？Did　you　hear　about　Nate　Archibald　and　that　girl　from　Connecticut？？　Kati　asked。　She？d　had　her

hair　cut　short　over　the　weekend　and　it　made　her　Germanic　nose　look　twice　its　size。　？They　got

busted　for　having　sex　in　the　broom　closet　at　rehab　and　now　he　has　to　go　to　private　therapy　in　the

city　instead。？

？Wait；　I　thought　it　wasBlair　and　Nate　in　the　broom　closet；？　Isabel　sniffed。　She　was　wearing　a

sample　of　Serena？s　Tears　that　she？d　gotten　from　her　mom？s　publicist　friend　who　worked　atVogue　。

It　made　her　nose　run。

？No；　stupid。　Blair　is　seeing　that　old　guy；　remember？　She？s　not　having　his　baby　anymore；　though。

She　had　a　miscarriage。　That？s　why　she　missed　so　much　school。？

？I　heard　that　Blair　and　Serena　both　sent　in　applications　to　the　University　of　California　school

system　today；？　said　Laura　Salmon。　？They　have　rolling　admission；　so　you　find　out　which

UC　school　can　take　you；　like；　a　few　weeks　after　you　apply。？　She　raised　her　thin　strawberry　blond

eyebrows。　？Hey；　maybe　we　should　all　do　that！？

Not　that　any　of　them　wouldreally　have　considered　going　to　a　UC　school。

？So　what　was　it　like；　being　in　that　perfume　ad？？　Mary　Goldberg　asked　Serena　while　the　girls　in

peer　group　A　were　waiting　for　their　hot　chocolates。　Cassie　Inwirth　and　Vicky　Reinerson　pricked

their　ears　up　on　either　side　of　her。　The　three　girls　had　gotten　matching　short　haircuts　over　the

weekend；　but　since　none　of　them　had　gone　to　see　Gianni　at　Garren；　their　cuts　were　only　pale

imitations　of　Blair？s　old　one；　andnothing　pared　to　her　new　one。

？Cold；？　Serena　answered。　She　blew　her　nose　on　a　paper　napkin　and　then　pulled　her　long；　golden

blond　hair　up　on　top　of　her　head；　twisted　it　into　a　b