Gossip Girls

stumbling after her. then serena began to dance, her arms raised over her head, kicking her feet out in front of her and shaking her shoulders. she definitely knew how to dance. dan nodded his head up and down and waggled his knees in time to the beat, watching her. serena reached out and clasped dan’s hips, rocking them back and forth and around and around, mimicking what her hips were doing all on their own. dan laughed and serena smiled and closed her eyes, getting seriously down. dan closed his eyes too, letting his body follow hers. it really didn’t matter that he danced like a moron, or that he was the only one in the room wearing a tuxedo— probably the only one in williamsburg. he was with her, and that was what mattered. alone at the table, vanessa finished first her drink and then dan’s. then she got up and went to sit down at the bar. “nice shirt,” the bartender remarked when he saw her. he was in his early twenties, with red hair, long sideburns, and a cute, sly smile. her sister was always talking about how cute he was. “thanks,” vanessa said, smiling back at him. “it’s new.” “you should wear red more often,” he said. he held his hand out. “i’m clark. you’re vanessa, right? ruby’s sister?” vanessa nodded. she wondered if he was just being nice to her because he liked her sister. “can i tell you a secret?” clark said. he poured a few different things into a martini shaker and shook it up. oh, fuck, vanessa thought. here’s when he pours out his heart and tells me all about how he’s been in love with ruby forever, but she doesn’t seem to notice him. and he wants me to play cupid and blah, blah, blah. “what?” she said. “well,” clark said. “i see you and ruby come in here all the time.” here he goes, thought vanessa. “and you never come up to the bar and talk to me. but i’ve kind of had a crush on you since i first saw you.” vanessa stared at him. was he joking? clark poured the drink out of the martini shaker into a short little glass and squeezed a few limes into it. he pushed it toward her. “try that,” he said. “it’s on the house.” vanessa picked up the glass and tasted it. it tasted sweet and sour at the same time, and she couldn’t taste any alcohol in it at all. it was good. “what’s it called?” she said. “kiss me,” clark said, with an absolutely straight face. vanessa put the drink down and leaned over the bar. serena and dan could dance their pretty asses off for all she cared. she was about to be kissed. the kiss on the lips dj had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years and was playing sad, slow, love songs back to back. gorgeously dressed couples held onto each other and swayed to the lonesome riffs, barely moving beneath the soft lights. the air smelled of orchids and candle wax and raw fish and cigarette