kids。 Or not。 Don？t say I didn？t warn you。
Your e…mail
Q：？ ？ Dear GG；
So I may have misread what was going on； but I？m pretty sure I saw A from Bronxdale with this
other girl in our class； and he was all； ？I？m the man； I？m into Harvard；？ and she was all； ？You？re
so hot。 I want you。？ Um； doesn？t he have a girlfriend？
？S。I。B。
A：？ ？ Dear S。I。B。；
What does S。I。B。 stand for； anyway？ Seeing is believing？ Sad in Biloxi？ Small is beautiful？ If
what you say is true； I？m S。F。A。C。B。？sad for a certain blond。
？GG
Q：？ ？ Dear Ggirl；
I heard B got caught doing drugs in school and now she secretly has to do munity service。
She？s going to rehab； too； which is why she cut all her hair off。 They make you do that； like； in
prison。
？Daisy
A：？ ？ Dear Daisy；
It sounds like a bad made…for…Lifetime special。 You don？t really believe all that； do you？
？GG
Oops。I？m late for my fake…tan rubdown at Bliss？it？s theonly way to stay smiling till summer！
You know you love me。
gossip girl
nbuys a dime bag
On Tuesday after school； Nate wandered into Central Park to check out the dealers in Sheep
Meadow。 He？d gone a full twenty…four hours without getting high； and instead of feeling healthy
and energized； he was bored out of his drug…free mind。 His classes at school seemed twice as long；
and even Jeremy Scott Tompkinson？s lame…ass fart jokes barely made him crack a smile。
The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky； casting an eerie golden glow on the frozen brown
grass in the meadow。 Two heavyset guys dressed in black sweatshirts with the wordStaff printed
on the back were passing a football back and forth； and a tiny old woman wearing a red Chanel
suit and a fox fur stole was walking her freshly groomed bichon frise。 As usual； the dealers were
all sitting on benches around the perimeter of the meadow； listening to WFAN on their Discmans
or reading theDaily News 。 Nate spotted a familiar redheaded guy dressed in a light gray Puma
tracksuit with matching gray…and…white Puma sneakers； gray wraparound shades； and a fuzzy
black Kangol hat。
？Hey Mitchell！？ Nate called delightedly。 Damn； it was good to see him。 Mitchell raised his hand
in greeting as Nate walked over。 ？I thought you were in Amsterdam； man。？
Mitchell shook his head slowly。 ？Not yet。？
？I？ve been looking for you。 I was almost going to buy from one of those other dirtbags。 You？re
carrying； right？？ Nate asked。
Mitchell nodded and stood up。 They began walking down the pathway together； just two friends
taking a stroll in the park。 Nate pulled a folded…up hundred…dollar bill from his coat pocket and
held it in his fist； ready to slip it into Mitchell？s palm as soon as he passed over the goods。
？I got a new shipment in from Peru；？ Mitchell said； pulling a plastic baggie of pot out of his
pocket and handing it discreetly to Nate。
If you happened to be in the park watching them； you might have thought they were just sharing
a snack or something。 That is； if you were pletely na？ve。
？Thanks； man。？ Nate handed over the hundred and tucked the plastic baggie into his coat pocket；
breathing out a deep； relieved breath。 Too bad he didn？t have any rolling papers with him or he
would have rolled up a big fatty right then and there。 ？So；？ he said； figuring it was only polite to
make some casual conversation with Mitchell before taking off。 ？You still moving to Amsterdam
or what？？
Mitchell stopped walking and unzipped his Puma jacket。 ？Nah。 I？m stuck here for a while。？ He
pulled up his gray thermal shirt to reveal his bare； freckled chest。 There were wires taped to it。
Nate had seenLaw & Order enough times to know what those wires meant。 The bleak scenery
seemed to close in on him； and he stumbled backwards。 Had he blacked out or something？ Was
this all a bad dream？
Mitchell let his shirt drop and zipped his jacket up again。 He took a step toward Nate； as if he
was worried Nate would try to make a break for it。 ？Sorry； kid。 They got me。 I？m working for the
man now。？ He jerked his head at the benches behind them。 ？Those ？dirtbags？ on the bench are all
cops； okay； so don？t try to run。 You and I are going to wait here until I give the sign； and then one
of them is going to walk you down to the precinct on Amsterdam。Amsterdam ？pretty ironic； huh？？
Nate could tell Mitchell was trying to get him to smile so the dealer wouldn？t have to feel so bad
for busting him。 ？Okay；？ Nate said woodenly。 How had this happened？ He？d never been
double…crossed before； and it was a pretty crappy feeling。 He dropped the baggie of pot on the
ground and kicked it away from him。 ？Shit；？ he swore under his breath。
Mitchell picked up the baggie and put his hand on Nate？s shoulder。 He raised his free hand in the
air and waved to the cops on the benches。 Two guys stood up and hurried over。 They didn？t even
look like cops。 One of them was wearing black Club Monaco jeans and the other was wearing a
stupid red pom…pom hat。 They flashed their badges at Nate。
？We？re not going to cuff you；？ Club Monaco explained。 ？You？re a minor； right？？
Nate nodded sullenly； avoiding the cop？s gaze。 He didn？t turn eighteen until April。
？When we get to the precinct you can call your parents。？
I？m sure they？ll be thrilled；Nate thought bitterly。
Across the meadow the two guys playing football and the old lady and her fluffy white dog were
all huddled together； watching Nate getting busted like it was the first episode of some hot new
reality show。
？You？ll be out in a couple hours；？ the red pom…pom cop said； writing something in a notebook。
Nate noticed the cop was wearing gold hoop earrings and he realized she was a woman； despite
her broad shoulders and thick…fingered hands。 ？They？ll fine you and probably give you mandatory
rehab。？
Mitchell kept his hand on Nate？s shoulder as if to offer moral support。 ？You？re lucky；？ he added。
Nate kept his head down； hoping no one he knew would see him。 He didn？t feel very lucky。
introducing the newd
Tuesday afternoon； Vanessa stood outside Riverside Prep； filming the frozen remains of a dead
pigeon carcass and thinking about sex while she waited for Dan to appear。 Dan had left a message
for her at the reception desk at Constance Billard to e and meet him after school。Urgent。 Meet
me here at four； it said。What a freak； Vanessa thought lovingly。 What could possibly be so urgent？
He was probably just having an attack of paranoia because his poem had e out inThe New
Yorker today。 Either that or he was feeling extremely stimulated and couldn？twait to do it again。
Before even taking a shower that morning Vanessa had run downstairs and bought sixNew Yorker
s from the newsstand on the corner。 That way there would always be a spare copy to wave in
Dan？s face when he was feeling especially inadequate。
When she really thought about it；she was the one who should have been freaking out。 The poem
was all about a guy feeling insecure around women； particularly his dominating girlfriend。 People
who knew them were going to think Vanessa was a real ball…breaker。 But the last line