CHAPTER FOUR
[ 4 ]
song: obsessed by sophie powers, ashley sienna

It came as no surprise when their usual seating area was unoccupied. When the doorman scrambled for the phone in the lobby, they were sure he was calling up to the bar to have their spot cleared out.

The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Anthony stepped out first, adorning his finest attire. Custom Off White pants and jacket, ripped and patched up in all the right spots, Vivienne Westwood jewelery placed around his neck and in his ears.

Of course he was Flux's son, of course this was Flux's bar, but Anthony commanded the attention of every room he entered regardless. Overflowing with charm and confidence.

Beside him walked Sabrina. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly chic. She wore what some would've considered a casual going out outfit— a pale pink, strapless tailored vest, and matching suit pants— but her face was what elevated it. Born of model and teenage heartthrob blood, she was the kind of girl anyone would envy.

Behind them, arm and arm, was Daphne and Madeline. An unstoppable duo. The perfect match. The girls constantly reinforced the idea that opposites attract, completely differing in their styles.

Daphne, in an orange sequenced dress that hugged tightly at her neck and draped down around her chest, a snake skin purse and matching heeled boots.

And Madeline, in a vintage Chanel cropped black blazer, a tight mini skirt to pair. A pearl belt, pearl earrings, and their iconic fabric flower pinned into her slicked back bun.

Sebastian was already at the bar. A lace button up shirt, though the buttons felt like more of a suggestions, as he had them undone just barely above his stomach. On either side of his arms was a boy and a girl, his accessories for the evening.

"Classy." Madeline muttered to Daphne.

The group combined as one at the couches at the center of the room, a silver platter of drinks ordered ahead and placed on the table in front of them.

It was as if the world stopped as they came together. Yes, they were just a group of teenagers at first glance, but the people who knew them, knew the power and influence they held. If one of them weren't to like a drink, trust that that drink would be pulled off the menu. 

Daphne sat on the arm of the couch beside Anthony after lifting her glass from the table. "First week done."

Anthony nodded agreeably, grabbing his own drink and taking a sip. "I'll cheers to that." He holds up his glass, and Daphne clinked hers against his.

"While I'd one hundred times over be back home on a beach somewhere, I can actually admit that I did really miss you guys." Sebastian says with a roll of his eyes, like he was admitting defeat.

Sabrina looks up at him with a knowing smile. "Us, or your new toys?"

He'd walked over with his two new 'friends', his arms still draped over both of their shoulders. They looked at Sebastian with concerned eyes, like they'd only just now found out that they weren't anything more than his entertainment.

He inhaled sharply, looking at each of them. "How about I catch you guys later?" He asks. The guy scoffs, pulling out from under his arm before leaving, the girl following suit. "Thank you, Sabrina." He says defeatedly, before taking a seat beside her.

She smiled proudly as she pats his shoulder.

Madeline looks around at the group, realizing something was off. "Has anyone heard from Owen?" She asked.

Daphne shook her head, then looked to everyone for their answers. "I haven't talked to him since class today."

"Probably with his sister." Anthony shrugs it off. "I think he told me today she had a show tonight."

This made Madeline shrug. "Oh."

Daphne looks at her, trying to read her expression. "Madeline went to her show last week, didn't you?" She urged her to share with the group.

Madeline looked around at everyone's eyes, as they all waited for the rest of the story Daphne was so clearly trying to get at. "Yeah, after the AureumTech thing. It was cool, she's really—"

"No," Daphne shook her head. "Tell them the real details."

Madeline let out a small scoff. Slightly embarrassed, slightly aggravated. "Daphne—"

Sometimes, Daphne was so desperate for drama she'd sacrifice her friend's feelings for the thrill. "She hung out with the guitarist. Went to his place in Brooklyn and everything."

Madeline shot Daphne a wide-eyed, 'seriously?' look. To which the blonde shrugged off like it was nothing.

"You're kidding." Sabrina was intrigued, eagerly leaning up from the seat, the straw of her drink between her fingers.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, we were just talking and then it started raining so he invited me in to wait it out." Madeline shrugs it off, taking a sip of her drink.

"So he's cute?" Sabrina asks.

Madeline gives Daphne a glance, to which Daphne urges her to answer. The girl laughs a little. "Yes, he's cute. But it's been a week and I haven't heard from him at all, so—"

"Do your parents know?" Sebastian asks.

She looks at him pointedly. "Since when did I fill my parents in on my dating life?"

