Mr。 Beckham？s film class。
？So Serena； whatwas it like to wear all those cool Les Best clothes？？ Jenny asked； desperate to
change the subject。
Serena stretched her long； lithe arms over her gorgeous blond head and sighed happily。 ？You
really want to know？？
Everyone in the group except Blair and Elise nodded eagerly。 ？Okay； I？ll tell you。？
Blair rolled her eyes； daring herself to shut Serena up by announcing the news of her torrid affair
with a married thirty…eight…year…old man； which was a hell of a lot more interesting than prancing
around on a runway in dumb clothes no one wanted to wear anyway。 She glanced down at the
table where Elise was furiously scribbling her name over and over on a sheet of notebook
paper。Elise Wells。 Miss Elise Wells。 Miss Elise Patricia Wells。 E。P。 Wells。
Suddenly Blair felt the entire contents of her stomach do a back walkover into her throat。Wells？
That wasOwen ？s last name。 And Elise had just said she thought herfather was having anaffair 。
Owen hadn？t said anything to her about a daughter； but now that she thought about it； Elise had
his same eyes； and on the stoop Elise had lit two cigarettes exactly the same way Owen had Friday
night in the bar。Christ 。 For all Blair knew； Owen hadten children that he？d just happened to forget
to mention。Fuck！
Blair scraped her chair back and bolted for the nurse？s office behind the cafeteria； getting there
just in time to spew chocolate cake all over Nurse O？Donnell？s hand…hooked farmhouse rug。 It
wasn？t pretty； but it was the quickest way to get sent home sick from school。
As soon as she left； the cafeteria began to hum with the sound of girls trading versions of w