CHAPTER FOUR
SAY MY NAME
"you're such a strange girl"
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Hi, the Upper East Siders. There's nothing Gossip Girl likes more than surprises. And we see the 2 in 1 formula enjoyed Blair Waldorf: his mother Eleanor who has just returned from Paris and Serena Van Der Woodsen lunching with girlfriends.

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     While on the Upper East Side Chanel bags and designer dresses were mandatory uniforms at all times, the Brooklyn dress code was much different. Flannel shirts, ripped jeans, baggy pants and graphic tees? Oh honey, in Brooklyn, the world was your oyster. Whatever you deemed fit to wear was acceptable. Exactly ninety two percent of Amelia's closet consisted of thrifted pieces, and the other eight percent? Hand me downs. Now usually she wouldn't care about that, but something about the way Blair Waldorf stared and Dan Humphrey and herself in utter disgust made her want to burn every piece of clothing she owned.

     Dan and Amelia found themselves wandering the streets of New York City. They were on a mission; retrieved the several Cuban sandwiches they had order and return to the loft to enjoy them with Rufus. Dan had just returned from delivering Jenny to their mother in Hudson. Rufus was still wary about letting the fourteen year old travel on her own. It had been so much easier with Dan. He was the kid that cried and begged him to follow him to school because of his social and separation anxiety kicked in. Jenny was much bolder, she took risk and never considered the consequences. Plus, there were all kinds of sick people in the world, and Rufus wanted to make sure his precious daughter stayed safe. As did Dan, which is why he volunteered to deliver his baby sister to their mother.

     Amelia was happy Dan had been quick to deliver his sister, not wanting to be separated from her closest for any longer than she had to. Devon was going out of town with his parents and his little brother for some camping trip, so he wasn't an option either. And other than her boyfriend and the Humphreys, Amelia didn't really have any other friends. But she wasn't complaining, she actually preferred it this way.

     The Hopper girl had managed to drag Dan from thrift store from thrift store in look of a good leather jacket. Amelia's old one had literally fallen apart from being worn too much, and as it was pretty much a signature look for her, she desperately needed a new one. The hunt was proving to be much harder than she had thought, but she had picked up a couple of other really cute pieces she couldn't wait to style.

     Dan had been recruited as the carrier of bags after he complained about her being too slow. It was her punishment for his constant negativity.

     As of right now, Dan had bumped into Serena on the street while Amelia was checking out a pair of pants at a store. He didn't want to stand and stare while she tried on clothes, so he had figured he'd get some fresh air. Much to his pleasure, he had bumped into Serena just outside of the store. The blonde it girl was out shopping with Blair who she had shockingly made up with as of recently. Blair arrived at the same time as Amelia did, the two staring each other down. Amelia quickly broke eye contact, her blue eyes finding her shoes incredibly interesting as she cracked under Blair's withering glare.

     "It was disgusting." Blair stated in distaste. "The head should be closed."

     Serena glanced at her friend. "The toilets?"

     Blair shook her head. "No, the people,  it's called Nolita, not "no shower"." Blair's eyes found the Humphrey boy, a displeased frown etching itself on her face. "What are you doing here? It smells like pork? And cheese?" Her tone was filled with disgusted. "Ok, as soon as you finished with your charity, why not join me? I going to Tory Burch to look for ponchos. . ." Blair trailed off, spinning around to leave the three behind.

     Dan stared at Serena in disbelief. "It that not the girl who said to the whole school and several universities that you had a drսg problem?"

     Serena nodded apologetically. "Yes. Blair can be a little. . . Blair."

      Amelia snorted. "Yeah, yeah that's one way to put it." The girl said, mostly under her breath.

     Serena continued. "We're just trying to reconcile. Today is our first day out alone. So it is better that I go back." Serena said, excusing herself.

     Dan nodded. "Yeah, of course."

     Serena smiled as she began leaving. "But call me one of these days so we can get together and do stuff you didn't ask me to do." Serena smiled brightly. Her eyes slipped to Amelia, offering the girl a smile just as warm. "Good to see you again, Amelia."

