Gossip Girl: It Had To Be You

Check out their sweet suite

"Those two bags go in here," Blair instructed the strapping, tan Sun Valley Lodge porter. She indicated her black quilted leather Louis Vuitton travel valise and Nate's red nylon Burton snowboarding bag. The porter removed a wooden luggage rack from the closet, unfolded it at the end of the king-size California bed, and gently placed Blair's valise on top of it. Blair pointed at Serena's silver Tumi duffel. "That one goes next door."

Nate came out of the suite's beige marble–tiled bathroom wearing only a pair of red-and-royal-blue paisley board shorts. His chest and arms were muscled from playing lacrosse and still bore the remnants of a tan from Christmas sailing in the Virgin Islands. Smoke oozed out of the bathroom where he'd just enjoyed a wee joint from the stash he'd hidden inside a knotted sock at the bottom of his snowboarding bag.

"I'm going for a swim. Want to come?" He grinned widely at Blair and she threw herself at him with the total abandon of someone on vacation at the same resort where Marilyn Monroe had flirted with Ernest Hemingway. The gold Tiffany pendant he'd given her banged between her breasts in the deep plunge of her black Loro Piana V-neck sweater. He gazed down at it with stoned adoration.

"I have to wait for my dad," Blair breathed, kissing him fiercely. The room's beige-and-black décor and heavy tan canvas curtains were unexpectedly ugly, but as long as she was in Nate's arms she didn't care. "We're going to have so much fun!"

Nate held her small, foxlike face in his hands and kissed her back. He couldn't wait until that night. Hotel beds were so comfortable, and there were no weird reminders of childhood or parents. No pets, or photographs, or teddy bears, or eavesdropping moms. Just him and Blair and that big bed. Awesome.

Serena stood in the suite's adjoining junior bedroom in front of the oversize windows, watching the skiers in the distance as they crisscrossed the snowy slopes of Baldy Mountain like colorful insects. The porter came in and placed her silver duffel bag on the wooden luggage rack at the foot of the lone double bed. She didn't mind having a room all to herself. She'd just have to sleep with the television on to drown out the sound of Blair and Nate, giggling and talking in baby voices to each other like they were doing right now.

She didn't even know why she'd come, except that she always went to Sun Valley with Blair for spring break. Plus, Blair was going to be with her dad for the first time since he'd run away to France with his boyfriend. If she was going to start acting weird and making herself sick all over the place, Serena wanted to be there.

Masochist.

"We got six inches of powder last night," the porter informed her with the dorky hell-yeah enthusiasm of a true ski bum.

Serena whirled around, the skirt of her gray cashmere pleated Marc Jacobs tunic fanning out around the thighs of her skinny black True Religion jeans. The porter was actually pretty cute. Thick coppery brown hair poked out from beneath the dark green Dartmouth cap he was wearing to accessorize his boring brown Sun Valley Lodge sweater with the queer golden sun embroidered on the chest. His turquoise blue eyes sparkled, and his surfer dude–handsome face was dotted with freckles. He was about twenty-two, and had probably graduated from Dartmouth last year. Still, he didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about being a porter.

Although his parents were probably slightly disappointed.

Serena cocked her magnificent blond head. She might be able to tolerate this vacation if she had some sort of distraction in the form of an older boy. Maybe Nate would see her with this other guy and become unspeakably jealous. He'd spend the rest of their holiday trying to make it up to her. After all, Blair really did need to spend some quality time with her dad.

That's the spirit!

"Are you working all day? Could you take me skiing?" she asked boldly. She took a step toward him and held out her hand. "I'm Serena."