Vanessa had already tried sex a couple of times before with her ex…boyfriend Clark； an older
bartender she？d gotten together with briefly in the fall； when Dan （along with the rest of the
predictable male population） had been too busy mooning over Serena van der Woodsen to notice
that Vanessa had fallen in love with him。 Even if Vanessa had just done it for the first time； she
would have been matter…of…fact about it； because that was the way she was about everything。 Dan；
on the other hand； wasn？t matter…of…fact about anything； andhe was the one who？d just been
deflowered。 She couldn？t wait to hear his reaction。
？It was 。 。 。？ Dan stared unblinkingly up at the gray； turned…off lightbulb dangling from the center
of the ceiling； feeling immobilized and overstimulated at the same time。 Their hips were touching
under the thin； burgundy…colored sheet； and it felt like an electric current was running between
them； pinging out of Dan？s toes； his knees； his belly button； his elbows； and the ends of his hair。
？Indescribable；？ he finally answered； because there really were no words to describe how it had
felt。 Writing a poem about sex would be impossible； unless he resorted to boring； clich？d
metaphors like exploding fireworks or musical crescendos。 Even those were totally inaccurate。
They gave no sense of the actualfeeling ； or how sex was this whole discovery process during
which everything monplace became absolutely amazing。 For instance； Vanessa？s left arm： it
wasn？t a particularly spectacular arm？fleshy and pale； covered in brownish fuzz； and sprinkled
with moles。 While they？d been having sex it had no longer been the same old arm he？d known
and l