𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒; 𝐛𝐨𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞
(𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝗂, 𝖾𝗉 𝗏 - '𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖺 𝖺𝗅𝗌𝗈 𝗋𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗌')
'𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘜𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘰. 𝘎𝘸𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘺𝘦? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦? 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨.'
𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐓𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐖 says that every action has a reaction and, being such a bright girl, Gwen was aware of this. What she didn't know was that the reaction of her summer activities would result in her being slut-shamed by her classmates. From the moment she woke up and saw the many notifications on her phone and then Gossip Girl's new post, Gwen knew her day would be awful. The girl hadn't even left her bedroom but already read the most absurd theories on Gossip Girl's page. As if it wasn't enough to spread her secrets to the world, the anonymous blogger had made it possible for people to comment under the post. Folks Gwen had never known — but apparently went to the same school as her — were claiming to have seen her throwing herself at Nick at Blair's party — now, Gwen knew she was close to throwing a glass of champagne at Nicholas, but herself? She didn't think so! Then there were some stating the affair had been going on for much longer and Gwen was a treacherous bitch for stabbing Sloan Irvine in the back. For starters, Gwendolyn didn't even know Sloan was in the picture until a week ago!
The comments talking about how much of a whore she was didn't hurt nearly as much as the ones wondering if Blair knew about the affair or if Gwen had put a knife on her best friend's back as well because those were actually true. Blair had no idea, and hiding such a big thing from her would sure feel like treason to the one and only Queen B. The fact that the Waldorf girl was unusually quiet — while Serena, Nate, and even Chuck had sent countless texts and tried to call several times — was horrifying. Blair wasn't one to give silent treatment for just anything and Gwen's anxiety was eating her from inside out.
As if all this chaos wasn't enough, it was fashion week. A time which Gwen usually loved and spent most of the year longing for. Only this time it meant that her summer lover's supermodel fianceé would be on many fashion shows Gwendolyn was invited for, especially Eleanor Waldorf's. Eleanor's show usually meant Gwen and her best friends would have a great time together backstage, but now? Now, the girl didn't know if she would be welcome there or not. Hell, Gwen didn't even know if she actually wanted to leave her room for the next couple of months!
"Deep breaths." the heiress told herself while pacing in her bedroom with her phone in her hands.
Wait a minute! Why did she have to suffer all alone when she obviously didn't have the affair all by herself? If anything Nicholas should be dragged down just as much as her! And maybe, just maybe, he could come up with a way for them to get out of this mess. It wasn't like Nick hadn't been the center of a scandal before, he had practice with getting out of those. With that in mind — and against her better judgment — Gwen dialed Nick's number, which she knew by heart having called it many times that summer.
"Gwen?" his voice had a clear mixture of excitement and confusion.%
How he sounded mattered little to Gwendolyn though, so she just blurted out the problem right away. "Gossip girl knows about us."
"Who?"
"Some blogger who has nothing better to do and keeps exposing students from Constance and St. Jude's." she was still pacing and anxiously running her hands to her tangled hair. God, she hadn't even brushed her hair yet! "People can send them tips and pictures, and somebody sent a picture of us at the white party."
"We just talked at the white party, I don't see how that could've been a problem to anyone."
"Yes, but Gossip Girl instigated a lot of questions and let people speculate even more." the Vanderbilt girl explained further but figured Nicholas still wasn't nearly as worried as she wanted him to be. "I'll just text you the link."
"Well, Sloan doesn't read this blog I'm sure." his nonchalance was driving Gwen even more insane. "And it's not like you have enemies who will show her this thing."
"Why are you so calm, Nicholas? Do you actually believe Sloan is the only one affected by this?" she snapped, it was a wonder there was a possibility of romantic feelings between them when 90% of the time Gwen wanted to kill Nick. "All my friends read this thing!" Nick hadn't ever heard Gwendolyn sound so stressed and out of control before. "Serena and the boys have already called me several times, not to mention the texts. Even people from school I'm not close with are texting me! Some guys are asking to hook up as if I'm some prostitute." Gwen kept blurting words she didn't even intend on speaking, but now that she had started she couldn't stop. "And then there's Blair. God! She hasn't sent anything and I just know she is angry. What am I gonna say to her? 'Oh yes, I totally hooked up with your brother during the summer and didn't tell you a thing. Yes, I am now aware he has a fianceé.' She will hate me! I'm so screwed!"
