bags and two of the Barneys bags full of shoes over her shoulder。 ？e on。 I？ll help you carry
your bags downstairs。？
Chuck was waiting on the corner behind the wheel of his new silver convertible Jag？an early
graduation present。 The car looked pletely incongruous with the funkily rundown
neighborhood。 He popped open the trunk and the girls dropped Blair？s bags inside。
？I left some other stuff for you in the closet。？ Blair gave her classmate a quick hug。 ？See you
tomorrow in English。？
Vanessa hugged her back。 ？See you tomorrow； bitchface；？ she answered tenderly。
Blair watched the graffitied door slam closed behind her as Vanessa went inside。 Then she
opened the Jag？s passenger…side door。
？I heard that back in the forties all the alums used to keep prostitutes at the Yale Club；？ Chuck
announced as Blair reached for her seat belt。 ？And they didn？t even have a ladies？ room。？ He
pulled away from the curb and slipped his hand over Blair？s bare knee。 ？I knew it would never
last。 You？re a boy？s girl； not a girl？s girl。？
Blair shoved his hand away and rolled her blue eyes in annoyance。 Chuck was and always would
be a slimeball； tolerated only because he and Blair and the rest of their ilk had all been born at
Lenox Hill Hospital at Seventy…seventh and Park and had all gone to nursery school together。
They？d attended dancing school together and vacationed with their families in St。 Barts。 Their
parents were on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum and the Metropolitan Opera； and they all
spoke the same unspoken language。 But unlike his other Upper East Side cohorts； Chuck had
failed to get into any of the private colleges he？d applied to。