I Like It Like That (7 page)

Once they finally made it to the Sun Valley Lodge, Blair lay on her bed in their room, staring outside at the bare-branched trees and the snow, wondering if she shouldn't have gone to Hawaii after all. At least she could've gotten a tan.

“Knock, knock!” Serena yelled at the door to the room next door. “Housekeeping!”

She squealed excitedly as her long-lost brother opened the door and they embraced. Erik was all sweaty from the sauna, but he was still her big, adorable oaf. Her honey-bear.

“Hold on. I'll go change,” Blair heard him say.

“Blair doesn't care what you're wearing,” Serena replied. “Come and say hello.” Then Blair heard the sound of bare feet padding across the carpet.

“Hey.”

She raised herself up on her elbows and blinked. Erik was naked except for a white spa towel wrapped around his waist. His blond hair was wet and fell to the nape of his neck. There was a little scar on his chin where he'd fallen on the playground at the age of nine. Other than that, he was flawless.

Blair had already fallen for him after reading his diary and sleeping in his shirts. She'd never imagined the effect that seeing him in person would have on her. His huge blue eyes! His sad, sexy mouth! His perfect chest! Even his feet were perfect.

All of a sudden, she whirred into motion, sitting up and crossing her legs and ruffling her hair and looking calculatedly bored. “Hey.” She stretched her arms overhead and arched her back. “So, have you been skiing yet?” she yawned.

Erik grinned. He was used to the effect he had on girls, and it was kind of cute to see his little sister's friend all grown up and sticking her chest out at him. Actually, he hadn't seen Blair since Serena had gone to boarding school and he'd left for college over two years ago. She'd always been pretty, but with her cute pixie haircut, nicely proportioned little body, and the upward tilt of her aristocratic chin, she'd developed into a genuine hottie.

“Snow's awesome right now, and it's been, like, snowing at night and then sixty degrees in the sun during the day, so you can, like, ski in shorts. Some girls are even skiing in bikini tops. And this place is serious about maintenance, too.”

Blair nodded in pretend fascination. She'd skied all her life, but she liked to take it nice and easy and never embarrassed herself by wiping out. She'd brought her favorite Eres bikini for the hot tub, but from what Erik told her, she could even wear it on the slopes! Serena had warned her that he was a superfast bump skier, but maybe if she asked super-nicely, he'd consider taking a little break from the bumps. They'd make a perfect couple, her in her bikini and him in his surf shorts, winding their way gracefully down the mountain to the envy of all.

“Do you think you could take me around tomorrow?” she asked. “I've only skied here once before.”

Erik grinned. “Sure.”

Their hotel room was large and old-fashioned, with heavy beige velveteen drapes, oak dressers and nightstands, and a walk-in closet. But it also had all the modern amenities: CD and DVD player, Internet access, and a minibar, which Serena had just discovered. Sitting on the floor in front of the open fridge, she stuffed a complimentary Godiva truffle into her mouth and washed it down with a sip of champagne. Was Blair flirting with Erik? And was Erik actually flirting back? Weird.

“Don't mind me,” she muttered under her breath as she took another swig out of the minibottle of Veuve Clicquot. “Look, the light is blinking on the phone. We have messages!” She scooted over to the bedside phone and picked up the handset, following the instructions to retrieve their voicemail.

“Hey, it's Nate. Hope you guys made it out okay. Want to meet up tomorrow morning around ten-thirty to ski? Let me know if you're up for it. Um, I don't know what the number here is. It's kind of a crazy place, actually. But call my cell. Okay. See you.”

Serena thought Nate sounded breathless—and oddly nervous, too—but maybe that was only because he wasn't getting high anymore and she wasn't used to his normal voice. Serena held on to the phone and glanced at Blair and Erik. He was pointing out the window and explaining something to Blair about the layout of the mountain and which runs the sun hit in the morning and in the afternoon. As if Blair cared.

Serena dialed Nate's cell and left a message. “We're totally up for skiing tomorrow,” she said. “I'm going to be rusty, though, and we're going to have to stop for hot chocolate and cigarettes every other run, but if you get bored you can always blow us off. Can't wait to meet Georgie. See you at the bottom of River Run at ten-thirty. Bye, Natie.” She hung up, popped another chocolate into her mouth, and then crawled across the floor, making a growling sound before opening her jaws and biting the back of Erik's leg.

“Ow!” Erik yowled.

Serena sat back on her haunches. “Can we do something?” she asked. “Or are you guys too busy talking in this boring hotel room to, like, go out?”

Blair glared down at her friend from her perch on the bed and could barely resist kicking her in the head. Couldn't Serena just butt out and let them talk?

Serena jumped to her feet and grabbed her cosmetics bag out of the splayed-open suitcase lying on her bed. “I'm taking a shower,” she announced. “And if you guys are ready to join me for a cocktail afterward, fine. If not, I'll just find some cool, interesting people to hang out with, and you can just sit here watching the ski weather report and picking your noses.” She knew she sounded kind of bratty, but it was also pretty damned tactful of her to give Erik and Blair time to, like, do it on the bed right now while she was showering, if that's what they wanted.

