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Blair replayed the clip again and again both in her mind and literally. It was all she could think of. Even when she closed her eyes to sleep she saw it on a constant painful loop.
Serena. Standing, talking to the camera. The reporter asked her who her best friend was and if she even had one. Instead of instantly replying yes and talking about Blair, Serena hesitated. Reluctantly, she shot Georgina a look and then returned her attention to the camera and replied.
It was easy for Blair to read Serena’s look. She wasn’t confident about calling Blair her best friend on camera. Maybe she was ashamed, maybe she considered someone else her closest friend now. Maybe Georgina had stolen Blair’s place in Serena’s heart. Could that lying bitch be the reason Serena hesitated?
Serena’s was hers. Her best friend, her family, her sister, her favorite person. She had devoted so much of her time to Serena. Serena was her sun, the oxygen that kept her alive. Without Serena, Blair was a jagged fragment of a person. There was no life before Serena, not that Blair could really remember. Her best friend taught her how to live—how to thrive. After everything they had gone through now Serena was almost betraying her on live TV. That hurt more than any insult or slap in the face.
Nothing Eleanor Waldorf could say would compare to the disgusting mix of emotions warring inside Blair. Her mothers casual cruelty was predictable but Serena’s hesitant silence was a million times worse. It was unexpected and twisted the knife in just the right way to absolutely destroy Blair. She had always prided herself on having a best friend, someone to turn to when things got hard. She found rare confidence having Serena as her favorite person and being Serena’s favorite…only now that was no longer the truth.
As Blair moped in her bed eating Lady Godiva chocolates with the door locked, curtains closed, and the mirror covered, things only got worse. Her eyes flicked to her vibrating phone. Gossip Girl’s ringtone. Her screen lit up with a blast.
“In S’ world, everyone knows the B in BFF stands for Blair. Or does it? This just in: our very own S hesitating before calling B her best friend. Get your cameras ready. It’s time for war.
XOXO, Gossip Girl.”
As usual, Gossip Girl was right. But not in the way everyone suspected. Blair’s real anger was directed at Georgina. Georgina Sparks had crawled out of some little hole in the wall and brainwashed Serena into liking her. She was a terrible friend and an even worse influence but somehow Serena absolutely adored her. If Blair was possessive, Georgina was absolutely insane. She would take Serena out to dirty bars that Blair wouldn’t be caught dead in and she always seemed to hate Blair for being Serena’s best friend.
Maybe Georgina had won. Serena seemed to be second guessing their friendship but Blair had the advantage here. Georgina may not have known her but she knew Georgina extremely well because she kept tabs on everyone Serena mentioned. If Georgina was going to start something with Blair, especially if it involved Serena, the one person Blair truly cared for, she had to be ready for the consequences.
Gossip Girl seemed to think that Serena and Blair weren’t best friends anymore so if Blair staged plans with Serena it would come as a shocker to the gossip blog and its vast audience.
She picked up her phone with an evil little grin. “Hey S!” She began cheerfully. “How do you feel about dinner at Butter tomorrow?”
“Aww sorry B…tomorrow night won’t work. I have huge party plans with Georgie.”
The smirk slipped from Blair’s face. It seemed things were already going to be more difficult than she had expected. “Hmm…fine. What day works best for you?”
“Uhh…” Serena paused and Blair could practically hear her thinking through the phone. “Thursday night. I’m free Thursday.”
Blair glanced at the Audrey calendar hanging on her wall across the room. Her legs kicked against her silk duvet as she racked her calendar for Thursday’s date. She had a meeting with her college counselor that night but it could be moved. She was already ahead in the process of college so she could afford to miss one session especially when her friendship with Serena was on the line.
“Thursday night works for me!” She replied with forced pleasantry, doing little to mask her negative feelings towards Georgina. “Butter, 6:00. Don’t be late!”
“I won’t!”
“Bye S. Can’t wait to see you.” With that, Blair hung up and got to planning. She needed a minion to tip of Gossip Girl of her and Serena’s whereabouts and then a strategic release of pictures of the two of them exiting the restaurant. If she had Serena’s level of fame she could just call the paparazzi and stage a shoot but Blair wasn’t that effortlessly charming. If she was going to win she would have to take matters into her own hands and control the narrative each step of the way.
Thursday took what felt like ages to arrive. Blair had to admit it was an odd day to be spotted out for dinner but she would do anything to make sure Georgina would back off. She took extra time to perfect her makeup and she picked out a cute outfit that was camera friendly. Taking her cab across the city, Blair felt like a movie star. She gracefully stepped onto the street, her heels clicking on the pavement as she walked into Butter.
“Reservation for Waldorf,” she said coolly to the hostess. She was guided to her table and as usual she was earlier than her best friend. Serena was the CEO of fashionably (or not so fashionably) late. Blair tried to keep her glances at her watch to a minimum. She couldn’t afford being desperate especially when she needed to tip off Gossip Girl in about an hour. As the clock ticked by Serena still didn’t show. She began to worry. Her best friend was probably fine but Blair’s reputation was on the line. If she was spotted by anyone sitting pathetically alone in the middle of Butter on Thursday she would be ridiculed. She could only imagine the comments people would make.
The food at Butter wasn’t exactly the healthiest. It was called Butter for a reason. If she was caught at an unhealthy restaurant alone it would be like getting caught in a binge. It just couldn’t happen. She only picked Butter because it was the it restaurant. She wasn’t here for the food, she was here for revenge.
Annoyed, she picked up her phone and sent Serena a text. She did very little to conceal how she felt about her best friend’s tardiness. “You’re late. Where are you??”
