n Hoffstetter。
？I heard Serena dropped out；？ Rain whispered back。 ？Nate gave her some gross STD and she？s
going to miss graduation anyway because she has to go to some clinic in Belgium to try and get
cured。？
？Is that true？？ Blair wondered out loud。 Not about the STD part； but about the
dropping…out…of…the…running…for…senior…speaker part。 She was reluctant to prolong homeroom；
because there were only five more minutes left for her to get changed； powdered； glossed； and
perfumed before she was scheduled to meet up with a very hot English lord who？d promised to
spend the afternoon dress shopping with her。 Last night over Ketel One martinis； Lord Marcus had
confessed that his squash game had been a total disaster because he？d been thinking about her the
whole time。 And Blair had confessed to Googling him the minute she？d unpacked her laptop。 His
family； the Beaton…Rhodeses； owned the largest textile mill in England and lived in a very huge
and historical old mansion outside of London。 They also owned a villa near Milan and a beach
pound in Barbados。 Marcus？s parents were special friends of the royal family； and Marcus
himself had even attended Princess Diana？s funeral。 He was listed byHello！ magazine as one of
the most eligible young bachelors in England； and Blair was determined to win his heart before
any of those greedy English bitches got to him。 But first she needed to know if she？d beaten
Serena by getting elected senior speaker or if she？d only won because she was the only girl left in
the running。 She glared at Serena and repeated； ？Is that true？？
Serena squirmed in her seat； pulling her school uniform down over her bare knees and pul