Gossip Gay

Three: School Daze

The first day of school can be considered the biggest source of anxiety for almost every teenager in America. The same is doubly true for the posh royalty of the Upper East Side.

Not only is the first day of school a chance to turn over a new leaf, it's also a critical time to enforce the pecking order. Our own darling Queen Blair Waldorf knows that all too well.

Queen B rose to power after S and D suddenly disappeared, and she has upheld the tradition of the 'Girls of the Steps'. How will the ruler of Constance-Billiards kick this new year off? Will she openly welcome Dan and Serena back at the risk of looking like she's gone soft? Or will she put the two in their place and risk killing a friendship that's survived since pre-school?

Keep me in the loop.

You know you love me. XOXO Gossip Girl.

"You nervous?" Dan asks, fidgeting with his tie for the third time in the past five minutes. Serena glances over, a slight smile pulling at her lips.

"Maybe not as nervous as you are. I haven't seen you retie your tie this many times since the first time we both went to one of Blair's parties," She says, reaching to move his hands aside and retie the tie for him before he hangs himself with it. Her eyes search his face as she speaks in a knowing tone. "Whatever happens to do, you're going to be alright. I promise."

Dan nods, trying to slow his breathing. "You will too."

Serena giggles, squeezing Dan's hand as the limo stops in front of the school. "Copy cat," She playfully scolds.

As they both grab their bags and step out, Dan bites his lip. Part of him is terrified of Blair. But another, larger part of him, is worried what will happen when he sees Nate.

The atmosphere in the Dean's office is suffocating. Dan is seated in one uncomfortable wooden chair, Serena in the other. The Dean glowers at them across her desk, her expression cooled.

"You two are on very thin ice, is that understood?" The woman says sternly, her demanding tone making them both flinch. "Any slip ups and you will be off of this campus for good."

Both nod quietly, at which the Dean smiles. "Good, you may go back to class."

The pair stand, walking out, and, in there hurry, straight into Blair and her girls of the steps.

"Ohmygod, rude!" The blonde one squeaks, her books knocked out of her hands by Dan's slender frame. Just as he moves to help her, the two other girls already have the books retrieved and are glowering at him.

"Careful girls," Blair croons in her sickly sweet tone. "These two are notorious for walking all over people."

"Really, B?" Serena sighs, already sounding exhausted from the conversation. "This is how things are going to be?"

"Well what'd you think would happen, S?" Blair snaps. "You and D ditched me without explanation last year. I found new friends, ones who won't disappear without warning. And I can't go around just welcoming traitors with open arms now can I?"

The smart comeback Dan had in the back of his thoughts fades all too quickly, replaced by a familiar kind of guilt. Last year, the guilt was over his feeling for Nate, seeing as the boy who stole his heart was also the one that literally wore Blair's on his sleeve. This time its because he knows Blair well enough to know she was really hurt.

Seeing that Dan and Serena are silenced, Blair's lips pull into a heartless smirk. "I thought so."

With that, she and her girls walk right into Dan and Serena, so as to jostle them about, before heading off to class. Neither Dan nor Serena say a word. 

"I'm not sure the long, sloping skirt will work on this design," Jenny says, showing Eric the sketch she has.

"Maybe its too poofy?" He suggests, scowling at the amount of tulle in the sketch.

"Maybe..." Jenny shrugs. For a few minutes, both are silent.

"So...Dan and Serena started school today?" Eric asks. At Jenny's nod, he nods too. "How's he doing?"

"Dan?" Jenny asks, to which Eric nods again. "He's...anxious. He and dad can barely talk without dad screaming at him, and Dan's still freaked about the Gossip Girl thing from last year..."

Eric nods. "I don't blame him. Whoever did that was really being cruel, trying to force Dan out of the closet before he was ready. I know how much that sucks from experience," Eric huffs softly. "Is Dan still doing that rubber band thing he used to do when he was anxious or angry?"

"I don't know...I left before he and Serena got up," Jenny frowns. "Maybe he's stopped it?"

"Maybe..." Eric says, but he doesn't sound too optimistic.