Blair rolled her eyes. Serena was only jealous because all of a sudden Erik wanted to talk to her more than he wanted to talk to his little sister. And Blair wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like this. Erik and Serena could see each other anytime.

“I'd better go get dressed,” Erik said, hitching up his towel. “You probably have to unpack and everything.”

Blair walked over to her bag and unzipped it. She pulled out her bikini and a few pairs of lacy underwear, scattering them on top of the bed in plain view. “I didn't bring much. Actually, I need to rent skis and stuff at the ski shop downstairs.”

“Yeah?” Erik paused in the doorway. “I can help you with that. Tell my sister I'll meet you guys in like half an hour in the lobby. We can get something to eat afterward.”

“What about your parents?” Blair asked, remembering that she was a guest on this vacation, and although all she really wanted was to stay in Erik's room and order room service and watch romantic black-and-white movies and rip each other's clothes off, she hadn't forgotten her manners. “Don't we have to eat dinner with them?”

“Nah. They have a ton of friends here. They pretty much always do their own thing. I'm sure they'll want to have, like, one dinner with us, or maybe brunch or something. But basically, we're on our own.” His eyes met Blair's in mutual understanding of how good that sounded.

“This is going to be fun,” she said.

“Yeah, it is,” Erik agreed before ducking into his room.

Well, at least it should be entertaining!

“It's like dawn on Sunday morning, and it's only two degrees,” Elise complained. “What's with the stakeout?”

“Shush,” Jenny whispered. “Here he comes.” She grabbed Elise's coat sleeve and dragged her inside the Lexington Avenue dry cleaner's they happened to be standing in front of.

“Now what are we doing?” Elise grumbled.

Jenny put her fingers to her lips and crouched down behind a giant yellow bag of laundry. She was wearing dark sunglasses just for the occasion and could barely see a thing in the dingy shop. “Shhhh.”

“Can I help you?” the man behind the counter asked. The two girls stayed put as Leo walked quickly past the shop window. His white-blond hair was tucked inside a black watch cap, and he was wearing a bashed-up brown leather jacket with a sheepskin collar that was either very expensive or very old. In his hands were a large coffee in a white paper cup and a white paper bag with something inside it.

Aha! Was it a gun? Jenny wondered. Someone's hand? A boring toasted plain bagel with cream cheese?

“Come on!” Jenny leaped to her feet and dragged Elise back out of the shop, trailing Leo down Seventieth Street to Park Avenue.

Leo had never invited Jenny home or even told her where he lived. And when she'd asked him to hang out with her today, he'd said he couldn't, just as he did half the times she asked him. He was so elusive that she just couldn't resist spying on him. Leo had a favorite coffee place on the corner of Seventieth and Lex and probably lived somewhere nearby. So that morning, Jenny had dragged Elise out of bed at seven to wait across the street from the coffee shop until he showed up.

“Hey, look,” Elise pointed down Park Avenue to a sumptuous-looking doorman building with a green and gold awning. “He's going inside!” She'd acted like the whole spying-on-Leo thing was totally stupid, but now she was getting into it. “Is that where he lives?”

“I don't know,” Jenny answered breathlessly. They continued down the block to the corner until they reached a sunny spot. Jenny leaned against the building, waiting for Leo to come out again.

“You're just going to stay here?” Elise pulled a pack of Orbit gum out of Her pocket and offered a piece to Jenny.

“What's wrong with that?” Jenny unwrapped the stick of gum and bit off half of it, rewrapping the other half to save for later.

“Well, what if he just sits there and watches TV for three hours? We could die out here,” Elise complained.

Jenny chewed her gum and shoved her hands in her black parka pockets. She closed her eyes and let the late March sun drench her face. “It's warmer in the sun. Anyway, what else do we have to do? We're on break. We don't even have any homework.”

Elise couldn't argue with that. It totally sucked being one of the only kids in your class who didn't go away skiing or to some beach resort over break. At least Jenny was keeping them busy. She started when she saw Leo's blond head emerge from the building, capless, and without the coffee and white paper bag. “Hey,” she whispered, poking Jenny in the arm.

The girls pressed their bodies against the side of the building and ducked their heads, hoping he wouldn't spot them. This time Leo was leading a giant white mastiff on a red leather leash. The dog was wearing one of those three-hundred-dollar Burberry plaid collar-and-coat combinations that only dog-crazy rich people bought, and little pink leather boots.

Oh, my.

Jenny didn't quite know what to make of this. It was completely embarrassing for Leo, but it was also totally intriguing. He'd never even told her he had a dog! She yanked on Elise's sleeve again. “Come on.”

They followed at a distance as Leo walked the dog slowly around the block. He was considerate, letting the dog sniff fire hydrants and curbs where other dogs had peed. Then the dog humped its back and did an enormous poop, and Leo dutifully crouched down and picked it up with a little pink plastic baggie he pulled from some sort of baggie dispenser attached to the leash, depositing it in the waste bin on the corner of Sixty-ninth and Madison. After that, he marched the dog around the block to Park Avenue and into the building again.

