第25部分(第6/7 頁)

hen　he　could　drink　for　two？and　downed

one　immediately。　Burping　quietly；　he　dropped　the　empty　glass　on　the　table　and　wound　his　way

through　the　thick　crowd；　one　hand　clutching　Bree？s；　the　other　his　chilled　champagne。　They　pushed

through　the　crowd　and　stepped　into　the　foyer。　Bree　bounded　through　the　foyer　and　up　the　stairs

ahead　of　him。　Maybe　she　was　getting　into　the　idea　of　this　party？

？This　is　great　exercise；？　she　observed。

？Yeah；　great；？　Dan　agreed；　panting　along　behind　her。

As　they　climbed　higher；　the　din　of　squealing　girls　and　thumping　bass　grew　louder。　The　crumbly

walls　of　the　town　house　were　surprisingly　solid；　but　even　they　couldn？t　contain　the　racket。　When

they　reached　the　fourth…floor　landing；　they　ran　into　the　overspill　from　the　apartment　above：　leering

at　them　from　the　next　floor；　the　final　landing；　was　the　disturbingly　groomed　Chuck　Bass；　pet　snow

monkey　perched　on　his　shoulder　wearing　a　pink　tutu　and　brandishing　a　glistening　silver　magic

wand。

？Romeo！？　Chuck　called　down　to　Dan　in　a　girly　falsetto。

Dan　nodded　at　Chuck　hospitably。　He　loathed　that　asshole　and　his　freaky　vintage　eighties　mint

green　Prada　zipper　suit。　He　took　Bree？s　hand　and　pulled　her　up　the　steps　behind　him：　it　would　take

some　maneuvering　to　get　her　safely　past　Chuck。

？Who？s　that？？　Bree　wanted　to　know。

？No　one；？　Dan　told　her　firmly。　They　hurried　up　to　the　top　landing；　dodging　bodies　and　bulldozing

past　Chuck　Bass；　until　they　nearly　collided　with　Vanessa。　Again。

Theyhad　to　stop　meeting　like　this。

Vanessa　was　acpanied　by　the　same　little　boys　she？d　had　in　tow　in　Central　Park　a　couple　of

days　before；　only　instead　of　being　smeared　with　ice　cream；　th