CHAPTER ONE
PRETTY IN BLUE
"when you go away, i still see you"
˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

"Has anyone every told you how annoying you can be?"

Dan Humphrey and his 'comrade' Amelia Hopper were strolling down the streets of New York, headed in the direction of the bus stop. It was Friday, Amelia's favorite day of the week. To her, Friday's were the gift from Mother Earth after a hard working week of school. Friday's signalized the end of the school week and the beginning of the weekend. Though Amelia didn't really mind school ( yes, she knew she sounded like a complete nerd whenever she said those words ), the weekend allowed her to let her hair down. And in typical Amelia Hopper manner that directly translated into nestling in the comforts of her own tiny apartment with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.

As Amelia had a limited social calendar, to put it kindly, she didn't really have tons of plans and invitations to parties on a Friday night. Which worked out perfectly for her. Spending her time bugging the Humphrey boy was more than enough to settle her social cravings. Not that she really had any of those.

"Yes. You have, on several occasions." Amelia grinned as she ruffled Dan's slightly grown out buzzcut, furthermore irritating him. Dan had a lot on his mind as of late. With his mother still located in Hudson, and Serena Van Der Woodsen being back in town he had plenty to ponder over. Fortunately for him, his female friend had this ridiculously effective way to put his mind off of things. "You're brooding." Amelia observed as she caught the look gracing her friend's face. "What's up?"

Dan huffed loudly, drawing in a deep breath. He didn't really want to talk about any of the things bothering him, particularly his mom.

Popping a piece of gum into her mouth, Amelia began guessing. "It doesn't happen to have anything to do with a pretty blonde, does it?" The brunette girl queried tauntingly, chewing menacingly on her gum. Dan's eyes shot over at the Hopper girl in annoyance.

"I'm not brooding." He shut her down. "Especially not over some girl that'll never notice me." He finished, ready to retire the thoughts of the Van Der Woodsen girl. "I'm just tired. I didn't really get too much sleep." What Dan was saying wasn't necessarily a lie. He had been up all night, but not due to restlessness. He had been up scrolling through old Gossip Girl blasts about the specific blonde. The popular gossip site favored the it girl almost as much as he himself did. . .

"You're totally brooding, but as you're making it painfully obvious that you don't want to tell me what's up, I'm going to leave it." Amelia responded, shrugging her shoulders as they halted at the bus stop.

"Wow, really? Amelia Hopper is for once in her life not digging? Who are you, and what did you do to my nosy friend." Dan joked, causing the Hopper girl to roll her eyes.

"Watch it, Humphrey. One more word like that and I might actually torment you the rest of the day. Hell, the rest of the weekend even!" Dan chuckled at the shorter girl and her weak attempt of a threat. It wasn't like she was going to refrain from bugging him, it happened to be her favorite hobby. And Dan Humphrey happened to like her constant nagging.

     The bus soon arrived to pick the duo up. Much to their dismay, it was packed, so they had to stand. "Hey, look at the bright side, cardio is good for the heart." Amelia chirped as she wrapped her fingers around a pole to balance her feet as the bus moved down the road.

     "We're standing still." Dan deadpanned, adjusting the strap of his backpack. Sometimes he wondered what it was like for his fellow students to ride to school in the back of a limo paid for by their parents. He wouldn't mind swapping the sweaty public transportation for a clean leather clad limousine right about now.

     Amelia enjoyed public transportation, especially in New York. Though it did get messy sometimes, and it definitely could be scary, it was also highly amusing. Whenever she swiped the metro card she was happily looking forward to whatever funny business was sure to be happing in the near future. But the longer she lives in the city, the more used she got to the shenanigans.

     "Yes, but standing nontheless." Amelia retorted, shifting on her feet to make sure she didn't trip.

     "It's sickening how happy you always are." Dan joked causing the Hopper girl to grin.

     "I'm sorry, but you're doom and gloom just won't rub off on me. Maybe I should try being a brooding teenager for one day, it sure does suit you." Amelia fired back, earning a chuckle from her male companion.

     At the next stop, two guys wearing matching uniforms as Dan and Amelia climbed in. Amelia was not the type to obsess over every Gossip Girl blast, but Jenny Humphrey had a tendency to shove the stuff down her throat everytime she swung by the loft. Let's just say, Amelia was officially hooked. Who knew somebody else's drama could be this entertaining? Oh, that's right. The whole entertainment industry knows. Why else would the tv be littered in all these cheesy yet amusing reality programs? Back to the point; crediting Jenny and Gossip Girl, Amelia recognized the faces before her. Nathaniel Archibald and Charles Bass.