Fifteen minutes later Serena stumbled through the doors. Her hair was a disheveled mess and it looked like she had haphazardly ran a brush through it…last week. Of course, since she was Serena Van Der Woodsen she made it look chic in a way other girls could only hope of achieving but Blair wasn’t charmed by it. She was annoyed. After waiting for twenty minutes, Serena showed up a mess. She stumbled over to the table, giggling as she sat in the chair across from Blair.
“Sorry B,” she grinned, “Georgie and I got caught up in our plans.”
Blair just nodded in response. She didn’t want to talk about Georgina and whatever laws she and Serena had broken together. That was so not her problem.
Serena didn’t seem to notice Blair’s annoyance or if she did it didn’t bother her because she continued the conversation like it was nothing. “Anyways, it’s been like so long since we last hung out.”
“Yeah, it has been,” she sighed. Even if she was pissed about Serena’s hesitation in that interview she couldn’t help but miss her best friend.
“I’ve missed you so much, B. What have you been up to.”
She could feel the anger rushing out of her body. Somehow Serena’s voice could calm her down without even trying. It was all a part of the blondes effortless charm. “Mostly school stuff…prepping for college and all that.”
Serena just nodded along. “Don’t you think it’s a little early for all that?”
“No? Not really.”
“I don’t know, Blair,” she said skeptically. “The whole college thing just freaks me out.”
In her heart she wanted to reassure her best friend and tell her it would all be okay but truthfully, Blair wasn’t sure. When she was off taking her AP overachiever courses Serena took regular old classes and Blair still managed to pull higher grades. Serena wasn’t stupid by any means she just struggled to concentrate. Blair sometimes worried that if Serena started trying she would quickly surpass Blair in school the same way she did in other things.
The issue wasn’t just Serena’s grades but her extracurriculars. She didn’t do much outside of class other than field hockey and even then she was co-captain with Blair so she couldn’t call it something uniquely hers. Of course, the world always seemed to work out for Serena. She was lucky enough that she could stumble through life and someone would always be there to catch her. Life seemed easier for the Serena van der Woodens of the world but Blair was a Waldorf through and through.
“If you spend more time with me and less time with that Georgina girl you’ll have less to worry about.”
“Wait…Blair are you jealous of Georgie?”
“Jealous?” Blair echoed with a cold laugh. “Of course not. Why would I be jealous of Georgina? She’s a liar who parades around half drunk and sleeps around instead of worrying about her future. She’ll be lucky to make it past twenty.”
Serena’s eyes flickered with a mixture of anger and hurt. “That’s my close friend you’re talking about, Blair. You need to be nicer to her.”
“She’s your close friend but I’m your best friend.” Blair could feel tears welling up in eyes. This wasn’t how she had planned this going at all and she hated it—hated herself for getting so emotional. “And for the record? I don’t need to be nice to anyone especially not her.”
“I’m allowed to have other friends.”
“Sure you are but does it really have to be her?”
“What is your issue with Georgie? Tell me, Blair, because this is exhausting.”
“My issue? My issue with Georgina Sparks is that she’s ruining your life and our friendship all at once.”
“My friendship with Georgie has nothing to do with our friendship or with you.”
“Really? Are you that clueless, Serena?”
“At least I’m not crazy and possessive.”
“Well I’m sorry I don’t want to watch you demolish your future.”
“God, Blair. What is your deal?” Serena sighed, exasperated. “It’s my life.”
“My deal is that you hesitated to call me your best friend on live television. I mean, seriously Serena? We’ve been best friends since preschool.” She hissed, her vision blurring with the tears she was repressing.
“I still said your name.”
“But you hesitated…”
“Big deal, Blair. I paused for a second in conversation.”
“It was a big deal, Serena. It hurt.”
“Just…get over it. I have other friends and if that makes you this upset maybe you need to rethink things.”
“Oh my god, Serena. Do you ever get tired of being this self centered? I’ve been trying to help you.”
Before Serena could even open her mouth, her and Blair’s phones buzzed at the same time. That obnoxious ringtone could only mean one thing—Gossip Girl.
“Spotted at Butter: S and B getting into it over drinks. Is this really the end of a decade long friendship? More updates coming soon.
- XOXO Gossip Girl”
Blair was the first to finish reading the post. When she did, she looked up at Serena. “Well, I guess Gossip Girl decided for us.”
When Serena finished reading the post a heartbeat after Blair she looked up. Her face was turning the same blotchy red color it did when she was about to cry. “B, I paused because Georgie was watching me talk and she always gets possessive. I was scared…”
“I thought Georgina was your friend…”
Serena paused, her face scrunching up. “She is…” she began hesitantly before nodding her head with more confidence. “She definitely is.”
“So you’re scared of your close friend? That doesn’t seem right…”
“Yeah, well Georgie is complicated.”
“Do you even want to be friends with her still?”
“Of course I do. We have so much fun together.”
Blair forced herself to ignore her lingering jealously. She began to suspect that not only was Georgina messing with her head but Serena’s too.
“S, I don’t think she’s a good friend to you,” she began with uncharacteristic softness. “I mean, look at the evidence: she gets you drunk and high, parties around with you until you pass out, and then she leaves you alone in random hotel rooms.”
“Well when you put it like that…”
She nodded solemnly. Catching the both of them off guard, Serena pulled Blair into a crushing embrace. She could feel the wetness of her best friend’s tears dripping onto her shoulders.
“Let’s get out of here. You’re sleeping over at my place tonight.”
As she walked Serena out the doors and hailed a cab, Blair was reminded of her scheme. A few onlookers got pictures of the two of them together and she was certain that most if not all of them would end up on Gossip Girl. Her plan defines hadn’t worked out but she and Serena were slowly fixing things. She could make this right again.