He shrugs. "They seemed to have quite the opinion on me, and I wasn't a broke musician from Brooklyn, so—"

"Yeah, 'cause you were an alcoholic, and addicted to sex and drugs." Madeline snapped back quickly.

The energy in the group shifted, everyone besides Madeline and Sebastian sharing awkward, knowing glances.

He shrugged again. "Well, it's only a matter of time."

"What does that mean?" She asks.

"Until they get suspicious. It's already on Gossip Girl, and I'm sure your Dad's got people scanning the internet for anything negative about you."

"Gossip Girl?" Daphne looked at him like he was an idiot. "You're so desperate you're following wannabe gossip accounts?"

"I mean, you tell me if this is 'wannabe'." Sebastian gestures to Sabrina's phone. She was looking at the account beside him, before turning her screen to face Madeline and Daphne.

The girls both lean in, taking it from her.

[ GOSSIP GIRL ]
SPOTTED!
In the dead of night, amidst the city's recent downpour, our darling Madeline was spotted in a most compromising state- clad in sweats, hastily leaving the confines of one mysterious apartment. Is it the smoldering embers of a secret romance, or perhaps the beginnings of a scandalous affair? Only time will tell. Keep your eyes peeled, dear readers, for this tale is just beginning to unfold.
XOXO,
Gossip Girl

"What the hell?" Madeline scoffs, zooming in on the paparazzi-esque photo of her.

"That's such a joke. I thought we blocked this account?" Daphne hands Sabrina her phone back.

The girl shrugged innocently, like she wasn't sure that was the right move. "I don't know. It seems pretty legit."

"They'll give up if their main targets don't give a shit." Daphne says.

Sabrina looks at Sebastian for support. "But—"

"Sabrina." Daphne says sternly.

She reluctantly goes to do just that.

"Where did they even get this picture? No one from school was even around?" Madeline says, confusedly.

"Except Owen." Anthony says.

Madeline looks at him, immediately disregarding the idea. "Owen would never do that. He doesn't even like gossiping with us."

"It could be anyone, really." Sabrina shrugs. "Anyone can take a picture and send it in."

"Which is why we nip it in the bud. No engagement? No more stalker pics." Daphne says confidently, she takes her drink off the table before leaning back. "Next topic, please."

—

Owen bit at the frayed skin of his fingernails, the loud music thundering in his chest as he sat backstage. He'd refreshed the page over and over, mortified that the next time he pulled down on the screen that a new post would be up. One about him.

He read every post. Only four were up now. Each one of them held a little bit more weight than the next. Madeline's being the latest.

He knew there were people out there that were desperate to dig their claws into his friend group, to tear them up and knock them down a few pegs. And he'd dealt with his fair share of paps and press, but this felt unhinged.

This wasn't affiliated with a company, this wasn't some news outlet desperate for a story but confined by laws against defamation. This was just some random New Yorker who was bored, and that was what made it so dangerous.

Someone knocked on the door, and Owen jumped at the sound. Dillon walked in, and Ruby next.

"You didn't watch the set?" She asked, still out of breath.

Owen turned his phone off, shaking his head. "I saw a little bit of it, but—" he took a breath. "I needed to—"

Ruby looked at him, concerned. "You good?"

Owen glanced at Dillon, who was changing his shirt in the corner of the green room, then back to Ruby, nodding.

She wasn't convinced. "You're still taking your meds?" She asked quietly.

He shrugged. "I ran out."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ruby asked. "I'll call and refill my prescription now." She went to fish for her phone, but Owen stopped her.

"I'm afraid Dad will find them." He admits.

Ruby shrugs it off like that was nothing. "Hide them in a Claritin bottle like I did."

"What are you hiding?" Dillon scoffs, pulling his fresh shirt down over his chest and turning to face the conversation. "'Cause I always carved out a hole in a book and put them in there and back on the shelf. No one ever—"

"Lexapro." Ruby says, typing on her phone.

"Oh." Dillon responds. "That's it?"

"Yeah, exactly." Ruby says. "Our super intelligent, billionaire CEO father, who studies and works with science and advanced technology every day draws the line at mental health."

Owen nods along as his sister speaks. "Says it's all in your head, and that you—"

"—can work it out on your own." Ruby finishes his sentence, annoyed. "Do they even know you're here? Mom and Dad?"

Owen shakes his head. "Told them I was going out with Madeline and everyone."

