Julien and I stepped out of the elevator at Dumbo Hall to be bombarded by Luna and Monet "did you see that thing you guys were tagged in?" Monet asked
"you turned off JC's notifications, remember?" I said as I walked ahead and into the bar
"What kind of person calls themselves Gossip Girl" Luna rolled her eyes "it's the 21st century, at least Gossip Woman
"Is this that Syosset strip mall party store that tried to offer me a sponsorship deal?" JC asked as I walked over to Max who was just standing by the bar
"Probably some regional tween hoping to boost his TikTok," Max told us "blocked and buried" he pushed a martini towards me "where's Obie?"
"No clue" I responded as I watched JC walk away, "something tells me that this Gossip Girl person is going to be harder to get away from than we think"
"Don't let it bother you Cat, it's just someone bored with their own lives and to make it more interesting they have to cause drama in other people's lives" I nodded knowing that he was probably right "come on let's go sit down"
"It's typical for you to be so trusting and open" Audrey was telling JC "that's why people follow you, they think that they know you and they feel entitled to your life"
"What are we talking about?" I asked
"Zoya" Aki answered raising his eyebrows
"Zoya's not some crazy stalker" JC insisted
"Keep telling yourself that" I cut in
"She is a semi-stranger who has, by some fortuitous coincidence, found herself at your school, in your friend group" suddenly the elevator chimed and I looked up
"Shit" Aki and I shared a look
"With your boyfriend?" Audrey continued as they joined me in looking at Zoya and Obie come out of the same elevator, JC seemed unphased "I'm gonna get us another round, we're going to need it" Zoya was wearing a shimmery gold dress that was long-sleeved and had a small turtleneck, it was obviously from JC
"Hey!"
"What up Obes"
"Hi Obie"
"Hey" JC got up and gave Obie a kiss "Thank you for coming, you only have to stay for an hour and then I'll come to whatever rally you want next time," she told him as he sighed and sat down "he hates this place" she informed Zoya
"Yes, very much so" he agreed "I mean if one-tenth of these people donated the price of their drink to one charity of their choice"
"They are the charity of choice, obes" Max smirked coming over "and that one drink is to help them forget what people like you ask of them. As for me, I have very tight plans for the evening, a bourbon a couple of bumps, e Tutto it's a school night after all"
"Aren't you tired of playing who's going to win tonight?" I asked as Audrey handed me another drink
"Well, it's not a game if everyone can" he got up and walked away, he was trying to be mysterious but it was kinda funny to me. Audrey turned around and almost walked into Zoya, she looked Zoya up and down
"Nice hand me done," she said and I laughed
"Audrey" Aki warned
"What? it's clearly not hers it's a fact, I'm stating factually"
"Um, she right" Zoya confessed "Julien-"
"A gift" JC smiled "the first of many to make up for the ones we didn't get to give each other. Olives or Twist?" Luna and Monet shared a look "I say twist" Zoya took the drink and took a small sip
"You don't have to drink," I told her rolling my eyes
"Yeah, I don't" Aki spoke up
"More for me" Monet grabbed Zoya's drink. For the next twenty minutes, JC was informing Zoya all about the school, the way it worked, and all the teachers, Audrey and I glared at her when she said that she was gonna add Zoya to the group text
"I'm gonna go find my boyfriend," Audrey said finally having enough, I hadn't noticed that Aki had left
"I'll come" I stood up and followed her out "man, I hate that girl"
"Most of us do" Audrey assured me we continued walking and instead of finding Aki we found Max who stood up in the middle of his activity
"Poor Audrey Hope, Married and monogamous at 16," he said "same for little Catherine Baizen"
"Nothing poor about it" Audrey retorted "Don't straight-shame me"
"Don't you ever miss coloring outside the lines?" Max asked us stepping forward "or did you never"
"I don't think I have to answer that" I sniffed "so with all the people in this room, at this very moment, you want to spend your energy on poor Audrey and me?" I mocked
"I don't know what it is with you and Ak, Audrey, but something's different," he told her
"In a good way?" she asked
"In the best way, as for you Kitty Cat, somethings changed in you, a feeling or an energy" he approached even closer showing us the pill in his mouth "this isn't on my plan for tonight, it's all yours if you want it, you want it?" Audrey shook her head, let out a shaky breath, and then walked away leaving me with Max "what about you"
I shook my head and laughed "not even in your wildest dreams" I walked away and went to find my friends when my phone chimed again, it was from Gossip Girl
Spotted: Calloway and her crew at Dumbo Hall with a little something extra, her sudden sis, sorry to crash the party, JC, but I've got a pic that says a thousand words you've yet to utter. Everyone knows 15 years ago Mama Marion dumped DJ Davis for a new life with, Nick Nobody, yet sadly passed before she could her daughters united yet unite they have. Though you wouldn't know it to look at them, never met before? that's the ruse. Zoya's entrance to Constance was signed, sealed, and deceitful. Or didn't you know? on the upper east side, scholarships aren't granted, they're gifted.
"What is this thing talking about?" Zoya asked angrily as she stood up
"I'd like to know the same thing" I crossed my arms and looked at JC
"How should I know?" JC asked
"Oh please" I rolled my eyes
"I got that scholarship on my own right?" Zoya looked angry, sad, and betrayed all at once "you didn't buy that for me"
"Of course not" JC stood up "my dad gives money to the school, part of which goes to fund the art scholarship" Max walked in "he doesn't have time to read the apps so I do, and since you have a passion for theater"
"That's like the same things as buying the scholarship" I mumbled
"Did you know when you asked me to apply for it that you would be the one deciding who was put forward?" Zoya snapped
"Wh-what?"
"Did someone deserve it more than me?"
"Why would you think someone deserves something more than you?"
"This is a mess" I rubbed my eyes
"Wait you two already knew each other?" Monet said in disbelief
"On purpose?" Luna asked
"Who cares" JC snapped "Refresh, it's gone already"
"Why would you lie" Audrey turned up and stood next to me "we don't lie to each other" Audrey had the look of a disappointed mom which is when she is scariest
"If our dads knew, they never would have let her move here" JC defended
"They just found out," Obie said, "didn't they?" he was referring to the post, if both dads were on Instagram both girls would be in huge trouble
"My dads not on Instagram," Zoya told JC
"My dad's publicist runs his"
"And we are not your dad" Audrey retorted
"I know" JC let out an exasperated sigh "I just, I wanted to make sure that we- that I"
"Liked me" Zoya finished
"Well good job JC, we don't like her" I downed the rest of my drink and Max gave me a concerned look
"No- that's not-"
"oh, oh, oh," Max spoke "so you were afraid that Z would be Zzzzz's" I laughed a little, and JC rolled her eyes but she had nothing more to say
"I don't want to lose my place here," Zoya said with tears in her eyes "in fact I can't- I can't actually afford to stay here without that scholarship, so please, make it make sense, who would do something like this?"
"Students work in the office," JC said "someone is clearly trying to fuck with me but it's nothing, it's just gossip, we're fine, it doesn't matter, no one cares, right? do any of you care?"
"That's a lot of talk for something no one cares about JC" I shook my head "you shouldn't have felt the need to lie"
Obie stood up "I'm gonna go"
"You said that you'd do the story first" JC reminded him, of course, it was all about the story. Monet stood up and took a quick picture of the two on JC's phone
"You could have told me," Obie said disappointedly
"I'll walk out with you" Zoya mumbled
"Yeah"
"I told you Gossip Girl would be hard to get away from"