|Queen Bee|

Audrey Baker

Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite.

"Audrey, hand me the M&Ms," Jason ordered as scenes from previous episodes of Gossip Girl flashed across the screen and lit up the dark living room.

"Matt had them last," I quickly spoke. Matt shifted next to me and sighed.

"I gave them to Zach," he informed Jason who was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch and next to my legs.

"I ate them all," Zach told everyone. Jason swore at Zach who grinned at Jason from the armchair before turning back to the television. The episode was actually starting and every immediately shut up.

"Hey, what are-"

"Shhh!" Everyone hissed as Drew walked into the room. He looked a bit surprised by our intense silencing but when he saw what was on TV, he rushed to the only open armrest and sat down.

Before the idea of a Gossip Girl television show was even thought up, I used to read the books by Cecily von Ziegesar. So, naturally, once the books became a show, I had no choice but to check it out. Obviously the show went off course a bit but I found myself hooked from day one. At first, only Zach agreed to watch the show with me and he only agreed to it because he claimed Leighton Meester & Blake Lively were the hottest things to walk onto the CW. Eventually, Jason sat down to watch it with us and he was followed by Matt who was followed by Drew and eventually, every Monday night at 8:00 became traditional Baker family bonding time.

I was sighing and getting lost in the gorgeousness of Manhattan's womanizing bad boy Chuck Bass when my phone vibrated. Matt felt the vibration and he sent me a dirty look when he saw the phone light up, effectively drawing him back into reality. I rolled my eyes at him and after covering the phone light with my hand, I opened up the newly received text message.

'What's up?'James had texted to me. I nervously shifted in my seat and glanced up but everyone's eyes were trained on the television in front of us.

'Can't talk. Gossip Girl.' I quickly sent the text, silenced my phone and tried to pay attention to the show. Unfortunately for me, I saw a faint light as my phone received another message.

'That's cool; we'll talk on our date. This Friday night.'

I felt my stomach churn at the words, and I wasn't sure if I was excited or nervous. Probably both, actually. What would happen if Drew found out? Oh my God, I'd be grounded for life. Like, actually. I spaced off for a second and was brought back to reality hen my phone vibrated again.

'You still there? Are you upset about the date being such a long ways away…I can always move it up to tonight ;) ' James had texted. I gasped, earning a glare from Jason.

'Oh yeah, tonight would be great! You, me, and four of my brothers! *rolls eyes* Anyways, afterwards I meet Sophia Dane?'

'Promise.'

"Audrey, who are you texting over there?" Zach spoke up from his armchair. My eyes went wide and my heartbeat sped up as I snapped my phone shut and looked over at everyone. A commercial was on and everyone looked thoroughly annoyed with me.

"Selena," I said, speaking the first name that came to mind.

"Tell her this is Baker time and you'll text her later," Matt demanded. "That stupid phone light is very distracting."

"Didn't you once tell me that when Blair is on the screen, you can't focus on anything else? How is my phone light bothering you?" I snapped back.

"She's not on the screen for the full hour, Audrey," he responded with an irritated tone. "Now text her and tell her to go away. The show will be back on soon." He ended with a warning tone and I rolled my eyes but sighed and obeyed anyway.

'I gotta go; I'm king of busyyy…sorry. I'll see you tomorrow at school.'

James didn't respond and I found myself turning my attention back towards the television, a lack of respond not bothering me…

…until the doorbell rang.

I felt my breath hitch in my throat…he didn't take me seriously when I said tonight would be a good date night, did he? I watched as Drew stood up and started to make his way over to the front door.

Ohmigod, James wouldn't.

Drew turned on the porch light.

James couldn't.

Drew opened the front door.

James didn't.

"You couldn't pay me to ever do that again," were the first words out of Maria Millstone's mouth. Drew grinned at his fiancé before she went on her tiptoes to meet him for a quick kiss. When she pulled away, Drew grabbed her hand and led her into the living room where the rest of us were still sitting. "Hey, guys," she grinned at us before looking towards the TV. "Oh, shoot. I totally forgot…it's Monday night!" She looked a little upset with herself and I laughed causing her black waves to flip over her naturally tanned shoulders as she turned to look over at me.

"It's fine; you're going to be one of us soon enough," I informed her with a nod and her clear brown eyes sparkled at the thought. Maria Millstone, at only twenty-five years old, happened to be the pride and joy at Callaway Elementary School.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't really the school's pride and joy, but a few years ago, when the Squirts came home from school going on and on about their amazing new Pre-K teacher, they sure made it seem that way. At the time, Connor and Benny were only four years old (going on five, I think) and, not really trusting what they had to say, Drew scheduled an appointment with their teacher, Miss Millstone.

He came home with Benny's progress report, Connor's progress report, and a date.

They got engaged this past September, a few days after Connor and Benny started first grade, and a few days after Maria started her new job as a fifth grade teacher at the middle school. Much to Drew's dissatisfaction, Maria still lived in her own apartment, only agreeing to move in with us after the wedding.

