Vanessa　had　already　tried　sex　a　couple　of　times　before　with　her　ex…boyfriend　Clark；　an　older

bartender　she？d　gotten　together　with　briefly　in　the　fall；　when　Dan　（along　with　the　rest　of　the

predictable　male　population）　had　been　too　busy　mooning　over　Serena　van　der　Woodsen　to　notice

that　Vanessa　had　fallen　in　love　with　him。　Even　if　Vanessa　had　just　done　it　for　the　first　time；　she

would　have　been　matter…of…fact　about　it；　because　that　was　the　way　she　was　about　everything。　Dan；

on　the　other　hand；　wasn？t　matter…of…fact　about　anything；　andhe　was　the　one　who？d　just　been

deflowered。　She　couldn？t　wait　to　hear　his　reaction。

？It　was　。　。　。？　Dan　stared　unblinkingly　up　at　the　gray；　turned…off　lightbulb　dangling　from　the　center

of　the　ceiling；　feeling　immobilized　and　overstimulated　at　the　same　time。　Their　hips　were　touching

under　the　thin；　burgundy…colored　sheet；　and　it　felt　like　an　electric　current　was　running　between

them；　pinging　out　of　Dan？s　toes；　his　knees；　his　belly　button；　his　elbows；　and　the　ends　of　his　hair。

？Indescribable；？　he　finally　answered；　because　there　really　were　no　words　to　describe　how　it　had

felt。　Writing　a　poem　about　sex　would　be　impossible；　unless　he　resorted　to　boring；　clich？d

metaphors　like　exploding　fireworks　or　musical　crescendos。　Even　those　were　totally　inaccurate。

They　gave　no　sense　of　the　actualfeeling　；　or　how　sex　was　this　whole　discovery　process　during

which　everything　monplace　became　absolutely　amazing。　For　instance；　Vanessa？s　left　arm：　it

wasn？t　a　particularly　spectacular　arm？fleshy　and　pale；　covered　in　brownish　fuzz；　and　sprinkled

with　moles。　While　they？d　been　having　sex　it　had　no　longer　been　the　same　old　arm　he？d　known

and　l