     The two boys infront of her were probably the most popular guys at her high school, one of them dating the most popular girl; Blair Waldorf. Nate and Blair had been together since kindergarten or something, not that Amelia was keeping tabs on the relationships. Jenny was pretty obsessed with Blair, and as the brunette was one of Gossip Girl's favorite girls, it was safe to say that most of the wealthy elite knew of her. That, and the fact that her mother was Eleanor Waldorf, a pretty big and successful designer.

     Nate was the descendants of Archibalds on his dads side and Vanderbilt's on his mom side, which made him ridiculously loaded. His trust fund was taller than some of the concrete skyscrapers littered around the city, making whatever Amelia made in a hard working month look like simple pocket change. The Archibald boy was crowned the golden boy of the school, the prince. Together with Blair they made the perfect couple, they were just it. Sometimes Amelia would glance on the posts Jenny showed her, envying a relationship so true and secure. That is until she reminded herself that not everything was like it seemed on the outside, and that even though she sometimes felt insecure in her own relationship, she was pretty darn lucky to have a guy like Devon.

     Someone with not only a bigger bank account but also bigger list of conquests? Chuck Bass, Nate's best friend. Chuck was was the child of Bart Bass and his deceased wife. Chuck was quite the piece of work, to put it lightly. Amelia hadn't really had any one-on-ones with the Bass, but she made sure to avoid him. According to what Jenny had told her, he had quite the appetite in women. And according to the times Amelia had watched him try and fail at picking up women, she had labeled him a pig.

     Amelia did realize she wasn't in the best position to judge the Bass boy, or anyone else for that matter. She barely had any friends, had little to no money compared to them and could count on one finger how many parties she had attended. The one being a wedding she had attended when she was thirteen. But Amelia was judgy. She knew it, Dan knew it, everyone knew it. Though she didn't pride herself on judging books by their cover, she didn't feel ashamed of it either. It was part of who she was, and besides, she never judged anybody too badly.

Her conversation with Dan quickly fell dead as both of them got too preoccupied eavesdropping on Nate and Chuck. It could barely pass as eavesdropping, Amelia thought to herself, they were after all speaking loudly on a crowded bus. She wouldn't of been able to refrain from listening even if she wanted to.

     "Serena looked effing hot last night. There's something wrong with that level of perfection. . . it needs to be violated." Chuck disgusting said, causing Amelia to keep herself from barfing down his neck. The Bass was truly a disgusting pig.

     Nate simply chuckled in respond, used to his friend's rather odd way of expressing things. "You're deeply disturbed." Amelia found herself agreeing with the boy.

     Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "And yet you know I'm right. You're telling me if you had the chance—"

     "I have a girlfriend." Nate interjected.

     "You guys have been dating since kindergarden and you haven't sealed the deal." The Bass stated, a certain sass hidden behind his words.

     Nate simply laughed it off. "Who says 'seal the deal'?"

     Amelia found herself deeply disgusted by the way the duo not only talked about women in general, but of Blair. Sure, Chuck was the one carrying the conversation, but Nate was making no efforts to shut him down or defend his girl. For some reason the whole ordeal really struck a nerve.

     Why were they even on the bus to begin with? Weren't they both suppose to be super rich? Rich enough to have a private chauffeur instead of a public bus driver.

The bus soon enough halted infront of the private school, Constance Billiard - St. Jude's. But before Amelia and Dan could escape the packed bus, Chuck Bass swiftly turned around, staring directly at the Humphrey. "You following us or something?" The Bass spat at Dan, an ugly look resting upon his face.

Amelia's eyes widened at the accusation, her mouth almost falling agape. How painfully out of touch with reality could one possibly be?

Taken aback, Dan quickly fired a response. "No. I-I go to your school." He replied, disbelief coating his words. "Identical uniforms, that's kind of a tip off?"

Nate glanced at the Humphrey, his eyes slipping to the brunette next to him. For a moment, the golden boy let his eyes linger on the girl, captivated by her bright eyes that contrasted her dark colored hair perfectly. "That's funny." Nate commented before exiting the bus alongside the Bass.