"How was Maine?" Matt asked and Maria shrugged, coming to take a seat beside me on the couch.

"Cold. But my new niece is lovely so I guess the trip up there was worth it…" Maria's older sister lived in Maine with her husband and she had called Maria the moment she went into labor with her first child. Maria had been up there for the past week.

"Huh, makes you want to have one your own, doesn't it?" Drew asked her. His voice was teasing but there was enough of a serious note in there to make Maria force a laugh.

"I think I'll just stick to raising Connor and Benny right now," she responded.

"Good. Less work for the rest of us; now if you don't mind…" Zach quickly spoke, gesturing the TV as the commercials ended. Next to me, Maria sighed and tiredly fell back into the couch and Drew frowned at everyone before he shook his head and went back to his seat.

Children was a sore subject between Maria and Drew. While Maria did want kids, she didn't want them right now but Drew did, and while the matter wasn't such a big deal in the beginning, it was coming up more and more. Nervously, I bit my bottom lip and took a deep breath…hopefully the whole children issue wouldn't come up too many times because I had a feeling that if one issue could keep my brother and his fiancé from walking down the aisle, that would be it.

|--|

"…and while the Monroe Doctrines proved to be Washington's greatest point of criticism, it did more good than harm," My history teacher, Mr. Genet droned.

Oh. My. God.

I fought my heavy eyelids and held my head up with my hand -- A.P U.S History could quite possibly be the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

My phone vibrated and I quickly flipped it open to read my received text message.

'What class are you in?'

I take that back. A.P U.S History is not the worst thing that's ever happened to me -James Stanwood is.

'History.'

It didn't take long for him to respond.

'Speaking of which, lets take a moment to talk about ours.' My eyebrows arched and I almost laughed before realizing that I was still in class.

'Don't you have friends to bother? Friends who aren't in class? Friends who don't have menacing brothers? Friends who aren't me?'

This time, James didn't respond and I felt an odd feeling of disappointment surge through me. I shrugged and stuffed my phone into my pocket before I tuned back in for the rest of the history lecture. As soon as it finished, I sped out of the classroom to find Selena waiting by the door for me.

"Finally," she breathed as she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "We have a free period right now and lunch isn't open yet so lets head over to the HAC." The HAC stood for Holloway Activities Center and it was where students tended to hang out during free periods. When Selena and I entered the building, we pushed past the students that hovered around the ping-pong table, slid by those who competed in pool, and narrowly avoided the students who were locked in a very intense game of air-hockey. We grabbed an empty, two-person white leather couch near a huge window and made ourselves comfortable on it.

"So you'll never guess who came to daddy's café last night to see me," she baited as she crossed her arms and leaning into the side of the leather couch so she could look at me.

"Who?" I asked, leaning into the opposite side so we could see each other.

"Luke Grady."

"Shut up!" I gasped. Luke Grady was a fellow senior the co-captain of the boys varsity hockey team, alongside James Stanwood. Luke was also, for lack of better words, completely delectable with his soft blonde hair and sparkling grey eyes. He, Zach, Jason, James, and Eddie Jagger all were pretty good friends, although Zach, Jason, and James tended to clash…all the time. However, they were all pretty much cool with each other and there was speculation that they were all best friends because they were well aware that they were three of the best looking guys in our grade. "What did he want?"

"He asked me out."

"Oh, please tell me you said yes…Selena, he's so good looking. He's unnaturally pretty."

Selena's nose scrunched up and she wiggled it from side to side in distaste.

"He's only interested in a hook-up and he's terrible at relationships. I want a commitment, and a damn good one too; you know that!" I rolled my eyes at my best friend.

Yes, I was well aware of what she wanted, but I was even more aware of the reality of the situation, which was this: Callaway Academy boys are all terrible with relationships.

They're too busy to remember important dates like birthdays and anniversaries, they drink too much and party too hard, and most have wandering eyes and closed off hearts.

"Alright, but I hope you realize that you're not likely to find that here," I informed my best friend. She rolled her eyes and waved me off.

"You just think that because you have no faith in people, I on the other hand…plus, who wouldn't want to commit to someone as beautiful as I?" Her eyes had a teasing glint and combined with her small smile, it was clear to anyone that she was teasing. I laughed and was about to respond when I noticed Selena's eyes darken and her face lost any sign of teasing. I turned around to see what caused her mood swing and felt my own face harden at the sign of Stephanie Stanwood.

Her green eyes were staring at me and Selena with such ferocity it almost made me do a double take. Her red hair- since when has it been red?- was held back in a half pony tail and her slightly tanned arms (so much paler then her brother's) were crossed defiantly over her chest.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Stephanie as I felt Selena rise from couch behind me. I felt my frustration grow -these two were always going at it.

"Well I saw my two favorite sluts hanging out and thought I'd say hello," she drawled, flipping her hair over her shoulder. My lips set into a thin line.

"That's funny, coming from the girl with the sex tape," Selena responded. Stephanie's eyes grew wide and her face immediately heated up, as it did every time Selena mentioned that particular subject.