"Gwen-" he was cut off by the continuation of her stressed and frustrated monologue.
"It's so unfair that I get all this anxiety and worries and you are all the way in Yale with no troubles at all, and even if people there heard about us you would come up as such a cool guy because boys can do whatever the fuck they want, but us girls only receive shame."
The so-called Golden Girl was out of breath after talking so quickly and nervously. Meanwhile, Nicholas was so silent she wondered if he had hung up on her, but that wasn't the case. The Waldorf boy, for once in his life, wasn't sure of what to say or do. Gwen was right, he was being privileged in this situation while she was taking all the hard blows. From the time they spent together, Nick knew better than anyone that Gwendolyn Vanderbilt was a ray of sunshine who didn't deserve a single one of the bad words being spoken about her.
"I'm on my way to New York." Nick decided.
"What?" Gwen didn't know exactly what she was expecting to hear, but that was not it. "You have classes, Nick!"
He chuckled, of course, she would say that."For once in your life, Gwen, let someone else be the one to drop everything just so they can help you."
"But Nicholas-"
"See you in a few hours, Gwennie!" after that Nick just hung up the call. God, Gwendolyn hated being called 'Gwennie' and he did it just to annoy her. Why her big scandal had to be with Nicholas Waldorf of all people in the world? Oh, the poor choices Gwen had been making...
-ˋˏ ༻ 🎾 ༺ ˎˊ-
"𝐆𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐘𝐍 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐓, 𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 wallow in self-pity and misery." Serena pushed the duvet out of Gwen and tried to push her out of bed. "You already missed school today, which might as well be considered as an extremely rare event."
The blonde cared little about the eye roll she received from her friend and, after successfully pushing her out of bed she started dragging Gwen towards the bathroom. "You smell like sadness and chocolate donuts."
"I wouldn't say that's too bad." Gwendolyn grumbled.
"It is bad for a dinner with my mom and Poppy Lifton." S shrugged and then pushed Gwen towards the shower. "I will choose your outfit." the it-girl turned towards her friend's closet.
Having no other choice besides taking a shower and getting herself together, Gwen did exactly that. Well, the shower part... She still wasn't so sure if she had already gotten herself together. Walking towards her closet with damp hair and holding her towel, Gwendolyn only then processed Serena's words properly.
"Wait! Poppy Lifton, as in the socialite Poppy Lifton?"
Serena turned her attention away from the dark green dress she was holding. "Yes, we are friends now."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." the Vanderbilt heiress mumbled while taking a seat in front of her vanity table.
"Your big scandal wasn't the only thing running through Constance and St. Jude's students' mouths today, some pictures of Poppy and I got out on a magazine."
The blonde then proceeded to explain the bitter encounter she had with Blair during school and how Eleonor had invited Poppy and her to sit on the front row of her show, which would be great if it wasn't for the backstage tradition. Matching Gwen's expectations, Blair had ignored every mention of the scandal between her brother and best friend, according to Serena, B's plan was to give Gwen the cold shoulder. Unless that was all an act and Blair was actually planning to show Sloan Gossip Girl's post during the show as an act of revenge towards Nick and Gwen for not having told her anything — or having stolen her spotlight, it's hard to tell with Blair. But then again, if she did that the most famous model would probably refuse to walk in Eleanor's show and Blair wouldn't screw up her mother's show like that, right?
"Shit! Blair must be furious we stole took the spotlight from her during fashion week." Gwen covered her face with her hands, and if the ever so classy golden girl was swearing it was because things were actually bad.
"Well, if it makes you feel better at least she is not only mad at you." Serena placed an outfit on Gwen's bed and then stood behind her friend smiling at her through the mirror. "We can deal with B's wrath together."
"Can we?"
↳ A/N
so the cat is out of the bag... fasten your seat belts 'cause we have lots of drama ahead ‼️meanwhile, i will try and finish the assignments i've been delaying because all i could do was think of ideas for this chapter (and the next) 🤡🤧 - xoxo