chapter 10

“Ha!” someone exclaimed from the back of the room. It was Blair Waldorf, laughing out loud as she read the note Rain Hoffstetter had just passed her. For a good time ?call Serena v.d. Woodsen ?Get it –VD?? Vanessa glared at Blair. Film was Vanessa's favorite class, the only reason she came to school at all. She took it very seriously, while most of the other girls, like Blair, were only taking Film as a break from Advanced Placement hell–AP Calculus¹, AP Bio, AP History, AP English Literature, AP French. They were on the straight and narrow path to Yale or Harvard or Brown, where their families had all gone for generations. Vanessa wasn't like them. Her parents hadn't even gone to college. They were artists, and Vanessa wanted only one thing in life: to go to NYU and major in film. Actually, she wanted something else. Or someone else, to be precise, but we'll get to that in a minute. Vanessa was an anomaly at Constance, the only girl in the school who had a nearly shaved head, wore black turtlenecks every day, read Tolstoy's War and Peace over and over like it was the Bible, listened to Belle² and Sebastian, and drank unsweetened black tea. She had no friends at all at Constance, and lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with her twenty-two-year-old sister, Ruby³. So what was she doing at a tiny, exclusive private girls' school on the Upper East Side with princesses like Blair Waldorf? It was a question Vanessa asked herself every day. Vanessa's parents were older, revolutionary artists who lived in a house made out of recycled car tires in Vermont. When she turned fifteen, they had allowed the perpetually unhappy Vanessa to move in with her bass⁴ guitarist older sister in Brooklyn. But they wanted to be sure she got a good, safe, high-school education, so they made her go to Constance. Vanessa hated it, but she never said anything to her parents. There were only eight months left until graduation. Eight more months and she would finally escape downtown to NYU. Eight more months of bitchy Blair Waldorf, and even worse, Serena van der Woodsen, who was back in all her splendor⁵. Blair Waldorf looked like she was absolutely orgasmic over the return of her best friend. In fact, the whole back row of Film Studies was atwitter, passing notes tucked into the sleeves of their annoying cashmere sweaters. Well, fuck them. Vanessa lifted her chin and went on with her presentation. She was above their petty bullshit. Only eight more months. Perhaps if Vanessa had seen the note Kati Farkas had just passed to Blair, she might have had a tad more sympathy for Serena. Dear Blair, Can I borrow fifty thousand dollars? Sniff⁶, sniff, sniff. If I don't pay my coke dealer⁷ the money I owe him, I'm in big trouble. Shit, my crotch itches⁸. Let me know about the money. Love,Serena v.d. Woodsen Blair, Rain, and Kati giggled⁹ noisily. “Shhssh,” Mr. Beckham whispered, glancing at Vanessa sympathetically. Blair turned the note over and scrawled¹⁰ a reply. Sure, Serena. Whatever you want. Call me from jail. I hear the food is really good there. Nate and I will visit you whenever we're free, which might be . . . I don't know . . . NEVER?! I hope the VD gets better soon. Love,Blair Blair handed the note back to Kati, feeling only the tiniest speck¹¹ of remorse¹² for being so mean. There were so many stories about Serena flying around, she honestly didn't know what to believe anymore. Plus, Serena still hadn't actually told anyone what she was doing back, so why should Blair say anything in her defense¹³? Maybe some of it was true. Maybe some of this stuff had really happened. Besides, passing notes is so much more fun than taking them. “So I'm going to be writing, directing, and filming this. And I've already cast my friend, Daniel Humphrey, from Riverside Prep, as Prince Andrei,” Vanessa explained. Her cheeks heated up when she uttered Dan's name. “But I still need a Natasha for the scene. I'm casting her tomorrow after school, in Madison Square Park at dusk. Anyone interested?” she asked. The question was a private little joke with herself. Vanessa knew no one in the room was even listening to her; they were too busy passing notes. Blair's arm shot up. “I'll be the director!” she announced. Obviously she hadn't heard the question, but Blair was so desperate to impress the admissions office at Yale, she was always the first to volunteer for anything. Vanessa opened her mouth to speak. Direct this, she wanted to say, giving Blair the finger. “Put your hand down, Blair,” Mr. Beckham sighed tiredly. “Vanessa just got through telling us she is directing and writing and filming. Unless you'd like to try out for the part of Natasha, I suggest you focus on your own project.” Blair glared sourly at him. She hated teachers like Mr. Beckham. He had such a chip on his shoulder because he was from Nebraska and had finally attained¹⁴ his sad dream of living in New York City only to find himself