Empress: Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians

Chapter Five

Chapter V
Lincoln Hawk

ONE THING IS FOR SURE, INDIE UNDERGROUND ROCK BANDS WERE NOT THE USUAL FOR VALENTINA. However, even if the one they're listening to right now are - quote on quote, 'forgotten' - they are pretty damn good. They were in fact from the nineties, and Nick was that old enough to have actually discovered them long before, during his constant visits to New York as a teenager. It did amaze Valentina to know that her brother, despite the wealth and stupor, was able to find something as bohemia as a band called Lincoln Hawk. Although, she couldn't blame him actually finding - yearning - something as mundane as that. Normalcy will always be different for people like them. So, there she was, normal. There, she was head banging to the beat of some love song about some pretty girl with golden hair. There, she was with her brother, not caring about their futures. On that night, perhaps her and Nick weren't the two Young heirs, they were just Nicky and Val. They were free from madness; or so they thought.

"Val! Is that you?"

Sweet, sweet Serena has come back into her life once again.

"I'm impressed sister; you actually made friends!" Nick teased Valentina. "Who knew you could be nice!"

"Aiya Nicky! What're you talking about? I'm always nice." Valentina said while she mentally prepared herself to talk to the golden haired girl; maybe even the boy beside her. Mr. Sideburns.

"Nice? I've got battle scars to prove how nice she can be." Nick trailed off with dismay as he remembered all of the bite marks he had obtained from their past fights. Maybe Valentina with braces was one of his most traumatic experiences.

Before smiling at the new couple in front of her, a new battle wound was added as Valentina punched her brother. Hard too, one may add.

"Hey! I never saw you as a Lincoln Hawk fan!" Of course, Serena was still shining brightly, both imaginatively and literally. Clad in a gold sequin dress, it is easy to say that she stuck out like a sore thumb in an open area full of blacks and dark reds. However, her aura made up for her atypical look as she walked with a type of grace that not just anyone had. It was the type of grace that made Naomi Campbell legendary as she commanded the room. It was the type of grace that was undeniably in Victoria Beckham as she lived up to her name of being posh. That grace was also in Astrid; and factly, she embodied it.

"I would say the same to you Rena." Valentina starts thinking more about the blonde in front of her. Genuinely, there is something different about her; Valentina just needs to pick it out.

"Oh right! Valentina, this is Dan Humphrey." Serena exclaimed as she placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of Mr. Sideburns. Valentina could say that he seemed nice enough. However, she can't help but feel protective with Serena; call it a girl's intuition. As someone who only had girls in her life, having each other's backs was something truly beneficial for both parties.

"Humphrey?" Valentina seemed to forget that her brother was with her. However, she could already hear the excitement in his voice. "Humphrey, like Rufus Humphrey? The one and only guitarist performing in front of us right now?"

Valentina could already see the amusement creeping on Mr. Dan Humphrey's face. She could guess that maybe he was not used to receiving this type of praise from other people. On the other hand, Valentina and Serena could only watch the exchange amusingly.