walk you to your bus stop。”
In the six…minute interval between the bell signaling the end of Latin
and the bell signaling the beginning of Gym； Nate slipped into the
puter lab at the St。 Jude’s School for Boys。 Every Wednesday；
he and Blair had grown accustomed to e…mailing each other a quick
love note （okay； it was Blair’s idea）； to help them get over the hump
of the boring school week。 Only two more days until the weekend；
when they could spend as much time together as they wanted。
But today Nate wasn’t even thinking of Blair。 He wanted to see how
Serena was doing。 Last night she had left a message on the
answering machine in his room while he was watching a Yankees
game with his friends。 Her voice had sounded lonely and sad and
very far away； even though she lived only a block and a half away
from him。 Nate had never heard Serena sound so down。 And since
when did Serena van der Woodsen go to bed early？
Nate sat down in front of one of the humming PCs in the lab。 He
clicked on the New Mail window and typed a message to Serena’s
old Constance e…mail address。 He didn’t know if she would check it
or not； but it was worth a try。
TO： serenavdw@constancebillard。edu FROM：
narchibald@stjudes。edu
Hey。 What are you up to？ I got your message last night。 Sorry I
wasn’t there。 I will definitely see you Friday； okay？ Love； Nate。