     With that, the Van Der Woodsen left to find Blair, leaving Amelia and Dan to head home with their sandwiches.

     "She's stronger than me." Amelia stated. "I don't know if I would be able to forgive you if you did me like that." She admitted honestly.

     Dan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well I'm not about to complete publicly humiliate you and possibly ruin your entire future." He replied.

     Amelia chuckled. "Well I hope not." The girl threw an arm around Dan jokingly. "Then I'd have to ruin you socially." She joked, earning a chuckled.

     Dan was completely capable of doing that himself.

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It looks like someone did not anticipate the intruder. Chuck does not he know that a party is not one until someone is there is not embedded?

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     While Chuck Bass and Nate Archibald was just beginning their 'lost weekend' celebration, Dan was being nagged on by Amelia. The girl curiously pressed him for information about Serena. The blonde's comment earlier had led Amelia to believe that the two wasn't quite over like she had originally believed them to be, and she was excited for her friend. Dan really needed to get out of his comfort zone, and Serena Van Der Woodsen was the perfect girl for just that.

Amelia had let her wind wander to the moments shared with the Archibald boy over tacos and salsa. After they both ditched the mixer and ended up getting food together, they had wandered mindlessly around the city, simply talking. Amelia didn't really think too much off the friendly interaction, but after it ended she had been greatful that no one had snapped a picture of the two. Nate was like royalty to Gossip Girl, and considering they were in Gossip Girl land, it was almsot shocking that no one had recognized the golden boy and sendt in a tip that he had a new friend. Not that it was anything to report, in fact, Amelia wouldn't even consider them to be friends. They were simply strange acquaintances who just so happened to be at the same place at the same time whilst being hungry. Comfort food never hurt anybody, right? But Gossip Girl did have a way of twisting and bending a story in her favor. Though she claimed to only tell the truth, the site had a habit of spreading the wildest rumours about people. And the last thing Amelia wanted was to be come visible.

The Hopper girl enjoyed being invisible. When she walked down the hallway no one spared her a single glance. It was like she wasn't even there. The girl preferred it that way. She didn't attend the prestigious private school to make friends, or to become popular. The brunette did it so that when the time came where she had to make a choice on which college to attend, she would have a broad range of schools to pick from, her gpa and extracurricular activities being good enough to be considered at even the most pretentious of universities.

Besides, she saw herself, and that was the most important thing, right?

At the moment Amelia was rummaging throug the Humphrey kitchen in desperate need of a snack. The Hopper girl knew for a fact Rufus had made waffles earlier that morning, and she was determind to figure out just where he had hidden them away. Rufus knew the girl well enough to know that she'd go looking for the waffles, he simply hid them before running an errand for fun. He found the thought of her pulling the kitchen off the hinges looking for the waffles hilarious.

Dan was seated at the kitchen island, watching his friend tie herself into knots looking while rambling on about a certain blonde.

"Did she seem into me today when we met her? She did. Didn't she?" He had been going back and forth like that for the past thirty minutes. The Humphrey was mere minutes away from finding the closest flower to pluck the petals in a game of 'she likes me, she likes me not'. Amelia, on the other hand, was seconds away from plucking her hair out in a game of 'shut the hell up about Serena or I'm going to silence you myself'.

"Oh my god Dan, can you just call her and ask?" Amelia finally snapped, slamming her hands on the counter. "She basically asked you to call her to link up. What are you waiting for?"

Dan stared back at the blue eyed girl, realization hitting him like an epiphany. "Yes. Yeah, you're right. I will call her right now and-and ask her to go to the movies with me." Dan decided, pulling out his phone to call the blonde.

"Finally." Amelia muttered under her breath, giving up on her search for the no doubt delicious waffles.

     The girl slumped down on the couch in the living room, Dan following after with his phone pressed to his ear. After a couple of rings, someone answered the phone. Much to his dismay, it wasn't Serena who answered.