When Selena and I were sophomores and Stephanie was a freshman, we immediately saw it fit to take Stephanie under our wing. She was sweet, headstrong, and pretty and Selena figured that we were the only ones who would know what to do with it. Plus, her brother was James Stanwood and anyone related to such a popular person must be bound for the promised land.

Matt was a junior at the time and I was class president, two years running, so I was very well known throughout the school. Selena was known too, because even as a sophomore she was known as one of the most beautiful girls the school had to offer.

Taking Stephanie into our lives got some attention from fellow classmates and pretty soon, Steph was living a pretty kick ass life…she had her freshman followers and her upperclassmen best friends and got into all the best parties thanks to me and Selena. Needless to say, all of this eventually got to Stephanie and her sweet attitude was soon left behind as she took up a new, Queen Bee -yes, I did make a reference to Gossip Girl- attitude. However, Selena and I didn't mind -she was still our friend, after all.

But that's when it all came crashing down.

Dale Silverman was a senior when Selena and I were sophomores and he was a junior when he dated Selena during our freshman year. Selena completely thought she was in love with the handsome blonde; his big hazel eyes sparkled when he laughed and his smile was one of those that lit up a whole room. He was track & cross-country captain but otherwise, didn't really participate in sports.

"I don't have much hand-eye coordination," he would often joke and Selena would fall into a puddle of giggles at his feet. Selena gave him everything she had, including her virginity, sometime around winter break.

She found him with another girl on New Years Eve. He defended himself by stating that he liked her but they never agreed to be exclusive; Dale Silverman didn't do relationships and he was sorry about the mis-communication. His words were heartbreaking but sincere and on New Years Day, Selena vowed to only date serious, committed guys…she refused to be screwed over again.

So, although Selena decided that she was done with Dale, there was still an underlying tension that existed between the two and so when Dale and Stephanie started flirting and hanging out, Selena slowly started to lose her cool.

Making an attempt to keep the piece, I spoke to Stephanie about the situation. I told her everything that happened between Selena and Dale and told her that it wasn't morally correct for her to go after Selena's ex-boyfriend. Stephanie had nodded and walked off and I thought that I had taken care of things…I guess I didn't though, because the next day, all of Stephanie's little minions knew what happened between Selena and Dale and they had spread the news throughout the entire school. Up until this point, people had just thought that it was a mutual separation…now everyone knew the truth.

Selena was pissed at me for telling Stephanie and I was pissed at Stephanie for telling in general. After a week or so of not talking, Selena and I made up and I helped her with her revenge plan.

Selena, being the gorgeous bombshell she is, managed to secretly seduce Dale into her clutches once more and then convinced him to fool around with Stephanie while catching the whole thing on tape. At first Dale was reluctant but, number one -he felt a little guilty about screwing Selena over during our freshman year- and number two -the idea of a sex tape turned him on to the point where he was more eager about the whole situation then Selena was.

A couple of weeks after they made the agreement, Selena was handed a tape which she immediately uploaded to her computer and then onto her blackberry before she texted the video to every classmate whose number she had in her phone. From there, the video made its way around the school and we had successfully brought Stephanie down from popularity just as quickly as we had made her up.

Stephanie lost everything that day and still hasn't managed to forgive us.

Not that we care.

"You're such a bitch, Selena. And Audrey, you're no better!" she snapped.

"Once again, this is coming from the girl who made a sex tape," Selena said as she stepped towards Stephanie.

"Only because you two set me up!" Stephanie hissed and this time, I raised an eyebrow.

"What? We set you up to have sex? I vaguely remember recommending that you not pursue things with Dale…" I spoke. Before Stephanie had a chance to respond, a male voice made its way into our conversation.

"Stephanie? What are you doing?" All three of us looked over at James's voice but he had a steely glare planted on his younger sister. Stephanie looked a little surprised at her brother's appearance but quickly covered it up with a look of contempt.

"Mom and dad are paying thirty thousand dollars a year for me to attend this school so I'm free to go wherever I please," she snapped. James rolled his eyes.

"Stephanie, leave them alone. Go somewhere else." Stephanie's eyes widened.

"But-"

"Stephanie. Now." Stephanie looked at her brother for one more moment before she turned on her heel and stormed away. James watched her go for a moment before shrugging and turning to face both me and Selena. "Sorry she's such a-"

"Bitch?" Selena offered and James raised his eyebrows.

"I was going to say brat, but okay." The corners of my mouth rose at his words and James winked at me when he saw it. "Anyways, I'm going to go now…lunch is opening soon. Selena, Audrey." And with one last smile directed at me, he walked away. We watched him walk away and once he was out of sight, Selena lightly slapped my arm.

"What was that all about?" she asked in a demanding voice.

"What was what all about?"

"His wink! His smile! Don't think I didn't see any of that…" I laughed nervously and rolled my eyes.

"Maybe he was just being nice? I don't know. Whatever though, come on -lunch is about to start and I want food." Selena looked as if she wanted to continue our conversation, but at my pointed look, she sighed and came to stand next to me as we made our way to the dining hall.

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