Granny?s fall。 Hey; hangovershurt !
Okay; kids; time for me to take my own advice and follow it up with a little dip in the pool。
Which pool? Oh; wouldn?t you like to know?
You know you love me。
gossip girl
birthday blues
?Happy birthday to me。? Serena whispered; her voice hoarse and scratchy。 She slipped out of her
rumpled canopy bed and yawned miserably。 She?d been miserably half…asleep and half…awake all
night; unable to doze off soundly with Henry cuddled up next to her。 Nate?s words kept repeating
in her head:I love you; I love you; I love you。
Sliding her feet into her hot pink rubber flip…flops; she thwacked out of the bedroom。There was
no need to tiptoe? Henry was snoring heavily enough that she could probably do an aerobics
routine on the bed without disturbing him。
The hallway was quiet; and pale early morning sun peeked in through the massive windows。 She
lingered by the glass momentarily; taking in the view: the green expanse of the wide lawn; the
calm glimmer of the swimming pool; the clear blue sky without even a suggestion of a cloud
overhead。 It was going to be another gorgeous day; but somehow the beautiful weather just made
her feel more miserable。
Who knew she had a secret dramatic streak?
Hugging her bare arms; Serena descended the grand main staircase down to the marble…tiled
foyer; surveying the party damage: glass tumblers with the sticky remnants of mostly finished
cocktails lining the entryway console table; stubbed…out cigarette butts strewn on the floor;
abandoned paper plates filled with half…eaten hamburgers strewn absent…mindedly on the coffee
table。 Heading into the living room; she glanced around at the sleeping partygoers lolling
list…lessly on the tufted leather sofas; empty liquor bottles lying defeated at their sides。
Hope the maid?s ing in today!
She studied the faces of the sleeping revelers?dozing and peaceful; not yet mindful of the horrid
hangovers that were their immediate future。 Everyone looked so sweet and innocent。 Only a few
hours before; they?d all joined in a rousing drunken chorus of ?Happy Birthday。? She?d
pre…tended not to notice how they mumbled when they got to the ?dear Serena? part。 Besides Erik
and Henry; the only other people at the party who knew her name were too busy upstairs to sing。
She found a clean tumbler in the kitchen and filled it with cold water; sipping it greedily to wash
the taste of morning breath from her tongue。
Yum。
Hopping up on the counter; she perched for a while; feeling like the last person alive after a
nuclear bomb or some other disaster。 But the quiet helped her clear her mind。 Today was her
eighteenth birthday; but she wasn?t thinking about what was ahead。 For the first time in a long;