Ruby glances over to Dillon, who was leaned back against the snack table, listening. "They'd rather he hang out with his snobby private school friends than his own sister." She explains.

Dillon nods, letting out an 'ah' of understanding.

"They're not snobby." Owen says defensively.

Ruby snorts, going to pour herself a drink. "Your Van der Bilt friend looked like she was too afraid to touch anything last week. Like she'd get some disease."

"Van der Bilt?" Dillon speaks up curiously. "Who's a Van der Bilt?"

"Madeline." Owen responds for him. "She—"

"Don't you recognize her from all those scandals last year? Her dad puts on this flawless, family-values persona to win a campaign while his daughter's out partying with—"

"Ruby?" Owen says sternly, taken aback by his sister's sudden distaste for his friends. "She's actually really nice. And she was going through a lot last year." Owen turns to Dillon. "You met her, right?"

Dillon glances at Ruby, before returning his attention back to Owen. "Yeah." He runs a hand over his buzzed hair as he nods. "She's nice."

Ruby didn't seem very amused. "Just don't let them corrupt you, that's all I'm saying."

Owen rolls his eyes. "I'll be fine."

Ruby checks the time on her phone. "Where's Sterling? We go back on in two."

Dillon leans up off the table. "I'll grab him. See you later, Owen." Dillon gives Owen a pat on the shoulder as he leaves.

"I thought your set was over?" Owen asks his sister.

"They have a band on for twenty minutes, then a dj set. And then repeat. I don't know. People get bored, I guess." Ruby shrugs.

"I thought we were gonna hang tonight? I thought we could go see a movie down the street at that old theatre?" Owen says disappointedly.

Ruby smiles sweetly, pulling her brother in for a short hug. "Next time. I'll catch you after though, okay?"

"Okay." Owen says, as Ruby spins on her heel and follows Dillon out the room.

He couldn't blame his sister. He couldn't blame anyone. But he'd been feeling painfully isolated all week. He'd spent his whole summer holed up in his bedroom playing video games since everyone else had gone out of town. Summering in the Hamptons, or staying at their other houses in Madrid or Chile.

He could've gone back to their place in Seoul. But for what? To do the same thing he was doing in New York? Seeing and speaking to no one? Owen thought that after school started, things would begin to feel normal again.

One after another, his phone started to buzz repeatedly in his back pocket. The text-tone couldn't even fully finish before the next notification came in interrupting it.

@gossipgirl tagged you in a post

—

Daphne stood at the bar, an empty martini glass between her fingers as the warm lights reflected off each jewel on her dress.

Her eyes found Sebastian, who'd wandered off with some new girl and was leading her over to one of the back halls, away from the crowd.

Anthony joined her at his side, leaning back on the bar with his elbows. He looked at Daphne, then turned to see whatever she was looking at.

"There he goes." He says, before turning back around on the bar, waving at the bartender for another drink.

"What is he doing?" Daphne mutters, shaking her head annoyedly. "Is he trying to act like he doesn't care? Madeline's ten feet away."

Anthony shrugs. "It's Sebastian. He always does this."

She wasn't convinced. "Not with her. He still cares about her. He's trying to—"

"Daphne, I love you." Anthony starts, glancing at her. "You know that, right? I love you, but you meddle."

"I meddle?" She raises an eyebrow.

He nods. "Mhm. Get involved in other people's business. Pull strings. Cause chaos."

"I do not." She says defensively, eyebrows furrowed together.

He gets out a laugh. "I could see it in your eyes just then. You were plotting out a way to get Sebastian and Maddy back on good terms, or something— but just stay out of it. It's for the best."

Daphne was offended. "She's my best friend."

Anthony doesn't say anything, just gives her a pursed lip look like 'right'.

This offended her even more. "What's that look for?" She asks.

He takes his drink from the bartender and sending him a nod in thanks. "I'm staying out of it." He says, before slipping away from the conversation.

Daphne slams her heel against the ground frustratedly. "Hey!" She yells after him, to which he turns around and gives her an innocent shrug before sitting down again.

She lets out a frustrated groan as she turns to face the other direction, her martini glass still empty. She leans over the bar and snaps a few times. "Hello? Am I invisible?"

Madeline was cuddled up beside Sabrina on the couch, listening to the girl's pitch on how Madeline can redesign her online image.

"You just need to do something that's even bigger than your last scandal. Something that'll make everyone forget about last year." Sabrina says excitedly.

Madeline wasn't on board. "Right."

