graders himself instead of hiring a professional。
The applause was thin and sporadic as Dan accepted the award and returned to his seat。 It was
bound to be after a speech like that。Don？t listen to your teachers？ Let love be your teacher and
follow your heart？ Love is all you need； love is all you need； love is all you need？
Hello？？！
？And now for the diplomas；？ Dr。 Nesbitt announced； and the audience shifted eagerly in their
seats。
None of the boys？ last names began withA ； so Chuck Bass was first。 For the occasion； Chuck
had dressed entirely in cream…colored linen； including his shoes； which were made by Hogan and
even had cream…colored crepe soles。 With his sleek； dark hair and tanned handsome face； he
actually looked pretty sharp； like a Hollywood star from the 1940s。 Chuck tucked the
brown…leather…bound diploma case under his arm； pulled a Cuban cigar out of his jacket pocket；
and put it between his lips。
He was about to turn and walk offstage when Dr。 Nesbitt snatched the cigar out of his mouth；
wiped it on his trousers； and stuck it in his own mouth。 ？I？m going to need something to chew on
to get through all these names；？ he quipped into the microphone； and the audience of parents
responded with a roar of laughter。 Dr。 Nesbitt had been so popular since stepping in as principal；
he？d had to temporarily shut down his psychiatric practice because the school had yet to find a
new principal they liked nearly as much。
？Nice speech； dickhead；？ Chuck hissed as he lumbered over Dan？s feet on his way back to his
seat。 ？？Follow your heart？？ Does that mean we？re eloping to Vegas together after the ceremony？？
Dan resisted the urge to grind his Wallabees into Chuck？s nuts。 He hadn？t thought about how his
speech might sound to everyone else。 All he knew was that he？d written it from the heart； with one
person in mind： Vanessa。
？Nice work；？ Zeke Freedman sneered at Dan as he passed by on his way up to the stage。 Zeke
and Dan had been best buddies until Vanessa became Dan？s girlfriend and Dan sort of forgot
about everything and everybody else。 Zeke was kind of a puter geek and was extremely proud
of the fact that he was going to MIT in the fall； so it wasn？t a stretch to guess that Dan？s speech
had rubbed him the wrong way。
Dan glanced back at his family again。 Jenny had her arm around their dad now； and Rufus？s
shoulders were shaking with grief。 The other parents probably thought Rufus was weeping with
pride； but Dan knew better。 Maybe he should have given his dad some warning and told him about
not going to Evergreen next year。
Yeah； maybe。
？Daniel Jonah Humphrey；？ Dr。 Nesbitt called out。
Dan squirmed in his seat。 Hadn？t he used up enough front…of…stage time already？ He dashed out
of his third…row seat； grabbed the brown leather folder out of Dr。 Nesbitt？s hand； and dashed back
to his seat again； as if he were afraid his classmates were going to pelt him with raw tomatoes or
something。
Jenny had thought Dan？s graduation would be relatively painless and boring。 She hadn？t even
minded when her dad had changed her ticket to Prague to leave tomorrow morning instead of
yesterday so she wouldn？t miss it。 He？d get his diploma while she and Rufus whispered to each
other and heckled his nerdy classmates。 Then they？d go eat Chinese at Dan？s favorite place on
Broadway； and later she？d drag Dan out to that party Blair Waldorf was rumored to be hosting at
the Yale Club？a party that she was absolutely determined not to miss。
Instead； their whole family was falling apart； and she was freaking out。
She and Dan had basically stopped being nice to each other when Jenny had spent the night in a
Plaza Hotel room with the members of the Raves and then proceeded to record a song with them
on the same day they fired Dan。 At home it seemed like Dan could do no wrong。 He was a
published author and an A student。 He？d had his pick of colleges to go to； including Brown； Colby；
NYU； and Evergreen。 Their dad boasted about his achievements all the time。 Jenny was an even
better student； but ever since Mrs。 McLean had requested that she not return to Constance next
year； she？d felt like Dan？s naughty little sister。 The fact that overprotective Rufus had actually
agreed to let her go to boarding school made it even more clear： Dan was the good one； and she
was the bad one。
But now here she was； holding her dad？s hand and pretending to be totally calm and mentally
stable while she was really wondering what was going to bee ofher next year。 If only she
