corduroy jacket and jeans that hung loose from his gaunt body。 Sort of like the guy in the Calvin
Klein Eternity for Men ad； except less hunky。
？Wow；？ Jenny said softly。
？Isn？t it great？？ Blair chimed in。 ？Smudge it in a little with your finger。 You should use brown
mascara； too。 It will make your eyes look even bigger。？
？No； I mean wow； look athim ；？ Jenny clarified。 ？Behind me。？
Blair glanced over her shoulder to see a geeky； too…young…for…her blond boy perusing the
Bendel？s signature cosmetics bags。 She turned back to Jenny。 ？What？ You think he？s cute？？
Elise giggled。 ？He？s kind of goofy looking。？
Blair？s little Help the Hopeless campaign was starting to wear thin。 ？If he？s shopping in
Bendel？s； he？s probably gay。 Why don？t you just go up and talk to him if you think he？s so cute？？
Jenny was mortified。 Just go up and start talking to him like some sort of desperate； stalking
freak？No way。
？e on；？ Elise prodded。 ？You know you want to。？
Jenny could barely breathe。 Every time she thought she was getting more confident； something
like this happened to prove that she was just as insecure as ever。 ？Maybe we should just leave；？
she muttered nervously； as if Blair and Elise were about to rope her into participating in some
shady drug deal。 She picked her book bag up from off the floor。 ？Thanks for you help；？ she told
Blair quickly。 Then she grabbed Elise？s hand and dragged her out of the store； keeping her eyes
straight ahead as she passed the blond boy。
Pathetic。 Blair sighed as she watched them go。 But she？d been in such a good mood ever since
Owen Wells？ call； it wouldn？t kill her to give Jenny a little more help when she so obviously
needed it。 She pulled the receipt for her dress out of her shopping bag and； using the rust…colored
eye pencil； drew a big heart on the back of it and wrote Jenny？s Constance Billard e…mail address
inside it。 Everyone？s school e…mail addresses were the same； just the first initial and the last name；
so it wasn？t hard to figure out。 Then she crumpled the receipt into a tight little ball and walked
past the skinny blond boy； tossing the balled…up receipt hard at his back and spinning through the
revolving doors before he had a chance to see who she was。
Blair Waldorf making an effort to do something nice for someone else？ Talk about a makeover！
This was more than just a Jiffy Lube change of hairstyle。 Like a true diva； she was going for the
entire weekend spa package； including the spiritual overhaul。
as if he didn？t have it good enough already
Just as Aaron had suspected； there was a cream…colored envelope from Harvard waiting for him
beside the Spode china milk jug of white roses on the side table in the foyer of his father and
stepmother？s East Seventy…second Street penthouse apartment。 Aaron let an extremely thirsty
Mookie tear down the hall to the kitchen with his leash still on and picked up the letter with rigid
fingers。 Serena was waiting expectantly behind him； but he would really rather have opened it
alone。What if he didn？t get in？
Serena slipped out of her coat and tossed it on the blue toile？upholstered chair in the corner。 ？I？ll
still love you no matter what；？ she said breathlessly。
Aaron stared down at the envelope； annoyed at himself for feeling so tense。 He was usually
pretty mellow about this kind of thing。 ？Fuck it；？ he declared under his breath and tore open the
sealed envelope。 He unfolded the neatly creased cream…colored piece of paper and read the short
paragraph typed on it； twice。 Then he looked up at Serena。 ？Uh…oh。？
Her face fell。 What a horrible thing for her sweet love to go through！ ？Oh； poor baby。 I？m so
sorry。？
Aaron handed her the letter and she glanced at it reluctantly。
Dear Mr。 Rose； We have reviewed your application and we are very pleased to inform you of
your acceptance to Harvard University？s class of？Serena？s blue eyes were suddenly
enormous。 ？You got in！ Oh baby； you got in！？
Behind them； Myrtle； the cook； walked briskly down the hall with a drooling； panting Mookie
