Welcome back Upper East Siders, have you missed me?
The last time we saw the elite friend group, they were young adults.
But now, they have children, and you won't believe the scandals that await...
TW : strong language, depiction of bad mental hea...
A/N : this chapter is a bit long, so apologies in advance :)
-So, are you going?
-What do you mean?
Ava rolled her eyes.
-You know where. Scarlett's Halloween gala.
The Van Der Woodsens were good friends of Violet's mother, but in truth she hardly knew Scarlett and Tara, Serena and Dan's daughters. Dan had started working for the National Geographic when Violet was 7.
She remembered because she was always invited to Scarlett's birthday parties, and he often wouldn't be there because of his job. She tried to hide it, but she knew it bothered her. When she and Scarlett were younger they spent alot of time together, and became particularly close due to the fact that their mothers were best friends.
However, as soon as she turned 13, she began to act as though Violet was beneath her, and started heavily teasing her because she enjoyed writing and reading, and wasn't really interested in being popular. So you might guess that she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of attending her Halloween party, which she called a gala so that it seemed more glamorous and exciting than it really was.
However, Violet liked to think that she was a mature person, and if Scarlett had invited her, maybe she was turning over a new leaf.
Her hope fizzled as soon as she saw the Van der Woodsen Humphrey penthouse.
The building glowed like a lantern in the dark night sky, and loud music caused Violet to momentarily plug her ears as she got used to the noise. At the entrance of the preposterously large structure stood two body guards who stared Violet down as though she was an old piece of gum.
-We're here for the Halloween gala. We were invited by Miss Van Der Woodsen - Humphrey?
Ava asked politely, all the while glaring at the body guards, her vintage diamond studded choker gleaming in the moonlight. She was wearing a crimson fall 1992 Vivienne Westwood slip dress and black chunky boots.
A/N : side note : this dress might exist, but if it does it's pure coincidence bc I don't know shit about fashion
-Yes, yes of course Miss Cheong.
The guard said, appearing ruffled, clearly realizing which families we belonged to.
-Thank you.
Violet stared sheepishly at them, a habit she had unfortunately obtained along with her social anxiety.
She was wearing a black flowy 90s dress her father had given her for her 17th birthday. He was often giving her things he knew she wanted, even though she never asked for them for fear of judgement.
Her hair was flowing loosely down my back in perfect waves, and her eyes were heavily outlined with black eye pencil. Her neck was adorned with several costume jewelry necklaces and an old Chanel ribbon in place of a choker.
They entered the house, and were immediately relieved of their coats. A string quartet was playing classic Halloween songs, and red and black streamers dripped from every chandelier.
It all screamed out of touch and arrogant, and Violet wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
-Violet! You came!
She turned around in surprise and saw none other than Scarlett herself. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves, and her velvety brown eyes looked steadily at her, her full lips settled into a polite smile.
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-Yeah, well, your parties are known for being pretty life changing so...
She quipped, her eyes cold and lifeless.
Scarlett's smile didn't quite meet her eyes.
-Would you like a drink?
-Sure. We'd love one. But we'll get it ourselves.
Ava said, dragging Violet by her sleeve, her heels echoing across the marble floors.
The music faded into the background, and Violet was able to focus on the party -goers dotted here and there. Some were dressed up in elegant, minimalistic halloween costumes, such as vampires, werewolves, warlocks and other variations of classical frightening characters.
Others were dressed in more modern outfits, as cheerleaders and bunnies, and movie characters, half of which she had forgotten. Halloween was a holiday she appreciated, and because of that people who dressed up like sexy bunnies made her feel like they didn't understand the point of the pagan tradition.
Ava filled two paper cups with cranberry spritz, and handed one to Violet, who gingerly sipped it, as she never knew how much alcohol was mixed in. You never knew with the kids she went to school with. They thought that chugging vodka was a perfectly wholesome way to spend a friday night.
To her surprise, it barely tasted of aperol, and was mostly just light and sweet.
-I didn't think that Scarlett would greet us. You know, since she thinks she's above me or something?
-Vi, that's ridiculous. She always says hi, even if we don't hang out anymore.
About an hour later Violet went to find the restroom, and was reapplying her eye makeup when she suddenly overheard heated whispering.
She leaned closer, and managed to make out two familiar voices :
-I told you to leave me alone!
-You don't mean that.
-Yes, I do! We broke up last night, remember!
-You look amazing Scar...
She heard kissing that didn't seem like it was reciprocated.