teaching a useless class instead of directing cutting edge films and becoming famous. “Whatever,” Blair said, tucking her dark hair behind her ears. “I guess I really don't have time.” And she didn't. Blair was chair of the Social Services Board and ran the French Club; she tutored third graders in reading; she worked in a soup kitchen one night a week, had SAT prep on Tuesdays, and on Thursday afternoons she took a fashion design course with Oscar de la Renta. On weekends she played tennis so she could keep up her national ranking. Besides all that, she was on the planning committee of every social function anyone would be bothered to go to, and the fall/winter calendar was busy, busy, busy. Her PalmPilot was always running out of memory. Vanessa flicked¹⁵ on the lights and walked back to her seat at the front of the room. “It's okay, Blair, I wanted a blond girl for Natasha anyway,” she said. Vanessa smoothed her uniform around her thighs¹⁶ and sat down daintily, in an almost perfect imitation of Blair. Blair smirked¹⁷ at Vanessa's prickly shaved head and glanced at Mr. Beckham, who cleared his throat and stood up. He was hungry, and the bell was going to ring in five minutes. “Well, that's it, girls. You can leave a little early today. Vanessa, why don't you put up a sign-up sheet in the hall for your casting tomorrow?” The girls began to pack up their bags and file out of the room. Vanessa ripped a blank sheet of paper out of her notebook and wrote the necessary details at the top of it. War and Peace. Short film. Try out for Natasha. Wednesday P.M., sunset. Madison Square Park. Park bench, Northeast corner. She resisted writing an exact description of the girl she was looking for, because she didn't want to scare anyone away. But she had a clear picture in her mind, and it wasn't going to be easy to find the right girl. Her perfect Natasha would be pale and blond, a natural dirty blond. She wouldn't be too obviously pretty, but she'd have the kind of face that made you want to look at it. She would be the kind of girl to make Dan glow–full of movement and laughter–exactly the opposite of Dan's quiet energy, which burned deep inside him and made his hands shake sometimes. Vanessa hugged herself. Just thinking about Dan made her feel like she had to pee. Under that shaved head and that impossible black turtleneck, she was just a girl. Face it: we're all the same. a power lunch “The invitations, the gift bags, and the champagne¹⁸. That's all we have left to do,” Blair said. She lifted a cucumber slice off her plate and nibbled¹⁹ at it thoughtfully. “Kate Spade is still doing the gift bags, but I don't know–do you think Kate Spade is too boring?” “I think Kate Spade is perfect,” Isabel said, winding²⁰ her dark hair into a knot on top of her head. “I mean, think how cool it is to have a plain black handbag now instead of all those animal prints and military shit everyone has. It's all such . . . bad taste, don't you think?” Blair nodded. “Completely,” she agreed. “Hey, what about my leopard²¹ skin coat?” Kati said, looking hurt. “Yes, but that's real leopard skin,” Blair argued. “That's different.” The three girls were sitting in the Constance cafeteria, discussing the upcoming Kiss on the Lips benefit to raise money for the Central Park Peregrine Falcon²² Foundation. Blair was chair of the organizing committee, of course. “Those poor birds,” Blair sighed. As if she could give two shits about the damned birds. “I really want this party to be good,” she said. “You guys are coming to my meeting tomorrow, right?” “Of course we're coming,” Isabel said. “What about Serena–did you tell her about the party? Is she going to help?” Blair stared blankly back at her.

1 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

2 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

3 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

6 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

7 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

8 itches   

n.痒( itch的名词复数 )；渴望，热望v.发痒( itch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His wool shirt always itches him. 他的羊毛内衣总是使他发痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This wool shirt itches my back. 这件羊毛衫使我背上发痒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

11 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

12 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

15 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

16 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 smirked   

v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smirked at Tu Wei-yueh. 他对屠维岳狞笑。 来自子夜部分
• He smirked in acknowledgement of their uncouth greetings, and sat down. 他皮笑肉不笑地接受了他的粗鲁的招呼，坐了下来。 来自辞典例句

18 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

19 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

21 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

22 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。