Empire

Chapter 57

Serena glared at Dan with her mouth open, in pure shock then regained her composure quickly and planted a smile on her face "Well, that's nice he's making new friends." She grumbled almost inaudibly. The girl smiled flirtatiously and laughed at whatever dorky thing Dan had just said, patting him on the shoulder. Blair was fuming beside me as she dug through her bag to find the file Chuck had given us this morning.

Blair whipped the new girls file out and let it fall open on the table as we sat down across the courtyard. I sat next to Blair and read over her shoulder. The girls name was Amanda Lasher, she just transferred here from god knows where, she won the 2007 Short Fiction Award. She's the perfect rebound for Dan. I rolled my eyes as Blair turned the page in the folder.

"Her father's with the U.N., she's traveled the world, and she won the short fiction award at her last school." Blair sounded off; the level of disgust in her voice was evident.

"Blair, do you mind?" Serena sulked not wanting to hear about Dan's potential new love interest, pretending to look over her class schedule.

"Serena, she's virtually Dan with boobs! It's sort of freaking me out actually." I pointed out, astonished. She really was the dorky girl version of Dan.

"This is ridiculous, I mean do you really want to see them cozying up with each other all year? Move her to the front of the line." Blair instructed Penelope as she sidled up behind us, taking the folder as Blair handed it to her.

Normally, I wouldn't get into any of Blair's schemes, but this is a little much. I mean god, it's the first day back to school and he's already flirting with some Jane Austen wannabe like it's no big deal. I could tell Serena was hurting, just by the way she kept her head down and sulked over towards the table. I never pegged Dan to be that guy that just gets right back out there. Chuck, yes, Dan Humphrey, no not so much.

"Look, I appreciate it, but you're making way too big a deal out of this. So he was talking to someone. So what? It-it-it doesn't mean anything." Serena snapped out, stuttering her words like Dan trying to brush it all off and pretend like it didn't happen. She gathered her notebooks up, and gave as a small tight smile before heading off to be alone.

"She's not fine." Blair whispered, and then sighed, "Call Amanda a person of interest. I want tabs on them at all times. If Dan Humphrey thinks he's going to humiliate S like this, he's got another thing coming." Blair ordered Penelope and Koti, before dismissing them.

"Look, this is hard enough for Serena as it is. Just take it easy, okay?" I insisted as I gathered my bag and got to my feet, staring Blair down the entire time. She was planning something in that beautifully evil brain of hers and I wanted to spare Serena as much heartache as possible.

"Everything is under control." Blair beamed confidently, before wondering off towards the gym.

I needed to stop in the library and pick up a few books off of Mrs. Shultz semester reading list before gym, so that's where I headed off too. I always found the library comforting. I loved the smell of old books and the serenity of it. Blair always wrinkles her nose when she comes in here and coughs from the dust in some of the old books, being over dramatic as per usual.

As I wondered through the aisles of books I snagged books off my list and held them in my arms, eventually trekking upstairs to the second level of the library. I spotted Chuck leaning against the end of one of the bookshelves with his arms crossed over his chest. He smirked as he watched something off to the side that I couldn't quite see, so I wondered over towards him to get a better look.

It was shocking to see him in the library; I didn't think he even knew where this place was. As I walked up next to him I noticed what he had been staring at... Serena and Dan were having an awkward encounter over by the fish tanks. It was painful to watch, it looked like something you'd see on the Discovery Channel. Two lost little animals trying to navigate through the wild without their mother. Then Amanda approached them...well this just gets better and better. I was about to go run interference when Serena turned on her heel and started to walk away.

Chuck glanced at me as Serena sulked over towards us. Chuck smirked and fought back a laugh as he watched the unusual encounter. I smacked him in the shoulder out of habit and rolled my eyes. Serena stood next to me and sighed, avoiding looking over her shoulder at Dan and Amanda talking animatedly about some book.

"It's not funny," I hissed, glaring at him.

"Actually, it is. I mean who would have thought Humphrey would be the one to move on first? They look very sweet together. Did I over hear something about a lunch?" Chuck taunted, as I rolled my eyes at him and chewed the inside of my jaw. I became aware of how close he'd moved towards me and placed my hand on his face and shoved him away hastily. He laughed and leaned against the bookshelf once again.

"What was that?" I asked concerned, looking at Serena.

"My failed attempt at trying to be nice and stay friends with my ex. I hate my life." Serena whispered, lowering her head then walking off.

Chuck took out his phone and held it up taking a picture of Dan and Amanda.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, stepping in front of him.

"Chronicling the rise and fall of Dan Humphrey," he replied, as I tried to grab the phone out of his hand. Knowing Chuck he was going to send this into Gossip Girl and let the rumors run rampant for his twisted amusement. I wasn't about to let that happen.

"Delete that picture, now, you Bass." I insisted, trying to grab the phone again. He held it above his head like a bully holding your lunch money just out of reach. I stepped on his foot and snatched the phone when he winced in pain and lowered his arm ever so slightly.

I walked around the corner scrolling through his phone looking for the picture and saw he still had all the pictures of us he took when we were in Tuscany for those few short days. I felt gutted as I came across one of us kissing on the beach, Chucks arms wrapped around me tightly.

Chuck grabbed my arm as I tried to dodge him and pinned me against the bookshelf with both arms, then snatched the phone out of my hand. "Why didn't you delete those." I asked, standing face to face with him, his breath hitting my cheek as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Because they are my pictures and my memories and I wanted to keep them." He replied dryly, looking down at his phone then back up at me. He still had the picture of us on the beach brought up on the screen to his phone.

"I'll tell you what; I'll delete the little picture of Dan and Amanda if you give me a kiss." He said with a smirk. He was seriously propositioning me right now. The bell rang out loudly above, warning everyone it was time to head to class. If this is how he wanted to play it, fine.

"Okay," I agreed, giving him a small smile. He squinted his eyes as he stared at me, trying to figure out what game I was playing. I looked around to see no one else nearby and leaned in slowly, placing my hands on his shoulders like always, feeling him lean into me and place his hand on my hip. My heart fluttered as his forehead rested against my own.

His eyes closed as I let my lips brush against his, diverting them to the side of his cheek.

"What the hell was that?" He snapped angrily, opening his eyes and looking at me.

"You should be more specific next time." I smirked victoriously, reaching for his phone to delete the picture to spare Serena. God, the things I have to do for her I thought, even though I was secretly enjoying Chuck's hand on my hip.

"Well played, but your little con just cost you." He said, holding his phone up for me to see the sent check mark. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, as my heart beat quickened tremendously. I shoved him back and glared at him.

"So where's Princeton Boy," He questioned, looking around up and down the aisle of books.

"Probably in class, where I should be." I retorted, walking away from him.

Almost immediately my cell buzzed in my bag, forcing me to pull it out and read the new blast, accompanied by the picture of Dan and Amanda standing so close together, smiling and laughing all thanks to Chuck.

Looks like Dan Humphrey wasted no time finding a new lady friend. We all know lunch leads to dinner, which leads to dessert, which leads to, well, you get the picture...

XOXO

Gossip Girl