     Dan wore a bewildered and confused look on his face as the deafening sounds of squeals and female voice flooded his ear. "Dan Humphrey." He spoke into the phone. Amelia tilted her head, watching Dan's face twist. "I can hear you guys. Can I please talk to Serena?" Dan plead, obviously fed up with whomever had answered the phone. "And I'm really ready to hang up." Amelia watched with amusement. She loved hearing people talk on the phone. She'd always guess what the other person was saying. "Okay, because I was calling to ask you not to talk with me by going to the movies tonight." Dan asked into the phone, hopeful for a yes. "In Sunshine at 7:00." He paused, awaiting the answer. Then, a bright smile spread on his lips. "I'll see you there." Dan grinned from ear to ear as he put the phone down.

     "She said yes?" Amelia assumed.

     "She said yes." Dan confirmed cheerfully, already heading for the shower. "I have to shower and get ready. Do you want to stay or. . ?" Dan trailed off, awaiting Amelia's response. She checked the clock on the wall, pursing her lips as she tried figuring out whether she would stay or go.

     "I think I'll just let myself out when your in the shower. I can swing by later or something and you can tell me all about the date." Amelia smiled, throwing on her jacket as she got to her feet.

     "Oh, I definitely will." Dan said, confident that the night would go well. Then he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Amelia to let herself out.

     Amelia excited the Humphrey loft, heading in the direction of her apartment. She pulled her phone out, quickly dialing and calling her boyfriend. The Hopper wanted to her his voice. They hadn't texted or called all day, and she wanted to hear all about his day. The phone rung for a moment or two before he answered. "Hi babe!" Amelia beamed happily into the phone, eager to hear his voice.

     "Hello?"

     Amelia could feel her heart drop to her stomach at the sound a voice that most definitely did not belong to her boyfriend, or any boy for that matter. The girl halted in her step, eyes wide, blood running cold. A million thoughts rushed into her mind as she tried to figure out who the mysterious female at the other line could possibly be. She decided that it must've been his mother.

     "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm calling for, erm, Devon? Who is this?" Amelia questioned, trying her best not to sound thrown off.

     "Devon's in the shower right now. I'm Mikaela, and you?"

     Amelia pulled the phone from her ear, realization dawning on her. The brunette quickly ended the call, shoving the phone deep into the pocket of her jacket.

     "That motherfu—"

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The rules for dummies, the day of a shoot are the same as for a patient before operation; do not eat or drink within 12 hours which precede. Wear comfortable clothes and you ensure that your affairs are in order. We do not know what could happen in a flash.

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     Amelia was struggling to out her feelings into words. She was mad, she was raging actually, but all at once she felt this overwhelming feeling of confusion mixed with sadness. The girl was an over thinker, so much she was aware of. Maybe she was simply overthinking the situation. Amelia had male friends, why wouldn't she allow her boyfriend to have female friends? But then again, he had never mentioned any 'Mikaela', and he had told her he was camping the next few days with his family. Did he just happened to stumble upon a shower out in the middle of the woods? None of this was adding up.

     The last few hours had been spent with the girl arguing with herself. One side of her tried desperately to understand and defend Devon's side of the story. The other? It quite frankly burnt with the fury of hell's revenge.

     Amelia shoved all of her emotions down, sipping the coke Dan had handed her when she had arrived at the loft. Jenny and Rufus were out doing god knows what, and Dan wanted to spend time with his friend. And he really wanted to let her know about the photo shoot he had attended for Serena. It had ended a hell of a lot different than he had imagined, but shockingly enough it ended on good terms. He and Serena were pursuing things, and Blair had put her stamp of approval on it. Not that they needed it, but it was a nice gesture, especially coming from the Waldorf herself.

     "Are you going to answer that?" Dan questioned, feeling tremendously distracted by the constant buzzing and ringing coming from Amelia's phone.