Dan and Amelia shared a knowing look. The day had barely just begun, and Amelia was already craving the comforts of her own bed. This was bound to be one excruciatingly long day.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

Amelia Hopper never really minded the uniforms of the private school she attended. In fact, she hugely preferred not having to dig through her closet each morning trying to decipher what to wear to school. Besides, it wasn't that bad.

There was no denying that the Hopper girl preferred jeans to skirts any day. Something about having you're legs bare and the simple flick of the wind being almost enough to expose your undergarments just didn't sit with her. In actual pants she could literally do anything. In skirts and dresses? Not so much. But she wouldn't deny that the skirts did look a whole lot cuter than the worn down thrifted old jeans she usually wore.

At this very moment the Hopper girl was sitting all by her lonesome at a bench just outside of the school. While her dear friend Jenny hated the idea of eating lunch by herself, Amelia found the peace quite soothing. She could simply plop down in a seat, shove her earphones in and play her favorite songs while munching away on a really great sandwich she had made before school. And if there was time, she'd either get a head start on her homework or she'd let herself fall into the book world by indulging in her latest book of choice.

Today was no different. While Jenny were standing infront of Blair Waldorf and her 'minions', Amelia sat by her self, quite content with the music playing in her ears. Much to Amelia's annoyance, her peace was short lived.

Jenny ripped the earphones out, slumping down on the bench next to her friend.

"Oh my god, Jenny. You scared me. Don't sneak up on me like that." Amelia lectured, pulling the other earphones out as well, pausing her music. "What's got you in a mood?"

Jenny huffed. "I made these invites to a party Blair's hosting—"

"Wait, Blair Waldorf?" Amelia quickly interjected, thrown off by the fact that Jenny associated with the harsh queen bee of the school.

"Yes, Blair Waldorf. As I was saying, I made these invites and got my own as a reward for the work." Jenny began, but before she managed to finish her rant, Amelia interject again.

"Hold up. You were invited to the Kiss on the Lips party?" Amelia queried in disbelief.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yes. I Jenny Humphrey was invited to the party. Why does everyone think that's so unbelievable?" The girl questioned in annoyance.

Amelia's hands shot up in self defense. "Sorry, I just didn't think the Humphrey's even wanted to go to those functions. Dan certainly doesn't."

"Yeah, well, I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not Dan. Just because I'm not rich, it doesn't mean I want to be some pathetic loser who withers away when somebody tried to speak to me." The shot was fired directly at Amelia. The girl could be really shy sometimes, almost melting away when someone approached her without warning.

"Fair point. Continue."

"Yeah, well, I got invited. But Serena didn't. And I don't know, it just feel wrong that she won't get to go just because Blair decided there weren't enough invites. Like I can't just make her one more?" Jenny rambled.

"So why don't you just make her one?" Amelia queried, not seeing the issue at hand.

Jenny quickly shook her head, shoveling yoghurt into her mouth. "No, I couldn't. Blair would end me."

"Blair doesn't have to know. If Serena is as nice as you always make her out be, I'm sure she won't tell Blair if you ask her. Especially after doing her such a nice gesture." Amelia reasoned.

A few moments of silence passed before Jenny jumped to her feet. "Your right. You're absolutely right. I'm just going to go make her one before class starts." Jenny decided, dumping the left over food into a trash can nearby. "See you after school, Bunny!" Jenny exclaimed, hurrying off to make a spare invite for the it girl.

Amelia relaxed into the silence, once again putting on music and continuing her lunch in peace.

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

Amelia's day didn't end up like she had originally expected it to. The brunette was currently standing outside the dressing room of some ridiculously expensive clothing store, tapping her foot against the ground impatiently as Jenny tried on the tenth dress in the last hour or so. After school Jenny had begged the girl to help her pick out a dress for tomorrow night, and since Amelia had no other plans and happened to love spending time with the blonde, she agreed. But only on the terms that Dan would be tortured alongside her. Which is how both her and Dan ended up at the store, waiting for Jenny to try on the last dress.

Jenny stepped out of the dressing room, cladded in a short red dress. Amelia grinned widely at the sight of the fourteen year old. "You look gorgeous. That's the dress for sure." Amelia chirped.

Jenny stared at her reflection in the mirror, uncertainty clouding her face. "You said that to the last three dresses too." Jenny said, inspecting the dress. "I mean, come on, I've never been to a big dance before."

Amelia huffed loudly. "Yeah, neither have I. And I said that because they were all really good too. Dan, back me up here."