Jenny leaned against the building in the same sunny spot, totally bewildered by what she'd seen.

Elise stood beside her, chewing noisily. “Hey, I don't know if it's true or not, but you know that site I'm always looking at?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“Well, it was talking about that fancy party all the rich girls from school went to Thursday night? And it mentioned a boy who was at the party who sounded exactly like Leo. So maybe he's like this zillionaire kid and he's too shy to tell you.”

Jenny winced. Or maybe he's too ashamed of me to bring me home to meet his parents, she thought miserably. Still, she wasn't totally convinced. Leo didn't act like a rich snob, and he went to kind of an alternative school. If he were a zillionaire, he'd probably go to St. Jude's or some boarding school in New Hampshire or something. “If he's so rich, what's he doing buying his coffee from a deli and walking his own dog?” she countered. Then again, why did his dog wear a collar that cost more than any piece of clothing she owned? God, Leo was more mysterious than ever!

“Maybe he's a spy impersonating a high-school kid to penetrate some major high-school drug ring,” Elise suggested.

“And he has to dress his dog in pink boots as part of his cover?” Jenny said, her eyes trained on the building's entrance. “I don't think so.”

Elise did a few jumping jacks to keep her blood circulating. “Well, maybe they're special James Bond dog boots, with, like, torpedoes in them or something.”

“Right,” Jenny giggled. She kind of liked the idea of Leo being a spy. “And he's a black belt in karate, and he's fluent in, like, twenty-three languages.”

Elise bent down and retied her shoelaces. She was getting seriously bored of this. “Who, the dog?

“No, you idiot!” Jenny exclaimed, still watching the door. “Leo.”

“Who knows?” Elise yawned. She really needed to go back to bed, but she was also secretly hoping that she and Jenny would go back to Jenny's house so she could see Dan again. He was so weird, in a really cute way. “So what do we do now?”

Jenny pulled the other half piece of gum out of her pocket. She spit the old half into the wrapper and shoved the fresh piece into her mouth. Although she hated to admit it, she absolutely loved spying on Leo. “We wait.”

Well, at least they're keeping busy.

gossipgirl.net

Disclaimer: All the real names of places, people, and events have been altered or abbreviated to protect the innocent. Namely, me.

hey people!

Boys and girls deal differently

Have you ever noticed how when boys are stressed out all they want to do is play video games by themselves for hours or go to the park and kick a ball around with the other boys? When we get stressed out we're productive. We clean our closets, shop for the perfect new bag, get our nails done, our eyebrows waxed, and our teeth cleaned. Sitting still is the last thing we want to do, and the thing we most want is to be around people of the opposite sex. Girls—even our closest girlfriends—are too competitive and will only weird us out even more, while boys provide a soothing distraction. But how does it work when all the boys are busy hanging with one another, playing ball? We have two options: Either we can take off half our clothes and create a diversion that's a little more tempting than a round, bouncy ball. Or we can try not to get all competitive and weird on our girlfriends and have a little fun with them. Face it, after you're done kissing that certain special boy, all you really want to do is call your girlfriends, anyway.

Your e-mail

Q: Dear GG,

I'm only thirteen, and when you talk about stuff like college, it still seems really far off to me. Not to my parents, though. It's all they talk about. Like, they're taking me on a college tour over spring break, and they've signed me up for an SAT prep course starting in April. What can I tell them to get them off my back?

—hadenuf

A: Hey hadenuf,

I think everyone can relate. As if we weren't under enough pressure already?! And I know this is going to sound insane, but I recommend a little reverse psychology—it's always worked for me. Become Miss I-Can't-Wait-for-College! Buy all the guidebooks, paper your room with college posters, order college sweatshirts online, buy an SAT prep CD-ROM and use it as your screen saver. Stop watching TV. And if they don't get worried and leave you alone, try dating a guy who's in college. That might work. Good luck!

—GG

Q: Dear gossipgurl,

I go to Smale with that boy J's been hanging out with, and it's funny because no one really knows him very well. He takes off after the last bell rings, and no one ever sees him. It's like he's a ghost or something.

—celine

A: Dear celine,

His being a ghost might explain things. After all, ghosts can zip around and pull all sorts of crazy tricks. But would a ghost really bother with school? By the way, I love your name—if that's really your name.

—GG

Sightings

D buying a new black corduroy suit at the APC warehouse sale, trying to look French and arty for his new job. V trying on khaki pants at the Gap with her new boyfriend with the big nose. Since when does she wear khaki? J peering down Park Avenue, wearing a pair of binoculars and a funny old-man hat. Has she lost her mind? B in Sun Valley trying on bikinis and buying condoms. Wait, I thought she was supposed to be skiing. And did someone say condoms?! N driving a carload of drunk blond men in a black Mercedes SUV to a rowdy Mexican restaurant, also in Sun Valley. Doesn't it suck to be the designated driver? And where was his girlfriend—passed out already? Goody. It sounds like everyone is on their best worst behavior, as usual. Remember to keep me informed. This page is all about you (when it's not about me).

You know you love me.

gossip girl