𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 // 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵

𝒪𝓃𝑒

Talia opened her eyes to find the sun starting to rise over the east side. She stepped out of bed, glancing at the view of Central Park from her floor to ceiling windows as she made her way downstairs to join her father for breakfast.

"Morning" Talia greeted, her smiling beaming from ear to ear as she slipped into the chair at the obscurely long dining room table. Her father seated at the head of the table, Talia took the seat on his right.

"Talia? Excited for school? That can't be my daughter. What happened to her last night?" Jack Bass joked as he placed the newspaper down on the table, making eye contact with her. He had come a long way from being cold to caring but he also had a long ways to go. He could be careless and a bad role model at times.

"After online school last year and being cooped up here in the penthouse I'm ready to go back" Talia explained as her coffee was brought to her. "Thank you" she mumbled to the maid who had brought it. Talia quickly snapped a picture for her story, before she took the cup of coffee straight up to her lips, taking a few sips.

"Well I'm glad to see you're happy. We have some less than exciting news to talk about after school" Jack said sighing after his statement. Talia dropped the smile knowing the news was about her mother who was still stuck in Japan since the start of the pandemic.

Her mother and father were traveling the globe, having stopped in Japan to visit family when it had hit. Her mother and father were forced to stay in Japan at the beginning until the government had let her father back in. Her mother was still stuck in her home country, unable to come back. Everyday it seemed like she was never going to come back.

"She's still stuck?" Talia asked disappointed.

"We can talk later. Eat and then get dress" Jack said having a sad tone with her. He quickly turned his attention back to the newspaper he was reading prior to Talia coming back downstairs.

She glanced down at the prepared breakfast brought to her pushing the contents around the plate with her fork before forcing a few bites down. Talia was in a great mood until hearing her mother wasn't returning any time soon.

After managing to eat half the scrambled eggs and a piece of toast she pushed the plate forward, and excused herself up to her room where she tried to put herself in a better mood as she got ready for school.

Once she was dressed and ready to go she headed back downstairs to say goodbye to her dad once more.

"I'll see you later" Talia called out.

"Enjoy your first day of Junior year" Jack called back as the elevator door closed. She smiled as the elevator rode down from the penthouse, this was going to be her year, she was sure of it.

When her limo arrived at school Talia exited gracefully before making her way up the steps of Constance Billards, a now co-ed school that was flooded with history of her closest relatives. Specifically Chuck Bass, Blair Waldorf and their friends.

"If it isn't the great Talia Bass, I must say, you looked prettier on screen" Max joked as she walked up joining the group. She hugged Julien before sitting on the table next to Max, lightly swatting him on the back of his head.

"I could say the same about you. I'm assuming you used a filter?" Talia joked back making Max smile. He patted her leg, giving her a smile that indicated he had missed her and her sarcasm.

"Julien, Talia" Aubrey screeched from across the schoolyard.

"Aubrey" Julien exclaimed grabbing the girl in a hug. Aki made his way around saying hi to the rest of the group. The eight of them sat at their signature table, practically stalking the prey as they walked into school.

"Well, well if it isn't the eight elites all together again" Aki said.

"You can change the group chat name all you want, it's not sticking"

"Eight elites... we could do better Ak" Talia commented as he stood next to her.

"You'll get Kurosawa one day... is that what your face looks like without a mask?" Aki asked Max who laughed at the joke. Talia gave him a smirk proving she was right about the filter joke.

"The gram can wait, ladies, she's looking for her sister" Audrey muttered. Julien quickly turned around responding with "she's not my sister"

"A DNA test would disagree."

"Half sister" Julien countered.

"It's a big deal, and we should not pretend otherwise. She enrolled and moved here like some stalker" Aubrey continued despite sensing Julien's uncomfortableness with the topic. "And if it wasn't for headmistress Burton who gave JC a head ups, we wouldn't have even known"

"Their dad's hate each other" Obie added making sure the group was aware of it.

"If he knew Zoya was here he'd pull me out of school.  Guys really it's not a big deal. I have everyone I need right here, live and in person" Julien said as she gripped everyone's hands to comfort and thank them. Talia gave Julien a weak smile, her mind was instantly brought back to her mom.

"So how's your mom? My mom was asking me this morning" Aki asked quickly changing the subject. She snapped out of her day dream looking up at Aki. "Sorry I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay. My dad told me she's not coming home soon. I talked to her a few days ago but the time difference is kind of hard" Talia said everyone switched their attention from Zoya to Talia.

"T, I'm sorry" Aubrey muttered gripping her hand in hers. Talia smiled at Aubrey's kind gesture.

"I'm fine guys. My mom will come home soon. I know it" Talia said. The group began to mutter amongst themselves before their attention shifted to the newbie walking up the steps.

"Is that your sister?" Max asked as everyone stared. Julien's mouth hung slightly open. The group watched as she stared back, standing in place like a statue for a minute before continuing on her way.

"I like her shoes" Julien commented before turning back to her phone. Audrey and Talia exchanged a weird look with one another before talking about their time in quarantine.