Sabrina realized her original pitch wasn't catching on. "Or I can help you put on this 'nice girl image', you know, charity work, donation links on your IG story, whatever. Like— like Bella Hadid!"

"I am nice." Madeline retorts, though sometimes she didn't believe it.

"Sure, but your followers don't know that." Sabrina shrugs. "Maybe you can be friends with that Sammy girl, she's poor, right? You can start a fundraiser—"

Madeline plants her face in her hands defeatedly, barking out a laugh. "Oh my god."

"What?" Sabrina says confusedly. "Oh, there's Owen. Hi Owen!" She waves at him enthusiastically.

Madeline looks up from her hands to the elevator he just stepped off. His phone was in his hand, the screen illuminating his face in the mood lighting.

He was out of breath, like he'd been running. He glanced around at everyone else frantically, growing more and more confused when their expressions didn't match his mortified one.

Madeline got to her feet. "What's wrong?" She asks worriedly.

"You didn't see it?" He asks.

Her heart started to pound. "See what?"

It was then that she realized everyone else in the bar had their own phones out, eyes glued to the screen. Even the bartenders had left drinks gone un-poured to look at whatever it was.

Daphne hesitantly walks over to Owen. "What's going on?"

This got Sabrina and Anthony's attention, who joined in the crowd around Owen.

It was a smack across the face from the girl Sebastian was trying to seduce, her phone in her hand, that made him quickly storm over to the group. "Let me see it." He spoke angrily.

He shoved Madeline out of the way to grab the phone from Owen, to which Daphne shouted loudly in protest. "Don't be a dick!"

It was like he didn't hear it, hypnotized by the screen like everyone else in the bar was.

"What the hell is going on?" Madeline reached for the phone, but Sebastian pulled away.

Every eye was on them now, this group of Upper East Siders, who crowded around the glow of a phone screen and anxiously awaited their fate.

"It's Gossip Girl." Owen says, eyes drifting to each one of his friends. "And we're her targets." 

[ GOSSIP GIRL ]
ATTENTION UPPER EAST SIDERS!
A little birdy told me that you're not seeing my posts. It seems our elite circle of socialites and heirs are trying to escape their pasts. But that's what I'm here for, no matter how hard you try to hide, my job is to unravel the truth. I wanted to keep these special secrets at my fingertips a bit longer, but let me know if I've got your attention now.

First up? America's Sweetheart, Madeline Van der Bilt. While she may seem like the picture-perfect debutante, behind closed doors, Madeline has been living a double life. Last year's party scandal was just the tip of the iceberg. Sources reveal that Madeline has been battling a dangerous addiction to good old party drugs, leading to a shocking arrest for possession in May of last year. But thanks to her daddy's political influence, it was swept under the rug. Oh, what a tangled web we weave, Madeline.

And what's Madeline without her best friend? Daphne Daurella-Heinrich. But the duo isn't as inseparable as it appears. In a twist of fate, it was Daphne who orchestrated Madeline's downfall. During one of their infamous fights, she made the call that led to Madeline's arrest. Looks like loyalty only goes so far in the world of the Upper East Side.

While Owen Kim may look like the golden boy of his family, his frequent visits to a certain apartment building paint a different picture. Eyewitnesses have spotted him leaving the same building where others have been known to go spend a night with a male sex worker of their choice. Yikes, does Mr. Kim know this?

It appears our charming playboy Sebastian Vicuña has found himself in quite the sticky situation. Rumor has it, Sebastian's passionate dalliance with a married woman has landed him in hot water with the wrong crowd. Now, he's on the run from the Chilean cartel after getting involved in an affair with the wife of their leader. Looks like New York isn't far enough to escape the drama, Sebastian.

Our beloved influencer darling may not be as authentic as she claims. It turns out Sabrina Du Hamel was caught red-handed buying her followers. Hey Sabrina, we can't blame you for trying to cover up your father's domestic abuse scandal with a brand deal! Looks like her glamorous facade is nothing but smoke and mirrors.

And our aspiring music mogul Anthony Banks II seems to have been stealing songs from smaller artists and passing them off as his own. That's a good look, Anthony. Way to showcase your abilities of theft and fraud! Seems like someone's trying a little too hard to live up to his father's name.

It seems our Upper East Siders can run, but they can't hide from the watchful eye of Gossip Girl. I hope we've learned our lesson here: you can't block and report your past.
Until next time, darlings.

XOXO,
Gossip Girl