added, ducking down to kiss Serena's cheek and missing it intentionally, so that his lips landed on her mouth. “You haven't changed,” Serena said, accepting the drink. She took a long sip. “So, did you miss me?” “Miss you? The question is, did you miss me?” Chuck said. “Come on, babe, spill. What are you doing back here? What happened? Do you have a boyfriend?” “Oh, come on, Chuck,” Serena said, squeezing his hand. “You know I came back because I want you so badly. I've always wanted you.” Chuck took a step back and cleared his throat, his face flushed. She'd caught him off guard, a rare feat. “Well, I'm all booked up for this month, but I can put you on the waiting list,” Chuck said huffily, trying to regain his composure. But Serena was barely listening to him anymore. Her dark blue eyes scanned the room, looking for the two people she wanted to see most, Blair and Nate. Finally Serena found them. Nate was standing by the doorway to the hall, and Blair was standing just behind him, her head bowed, fiddling with the buttons on her black cardigan. Nate was looking directly at Serena, and when her gaze met his, he bit his bottom lip the way he always did when he was embarrassed. And then he smiled. That smile. Those eyes. That face. “Come here,” Serena mouthed at him, waving her hand. Her heart sped up as Nate began walking toward her. He looked better than she remembered, much better. Nate's heart was beating even faster than hers. “Hey, you,” Serena breathed when Nate hugged her. He smelled just like he always smelled. Like the cleanest, most delicious boy alive. Tears came to Serena's eyes and she pressed her face into Nate's chest. Now she was really home. Nate's cheeks turned pink. Calm down, he told himself. But he couldn't calm down. He felt like picking her up and twirling her around and kissing her face over and over. “I love you!” he wanted to shout, but he didn't. He couldn't. Nate was the only son of a navy captain and a French society hostess. His father was a master sailor and extremely handsome, but a little lacking in the hugs department. His mother was the complete opposite, always fawning over Nate and prone to emotional fits during which she would lock herself in her bedroom with a bottle of champagne and call her sister on her yacht in Monaco. Poor Nate was always on the verge of saying how he really felt, but he didn't want to make a scene or say something he might regret later. Instead, he kept quiet and let other people steer the boat, while he laid back and enjoyed the steady rocking of the waves. He might look like a stud, but he was actually pretty weak. “So, what have you been up to?” Nate asked Serena, trying to breathe normally. “We missed you.” Notice that he wasn't even brave enough to say, “I missed you”? “What have I been up to?” Serena repeated. She giggled. “If you only knew, Nate. I've been so, so bad!” Nate clenched his fists involuntarily. Man oh man, had he missed her. Ignored as usual, Chuck slunk away from Serena and Nate and crossed the room to Blair, who was once again standing with Kati and Isabel. “A thousand bucks says she got kicked out,” Chuck told them. “And doesn't she look fucked? I think she's been thoroughly fucked. Maybe she had some sort of prostitution ring going on up there. The Merry Madam of Hanover Academy,” he added, laughing at his own stupid joke. “I think she looks kind of spaced out, too,” Kati said. “Maybe she's on heroin.” “Or some prescription drug,” Isabel said. “You know, like, Valium or Prozac. Maybe she's gone totally nuts.” “She could've been making her own E,” Kati agreed. “She was always good at science.” “I heard she joined some kind of cult,” Chuck offered. “Like, she's been brainwashed and now all she thinks about is sex and she like, has to do it all the time.” When is dinner going to be ready? Blair wondered, tuning out her friends' ridiculous speculations. She had forgotten how pretty Serena's hair was. How perfect her skin was. How long and thin her legs were. What Nate's eyes looked like when he looked at her–like he never wanted to blink. He never looked at Blair that way.