Heiress ∣ Nate Archibald

Seven

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Have you heard, Upper East Siders? Burlesque is all the rage again. And sometimes a little raging is exactly what you need. 

Walking down the hallway of Constance the heiress did her best to avoid anyone from her dysfunctional friendship group: too scared to face Serena after the events of the masquerade ball and too terrified to run into Nate after yet another slip up. She had barely heard from Blair since that night, but she assumed that was down to her problems with her boyfriend and not that she was aware of her cousin's recent indiscretions. Usually if she was at the end of her cousin's firing line, she knew about it. 

Unfortunately, the thought of a peaceful, quiet day was taken from the ravenette at the sight of a rather sorrowful Nate Archibald cornering her in the hallway of a school he definitely didn't attend. The van der Bilt heir had arrived early to school that day in an attempt at finding his old friend before his girlfriend arrived on the premises, not wanting to add any fuel to the fire he was desperately trying to smother. Ophelia did her best to ignore his obviously out of place appearance but to no avail, the young boy's hand wrapping around her wrist and forcing her into the courtyard away from as many wondering eyes as possible. 

"Don't touch me." The heiress hissed between her teeth, yanking her arm away from Nate's grip before they were spotted and blasted all over Gossip Girl once again. "Lia, you've ignored my calls. What choice did I have?". "I don't know Nathaniel, maybe you could try and take a hint for once? If someone is ignoring your calls, it's usually because it means they don't want to speak to you." Crossing her arms against her chest the ravenette's eyes scanned the school grounds around her as she tried to control her frustration, sending polite fake smiles to those who looked their way to try and ease any suspicion. "You and I both know that kiss wasn't nothing." Nate persisted, forcing her dark brown eyes to meet his haunting blue ones as he pleaded. "What it was, was wrong. I made myself clear Nathaniel, for as long as you try to force things with my cousin you won't have me. The ball was a mistake and nothing more."

A flicker of hurt crossed the duo's eyes at her harsh words and tone. Ophelia wished she could be gentle with the boy in front of her, in fact she wished she didn't have to let him down at all, but she was aware the situation was already messy enough and she was never someone's second choice. "You don't mean that." Nate's voice was barely above a whisper as he willed the tears not to spill out of his eyes at her demeanor. "Whether I do or not is not up for discussion Archibald." Standing and flattening her school uniform the heiress found a smile creep onto her lips at the sight of her new friend - whom she'd abandoned at the ball but somehow had managed to speak to the entire weekend after his rather worried text sent her way. "Goodbye Nate." 

Not allowing the boy another chance to speak Ophelia walked towards Theodore who didn't hesitate to wrap his arm around the young girl's shoulder and send a glare to the still-staring Archibald. "Trouble in paradise?". Theo began to tease causing the heiress to roll her eyes and make her way down the hallways of Constance - the stares that followed the duo increased the more people realized who exactly they were. "What are you doing among these halls?". The ravenette enquired kindly, feeling grateful she could use him as an escape goat from that overly awkward conversation. "We had plans to meet up before school started so when you didn't show I decided to find out why - from the looks of it you had a better offer."