     "You look good, Jen. You do, really." Dan said, backing Amelia's words. He too was more than ready to get out of the store. The glaring bright lights were giving him a headache, and every retail worker who passed them stunk of expensive perfumes. He felt out of place, which he was. He much preferred settling down in his room in the loft trying to think of ideas for stories to write.

     "Thanks. I'm mean, too bad it's more than our rent but I think I can make something like it." Amelia greatly amired Jenny's talent for fashion and designing.

     Sometimes Amelia envied the passion both the Humphrey children harbored. Dan with his writing and Jenny with her styling. They were passionate, and they were good at the stuff they liked. Amelia didn't really have a passion, nor did she have anything she was exceedingly good at. Amelia was just Amelia. Just plain basic.

     "Ah, would you look at who just walked through the door." Amelia whispered to the siblings, eyes placed upon the duo headed towards them. Amelia immediately recognized the blonde it girl, and she was willing to bet how Dan was bound to react.

     Jenny lit up with excitement. "Oh my gosh, it's Serena. Hi, Serena!" The blonde bounced on her feet, waving excitedly to Serena. The Humphrey girl quickly fished the spare invitation from her bag, the letters 'Serena van der Woodsen' written on the envelope. Dan, like Amelia had predicted, panicked and vanished before the Van Der Woodsen managed to reach them.

     Serena smiled warmly at them. "Hey. Hey, Jenny, right?"

     "Yeah." Jenny nodded. "And this is Bunny." Jenny introduced her friend by the nickname.

     The Hopper girl extended a hand towards Serena. "I'm Amelia, but as you might've caught on to most people call me Bunny. I'm fine with whichever." The brunette awkwardly rambled, her cheeks coated pink with embarrassment.

"This is my—"

"Stylist and personal shopper. Eric, hi." Eric quickly interjected, finishing Serena's sentence.

"Hi, uhm, this is my brother— or not. . ." Jenny trailed off, just now realising the disappearing act her older brother had made.

Serena smiled warmly at the two girls, gesturing to the dress Jenny was currently wearing. "So is this your dress for the 'Kiss On The Lips' party?"

Jenny shifted on her feet. "Sort of. Speaking of that—" Jenny handed the older blonde the envelope, a smile on her face as she did "—Here, I made you one during free period but anyone asks where you got it, I know nothing."

"Thanks." Serena accepted the invitation, putting it in her purse before her and Eric tuned to leave. "Hi, Bunny?" Serena felt weird using the nickname. "Erm, are you going to the party?"

"Me? No that's not really my sce—"

"Yes she is." Jenny interrupted, a mischievous look in her eye. Amelia furrowed her brows in confusion, but before she could correct Jenny, they had already begun walking away.

"Dan, Dan?" Jenny began calling out, peeping through the racks of clothes for the buzz cut boy.

"Jenny!" Serena called out. "That dress would look even better in black." The Van Der Woodsen advised.

"Black. Cool. Thanks." Jenny grinned, overly happy to receive fashion advice from the it girl herself.

"What the hell, Jen? Since when am I going to that stupid thing? I don't have a dress, nor do I have an invitation. And quite frankly, I don't want to go! I don't know anyone, and it's not my scene." Amelia ranted irritably, mentally cussing the blonde out.

"Would you relax? I need a date, and I'll fix both the invitation and a dress. Besides, what other plans do you have? A tub of ice cream and some book? This is going to be way better, trust me."

˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚

Amelia was seriously beginning to regret letting Jenny convince her to go to this stupid party. Amelia wasn't a party person. She didn't drink, she didn't do drugs and she most definitely did not do dancing. So her only solution was to retreat into a lonely corner, staring at the party goers, pretending to receive a text message every now and then to make herself look a little less pathetic and lonely.

     The entire night was a bust, and Amelia was seriously pissed off that she didn't refuse Jenny and spend  the evening by herself in her apartment, or with Devon, or even with Rufus as his groupie as he was performing tonight. Hell, she would rather be getting school work done instead of sitting at this party with no one to talk to. She would have brought a book, but she was not about to be one of those girls either. So slowly dying of boredom was the better option.

     Jenny had disappeared almost effective immediately as they stepped into the party doing god knows what. Amelia had made sure to shoot the blonde a handful of texts ranging from questioning where she disappeared to and letting her know just how pissed of the Hopper girl was. But it was to no avail, she received exactly zero answers.

     In the midst of pretending to receive messages, Amelia had shockingly enough actually received one. Devon wanted to hang out with her, and had agreed to pick her up after the party was finished. Or whenever she decided she wanted to leave.