could take Dan？s place at Evergreen。 It was supposed to be arty？she？d probably do fine。
Too bad they don？t have a tenth grade。
A reads v like a book
Even though she？d been totally two…timing him and a cross…country road trip really wasn？t her
idea of a good time； Vanessa was ready for Aaron when he pulled up in his red Saab； right on time。
She just couldn？t let him down； because if she did； she？d have to explain her outrageously heinous
behavior； which she wasn？t prepared to do； because she honestly didn？t know why she？d behaved
so heinously。 Maybe she was just ？
Psycho？
？I？ll be down in a sec！？ she called when he buzzed from downstairs。
？Nah； buzz me in； I？m ing up；？ he responded。
Vanessa should have known that something was up when he walked in and didn？t kiss her。
Downstairs； Mookie； Aaron？s huge brown…and…white boxer； barked eagerly out of the Saab？s open
sunroof。
There were green beads in Aaron？s coarse brown hair。 All of a sudden Vanessa noticed that he？d
grown it out into inch…long little dreads all over his head。 When had that happened？
？Thank God Blair？s graduating today too；？ he remarked。 ？My dad was totally fine with going to
her thing instead of mine。？ He patted his green army…issue…shorts pockets。 ？Um ？？ he began； his
dark eyes darting nervously around the room。 ？Hey； nice dress！？
The Morgane le Fay dress hung all by itself in the living room closet。
Vanessa shrugged。 ？I？m returning it。？
Aaron went over to the dress and pulled the hanger off the rail； twirling it around to get the full
effect of the dress。 ？Put it on；？ he suggested； holding it out to her。
She shook her head。 ？I already tried it on a couple of times。 Besides graduation； I don？t have
anywhere else to wear it。？
Aaron hung on to the dress。 ？Look；？ he began。 ？I kind of don？t think it？s a good idea for you to
e with me。 First of all； with Mookie I kind of don？t have any more room in my car。 Second of
all； I？ve kind of known for a while that you and Dan have kind of been hanging out a lot。？
Kind of。
Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest； all of a sudden feeling a little too large or a little too
stupid or a little too something she couldn？t quite place。 Heknew ？ But hadn？t she and Dan been
totally discreet？
You call having sex in broad daylight on a rooftop discreet？！
？I？m sorry；？ she managed to utter。 It was all she could think of。
？It？s okay。 But you should have told me when I tried to give you this。？ Aaron held out the corny
silver joined…hearts love/friendship ring。 ？I found it in a drawer with the serving spoons。？ He
didn？t even look that upset； which made Vanessa feel even worse。 Obviously she？d been paying
so little attention that he？d had time to think about this and get over it。 But aside from feeling
terrible； she was also totally relieved。
Aaron held up the dress again and twirled it around on its hanger。 ？I also kind of think you don？t
want to miss graduation。 You love those girls；？ he added gently； sounding only slightly gay。
？Yeah； right；？ Vanessa agreed sarcastically； but again she felt totally relieved。 She could wear the
dress even though she was supposed to hate white。 She could sit next to Blair and make fun of Mrs。
M and finally graduate； and the whole class would get drunk together afterwards； even though
they were all supposed to hate each other。
Okay； maybe she did love those girls just a little bit。
Aaron waggled the dress in front of her。 ？You know you want to。？
Vanessa snorted and snatched it out of his hands； catching him in a hug as she did so。 ？Don？t
think you？re getting away without kissing me good…bye。 I don？t know when I？m ever going to see
you again。？
She kissed him quickly on the lips and then pressed her forehead into his warm； familiar shoulder；
her body a bundle of nerves。 She was breaking up with her boyfriend； she was about to graduate；
there was a party to go to； and a whole four years at NYU awaited her； with no more stupid
flicking uniforms！
Yippee！ Except； hasn？t she sort of forgotten about someone？
Vanessa changed into her dress right in front of Aaron； feeling almost sisterly toward him now
that they were broken up。 She still loved him and probably always would。 But the great thing
about love was that itevolved 。
Let？s make sure she remembers that。
？What do you think？？ she asked； doing a Barbie…esque spin in Blair？s white wedge…heeled shoes。
Aaron flinched； as if it hurt to see her looking so incredibly gorgeous。 He held out his
hand。 ？e on。 I heard on the radio the subways are