Sinners and Saints

Chapter 9

Hey, Upper East Siders, it's that time of year again, when the mere act of descending a staircase means you're a woman. 

That's right...debutante season. 

And from what we hear, there's been some changes in the lineup.

Blair, Serena, and I were on speaking terms again once she called us the day after Thanksgiving apologizing and expressing how she was just anxious about her dad coming back.

 I accepted the apology not really looking for any more reasons to fight with her. 

The three of us were walking down the street headed to debutante ball practice when Blair explains "I'm actually glad I'm going with Prince Theodore instead of Nate. 

The further we get from the breakup, the more self-involved I see he was. 

Always so brooding, so tortured." 

"A girl wants Romeo, not Hamlet." she says. 

"You do know Romeo died," Serena voices. 

"Yes, but he died for something exciting and I want my debutante ball to be something to die for." Blair remarks causing Serena and I to share a laugh. 

"S, is your mom mad that you're not being presented?" I ask Serena as we cross down a street.

 "Well she doesn't really have a leg to stand on since I found out she used to be my boyfriend's father's biggest fan." Serena says looking grossed out.

 "It doesn't sound any better out loud." I tell her. 

We continue to converse down the streets of Manhattan before we finally arrive at the event center for practice. 

Once inside we go our separate ways for the time being. 

During one of the dance breaks Nate finds me pulling me aside before explaining how he couldn't believe Blair was being escorted by Prince Theodore. 

"Are you jealous?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. 

Nate scoffs before saying "It's just every time I see her lately, something's different. She's been colder than usual." 

"Ugh, tell me about it" I tell him, giving him a rundown on what happened on Thanksgiving.

 Nate apologizes on behalf of Blair for the Thanksgiving situation before stating "With my dad in rehab, it's like the pressure's finally off me. You know, I can see Blair clearly, and it's... I don't know, I..I think I miss her." 

I look up at him worried about my friend before shrugging my shoulders

 "If you miss here. Tell her, Nate. It's simple. Besides, she's been dreaming of going to this ball with you since we were like 10. It should be relatively easy to convince her to go with you." 

Nate smiles at me, liking my advice. "Speaking of convincing. How did you get Chuck to be your escort?" he asks me. 

"Wellll I actually didn't have to do any convincing. Chuck asked me if he could be my escort on Thanksgiving night when he came by with desserts." I tell him. 

Nate looks surprised by the news and deep in thought by what I just revealed. 

We couldn't continue our conversation because the break was over so we quickly said bye before going our separate ways again.

Later that day I was running fashionably late to meet with CeCe van der Woodsen at Blair's.