Amelia huffed loudly, getting to her feet. She needed some fresh air. The overly scented perfumes and big egos in the room made the air stuffy.

The brunette swiftly weaves through the thick crowd of people, desperately making a break for the door. When she finally reached the outside of the venue, she drew a deep breath. The New York air filled her lungs, ridding them of Chanel perfumes.

Amelia made her way across the street, comfortably leaning against a brick wall at the entrance of an valley.

"You look like your having the night of your life." A voice suddenly spoke, receiving a squeal from the now spooked girl.

     The Hopper girl spun around, frightened blue eyes falling on the owner of the voice. Just as slumped as herself, Nate Archibald stood, sipping from a beer, sporting a brooding facial expression.

     "Your mom never told you brooding in an alley this late is creepy? Where's your manners." Amelia grumbled, annoyed that he had killed her moment of peace.

"Brooding? I'm brooding?" Nate queried, one brow arched in curiosity. Until yesterday, Nate had never taken any notice in the girl. Yet here he was, interacting with the girl for the second time in two days.

The girl was cute, Nate noticed. Her crystal eyes shone brightly as she stared up at him, matching her navy blue dress. The color suit her. His eyes fell on her sneaker cladded feet, amused by the choice of footwear. Her hair was the same as the previous day, as was her makeup. The Archibald found himself appreciating the simplicity of her look. The glitz and glamor of the Upper East Siders hadn't rubbed off on her, but she looked dashing still.

Nate ran a hand over his face, trying to get rid of the thoughts. He didn't even know the girl, and he had a girlfriend for heavens sake.

"You're standing in an alley, in the dark, sipping beer all doom and gloomy. I actually think we're seconds away from having a rain cloud appear over your head striking lighting and thunder." Amelia stated, her whit peaking through her every word.

     "Woah, way to judge someone without getting to know them. Last I check, you're standing here, in the same dark alley, just as brooding as me." Nate fired back.

     Amelia bit down on her lower lip, admitting defeat. "Fair point."

     "So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be partying it up?" Nate pressed, curious as to why the brunette had joined him in the alley.

     Amelia huffed loudly. "The music is deafening, the stench of a thousand different perfumes are giving me a headache and the air was getting really stuffy." Amelia admitted in honesty. "And I'm not really a party kind of girl. I prefer the comforts of my own home in place of a party venue."

     "I get that." Nate agreed. Amelia shot him an odd look, causing the golden boy to chuckle. "I do enjoy a good party, but not tonight. Tonight. . . Tonight I wish I had just stayed at home."

     "So why didn't you?" Amelia questioned, finding herself invested in his answer.

     "People expected me to come." Nate replied truthfully.

     "What? You're here because 'people expected you to'? What are you, a mob boss? What does that even mean?"

     "I have friends and my girlfriend is the hostess. A lot of people are counting on me to show up." Nate replied.

     "But why do you care?" Amelia queried.

     "What?"

     "Why do you care what people want? What they expect? Do you base all of your decisions on other people's opinions?" Amelia questioned.

     A moment of silence enfugled the duo as Nate took in her words. A part of him wanted to tell her that she didn't understand, but somehow her words struck him deeply. She was absolutely right. The golden boy based every decision in his life on somebody else's wishes. His choice in college? His parents wanted him at Dartmouth. His girlfriend? His parents wanted him with Blair. His entire life was planned out for him, and he hadn't made a single choice. He hadn't even made a move to protest any of it.

     "I don't know." Nate responded. "I honestly don't know."

     From across the street, Jenny exited the party alongside her brother and Serena. Amelia spotted them as they hauled on a cab.

     "My friends are leaving, I should go with them." Amelia excused herself. "Nice talking to you Nate Archibald."

     "Hey, wait up!" Nate called after the mysterious girl. "What did you say your name was again?"

     Amelia threw the Archibald one last look, grinning widely.

     "I didn't."

word count; 4470
a/n

i know i know this is my second gossip girl book, and the first one i have barely even started on. but i just can't help it anymore. my mind is so packed with ideas of stories i want to write, my thoughts are begging and screaming at me to writeee. but i swear to you i most definitely for sure will try to finish my books before i start new projects ! this chapter is rather long, which I'm pretty content with. figured i want to fit both season one and two into one book, so long chapters are a must if i want to make that happen ! so just stay tuned for more soon !

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