     The brunette huffed loudly in annoyance, switching her phone off completely. Devon had been calling left and right since the phone call with Mikaela, shooting her numerous texts. Amelia had overlooked it all, deciding to take her time before responding. The last thing she needed was any excuses while she was trying to sort out her thoughts.

     "No." Amelia sternly answered, carelessly throwing the phone across the room and onto the couch. Dan stared at his friend in confusion, silently wondering what was going on with her. Judging by the incredibly strained facial expression and the harshness to her tone, she was not about to explain what was going on either. So, he left it alone.

"Ookay. . ." Dan replied, making it obvious that he didn't belive her but that he wasn't going to pry.

"I think I'm going to head out." Amelia suddenly announced, pulling on her jacket. She figured a walk through the city would help clear her mind, it usually did. "I have some. . . homework. Yeah, I got this assignment due on Monday that I've barely even started on and I just really need to ace it." The girl lied.

Dan furrowed his brows. "I can help you with it." He immediately volunteered. Leaving Amelia alone with her thoughts wasn't on the top of his list of things he wanted to do.

"No, Dan, it's fine. I'll do it myself. I'll give you a call later tonight or somethign. See you." Before the Humphrey could ever mutter a response to his friend, she was gone out the door, leaving him to the silence of the loft.

Amelia hurried down the stairs of the building, her feet scurrying down the steps and onto the street. Without a second glance, she held her hand out for the first bus she saw, making sure to climb in straight away. She didn't really care where the bus was going, just as long as it got her somewhere else she was fine. Earphones got pulled out of her pocket and plopped into her ears as soon as she found her seat on the bus, lips pressed into thin lines as her favorite music played loudly.

The traffic around her represented just what was going on in her mind. It was all loud and rushing and messy. It made her feel nauseous yet relaxed to watch the cars go by. Amelie alert a sigh so sorrowful rip from her lips that the people that heard couldn't help but to offer the girl a look of concern. The brunette didn't care, she simply tugged the hood of her jacket over her head, making sure the hood covered most of her face. She didn't want anyone from school recognizing her on the bus all doom and gloom. Then again none of them took the bus anyways.

     Before Amelia knew it, she was far across the city, stepping out onto the street. The girl absolutely adored exploring the huge city, and this part was new for her. She had never been here, but it intruiged her. So she began wandering, her head filled with nothing but the music playing in her ears. The passing moments of time slipped by as quick as the snap of ones fingers, and Amelia found herself walking til the outside slowly edged into the dark night. As the once bright blue skies became darker and darker with each passing minute, Amelia figured the best thing for her to do was to return back home before it got dark. But her plans were intercepted when a voice called out her name.

     "Amelia!"

     Nate Archibald, though having just excited a shady and infuriating situation, found himself pleased to see his 'taco' partner. He waved to the girl, quickly catching her attention. Fortunately he had yelled loud enough for her to hear it over the blasting music. She pulled the earphones out, tugging the hood off of her head.

     "Hey, Archibald. Fancy seeing you here." She mused, observing her surroundings. They were stood outside a seedy looking place, and Nate looked like he was about to get into the limousine parked on the sidewalk. The windows were tinted, making it impossible to predict if anyone else was in the car.

     "What are you doing here. You're from Brooklyn, aren't you?" Nate queried, brows furrowed.

     Amelia shrugged. "This is where I go to scout my next victim." She swiftly joked, not realizing that not everyone got and shared her humour like Dan. Nate's deep look of confusion and wide eyes gave her a reality check. "A joke. Or at least the attempt at one." Amelia chuckled in embarrassment. "What are you doing here?"

     Nate sighed. "Having the worst time ever." He admitted. "I just did something really stupid, but luckily Chuck got her just in time to 'rescue' me." Nate praised his friend, not yet realizing that Amelia wasn't a particularly big fan of the Bass.

     Amelia felt curiosity nibble at her, wondering just how Nate Archibald was having a bad time. He looked like the type of guy to have fun no matter the circumstance.

     "Well, I guess I should let you get back to that then. . ." Amelia began, trailing off at the end of her sentences. The girl began brushing past Nate, but he swiftly circled his fingers around her upper arm, pulling her back infront him with ease.