trailing after her。 Her light yellow maid？s uniform was spattered with something orangey…red and
she looked pissed。
？Myrtle； Aaron got intoHarvard ；？ Serena announced proudly。 She put her arms around her
boyfriend and gave him a squeeze。 ？Isn？t that amazing？？
Myrtle was unimpressed。 She thrust Mookie？s leash at Aaron； her fleshy wrists jangling with
gold bracelets and her work…weary hands smelling of onions。 ？Better take that dog with you where
you？re going；？ she chided before stomping back to the kitchen in her new white Nike tennis shoes。
Serena and Aaron grinned mischievously at each other。 ？I think this calls for a little celebration；
don？t you？？ Aaron asked； his relief mutating instantaneously into cockiness。
Serena tweaked his adorable freckled nose with a slender forefinger。 ？I know where they keep
the champagne。？
Blair rode the elevator up to her family？s penthouse overlooking Central Park at Seventy…second
Street。 When the elevator doors rolled open she instantly recognized Serena？s new navy blue
cashmere pea coat flung carelessly on top of the toile Louis XVI chaise in the foyer。 It was still
hard to get used to the idea of Serena hanging out at her house when she wasn？t even home。
？Blair？？ Serena？s voice echoed out of the former guest room； which now belonged to
Aaron。 ？Get in here。 Where have you been？？
？Hold on；？ Blair called。 She pulled off her light blue duffle coat and hung it up in the coat closet。
She didn？t really feel like explaining her drastic new look to Serena and Aaron while they were
sitting around in their underwear or something equally nauseating； but she didn？t see how she
could get out of it。 If she ignored them； they？d soon be banging her door down； bouncing up and
down on her bed； and demanding her attention like immature imbeciles。
The smell of herbal cigarette smoke wafted out into the hall。 ？Hey；？ she called； standing outside
the half…opened door。
？e on in；？ Aaron slurred。 After two glasses of Dom Perignon he was already tipsy。 ？We？re
having a party。？
Blair pushed open the door。 The room had been redecorated for Aaron in shades of aubergine and
cerulean； with funky fifties gray metal shutters in the windows instead of curtains and giant vinyl
beanbag chairs on the floor to lounge around on。 The woven organic hemp mat covering the
hardwood floor was littered with CD cases； puter games； DVDs； music magazines； and library
books about Jamaican Rasta culture and the evils of the meat industry。 Serena and Aaron were
sitting on the disheveled Edwardian four…poster bed； drinking champagne out of her mother？s best
crystal flutes；in their underwear ； just as Blair had predicted。 Actually； Serena was wearing one of
Aaron？s oversized hunter green BRONXDALEATHLETICT…shirts； with her white satin La Perla
panties peeking out from underneath it。
Well； at least it wasnice underwear。
Blair was about to ask what the big occasion was when Serena blurted out； ？Aaron got in！ He got
into Harvard！？
Blair stared at them； bile rising in her throat。 It was hard enough to look at Serena？s gorgeous
abundance of long； pale blond hair now that her own hair was sitting in a trash can back on
Fifty…seventh Street； but the smug smile on Aaron？s annoying dreadlocked face was enough to
make her want to projectile vomit all over his stupid cruelty…free rug。
？Pull up a beanbag；？ Aaron offered。 He pointed to the Harvard mug sitting on his desk。 ？That
mug？s pretty clean if you want some champagne。？
Serena waved a sheet of cream…colored paper in the air。 ？Listen to this。 ？Dear Mr。 Rose；？？ she
read aloud。 ？？We have reviewed your application and we are very pleased to inform you of your
acceptance to Harvard University？s class of？？？
Blair had gone to the hair salon without eating any lunch； and this little we…love…Aaron
worshipfest was making her dizzy with disgust。She was the one who should have been openingher
early acceptance letter； but after her botched interview Constance Billard？s college advisor had
told her it was best not t