第19部分(第2/7 頁)

r。　If　Anthony　was　going　to　ask　him　any　more　questions；　he？d　need　to　get　a

stronger　buzz　on。

？I　haven？t　seen　you　around　the　city；？　Anthony　continued。　？Where　do　you　go　to　school？？

？Oh；　I？m　not　from　the　city；？　Tawny　explained。　？I　live　in　Hampton　Bays。？

？Cool；？　Anthony　exclaimed。　？I　don？t　think　I？ve　ever　met　a　townie　before。？

Nate　jabbed　Anthony　roughly　with　his　elbow。

？What？？　Anthony　demanded。　？It？s　cool。　No　offense；　man。？

？What？？　asked　Tawny；　cupping　her　palm　over　her　ear。　？It？s　so　loud！？

？Dude；？　Anthony　continued；　oblivious。　？Isabel　is　having　a　party　tomorrow。　I　heard　Serena？s

going　to　be　there。　You　seen　her　lately？？

The　last　time　Nate　had　seen　Serena；　he？d　been　kissing　Jenny　at　Blair？s　graduation　party。　It　was

just　a　？for　old　times？　sake？　kiss；　but　he　was　pretty　sure　she　and　Blair　had　bonded　over　how　mad　at

him　they　were。

What　else　is　new？

Nate　shook　his　head。　He　felt　pletely　out　of　touch　with　all　the　people　he？d　grown　up　with。

？Wait；Serena　？？　asked　Tawny　excitedly；　leaning　across　Nate？s　lap。　From　this　vantage　he　had　an

unobstructed　view　down　her　blouse　to　her　pierced　navel　and　could　seeeverything　in　between。　？As

in；　Serena　with　the　foreign…sounding　last　name？？

She　leaned　further　forward；　giving　Nate　another　glimpse　of　the　Promised　Land。

Is　she　doing　that　on　purpose？Nate　wondered。

Nate　glanced　at　Anthony　to　make　sure　he　wasn？t　sneaking　a　peek　as　well；　but　he？d　turned　to　talk

to　some　dark…haired　beauty　Nate　vaguely　remembered　went　to　Grafton　and　was　a　year　younger

than　them。

？I　guess　so；？　Nate　allowed；　enjoying　Tawny？s　surprised　expression。　Did　Serena？s　name　sound

foreign？　He？d　never　noticed。　But　forget　Se