Last night she had left a message on the answering machine in his room while he was watching a Yankees game with his friends. Her voice had sounded lonely and sad and very far away, even though she lived only a block and a half away from him. Nate had never heard Serena sound so down. And since when did Serena van der Woodsen go to bed early? Nate sat down in front of one of the humming PCs in the lab. He clicked on the New Mail window and typed a message to Serena's old Constance e-mail address. He didn't know if she would check it or not, but it was worth a try. TO: serenavdw@constancebillard.edu FROM: narchibald@stjudes.edu Hey. What are you up to? I got your message last night. Sorry I wasn't there. I will definitely see you Friday, okay? Love, Nate. Then he opened up his own e-mail. Surprise, surprise, there was a note from Blair. They hadn't talked since her mother's party the night before last. TO: narchibald@stjudes.edu FROM: blairw@constancebillard.edu Dear Nate. I miss you. Monday night was supposed to be really special. Before we got interrupted I was planning for us to do something we've been talking about doing for a while. I think you know what I'm talking about. The timing wasn't right, I guess. I just wanted to tell you that I'm ready to do it. I wasn't ready before, but now I am. My Mom and Cyrus are going away on Friday and I really want you to sleep over. I love you. Call me. Love, Blair. Nate read Blair's e-mail twice and then closed the file so he wouldn't have to look at it anymore. It was only Wednesday. Was it possible that Blair could remain ignorant about him and Serena until Friday, even though she was in school with Serena every day and they were best friends and told each other everything? Chances were, no. And what about Chuck Bass? He wasn't exactly good at keeping secrets. Nate rubbed his pretty green eyes viciously. It didn't matter how Blair found out. Any way he looked at it, he was fucked. He tried to come up with a plan, but the only plan he could think of was to wait and see what happened when he saw Blair on Friday night. There was no point in getting all worked up about it now. Just then the door to the computer lab opened, and Jeremy Scott Tompkinson poked his head around the door. “Yo, Nathaniel, we're cutting Gym. Come to the park with us and play some ball.” The second bell rang. Nate was late for Gym anyway, and after Gym he had lunch. Cutting sounded like an excellent idea. “Yeah, sure,” Nate said. “Hold on a sec.” He clicked on Blair's e-mail and dragged it across the screen and into the trash. “Okay,” he said, standing up. “Let's go.” Hmmm, if he really loved her, he probably would've saved the e-mail, or at least answered it, right? It was a sunny October day in Central Park. Out in Sheep Meadow lots of kids were cutting school, just lying in the grass, smoking, or playing Frisbee. The trees surrounding the meadow were a blaze of yellows, oranges, and reds, and beyond the trees loomed the beautiful old apartment buildings on Central Park West. A guy was selling weed, and Anthony Avuldsen bought some to add to what Nate had picked up at the pizza place yesterday at lunch. Nate, Jeremy, Anthony, and Charlie Dern passed an enormous ............