     "What? No, you have to be getting home soon it's almost dark." Nate stated, a feeling of protectiveness for he girl flourishing in him. "We can give you a ride."

     Amelia quickly shook his hand away. "No offense, but being trapped with Chuck Bass all the way back to Brooklyn isn't exactly my idea of fun. And it's certainly not how I want to spend my weekend at all." The girl stated, not caring if the Bass heard her.

     Unfortunately for Amelia, Nate was not only stubborn but persistent.

     "I'm not taking no for an answer, in fact, I'm not even asking." Nate replied, opening the door to the car for her.

     She shot the boy a stinky look, but admitted defeat by slipping into the back of the limo. Her eyes immediately fell on Chuck Bass, disgust and rage bubbling inside of her as she remembered everything Jenny and Dan had told her. But she bit down on her lip to keep her short fuse from making her say something she'd regret, swallowing the lump of words down.

Shockingly enough, Chuck Bass refrained from making any snide comments, or whitty remarks. He simply remained silent on his side of the limo, eyes locked on the outside word. Amelia glanced over at Nate as he got into the limousine, a thankful smile greeting him as he closed the car door.

     Not that Amelia would ever know, but Nate had just gotten out of a poker game with Carter Baizen, where he'd been tricked into putting money on a loosing hand. Nate assumed the Baizen was in dept to the men in someway, and that he was using Nate to milk him for that money. The stupid thing was that if Carter genuinely had asked him for the money, Nate would've helped him out. Carter seemed like a decent guy, and the whole thing about breaking out of the prison built of money, sex and drugs? It really didn't sound too bad.

     Nate found himself upset over how stupid he had been, letting himself blindly get used like that. Chuck had called Carter's bluff from the second he stepped into the party at Chuck's suite. Though Nate and Chuck's reasoning for disliking the older boy were different, at least they agreed on something.

     Soon enough the limo halted infront of the apartment complex in Brooklyn as per instructed by Chuck. Amelia shifted over to the door awkwardly, giving the two boys a curt nod before climbing out of the car. To her suprise, Nate followed.

     Nate quickly stepped on to the street after her, throwing the car door shut. "Hey, wait up!" He exclaimed, Amelia not yet having noticed him. The Hopper girl stopped in her track, glancing over at the Archibald in confusion.

     "Yes?" She answered in confusion.

     "I-I just wanted to make sure you got to the door. Safely." Nate replied, confused as to why he had even got out of the car.

     Amelia stared back at him in doubt. "Okay. . ? Well, I'm at the door, safe. You can rest easy." The brunette joked back, her hand pulling the entrance door open. Nate nodded, awkwardly retreating to the car.

     The entire encounter was painfully awkwardly.

     Nate climbed back into the car as Amelia disappeared into the building and out of view. Nate huffed in defeat, relaxing into the leather seats.

     Chuck took one glance at the boy, chuckling.

     "You got something to tell me?"

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S and B committing a crime of fashion. Who does not like to buy with five fingers? Especially if one of the fingers is the middle one. Everyone knows you can not choose your family, but we can choose our friends and in a world governed by the origins and bank accounts, it is to have a friend. Although the "best friends for life" can put you in the end, one can not deny that we'd all be a little less rich without them. And Serena and Blair, they are the "best" better than anyone. No, these are not tears in my eyes, it's just an allergy.

Without you I am nothing. Gossip Girl.

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word count; 4172
a/n

wiii this is so fun, i'm literally having the time of my life writing these chapters, it's so fun yet relaxing all at once to creat chapter after chapter and just see where the wind takes me with amelia and nate. also keep an eye out for some drama between dev and amelia, cuz it's coominggg. just got my clothes i ordered and it's so fun when you absolutely love every single item and it all fits like a glove. super excited to wear it out and about, just have to find the right time for it ! stay peeled for more chapters soon !

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introducing devon's face claim: lucas till