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pretending to listen to what Mr。 Dube was saying about Vietnam and apathy。 School seemed so
lame and inconsequential when a big…time agent like Rusty Klein wanted to represent him； and an
obviously brilliant； intriguingly sexy poet had sent him those exquisitely astute Valentine？s Day
gifts。
Then Dan remembered Vanessa and his hands began to tremble。 He hadn？t sent her anything for
Valentine？s Day？ not that Vanessa was at all into such a ？mercial bullshit holiday；？ as she
called it； but he hadn？t even called her。 Actually； his biggest problem was 。 。 。 he？d cheated on her。
And not just kissing cheating either。Cheating cheating。
Whoops。
It was all Mystery？s fault。 With her see…through slip and crooked yellow teeth she？d made him
feel like he was living inside of one of his poems； kissing a beguilingly odd girl he？d created at a
raucous； screwball party he？d invented。 He hadn？t been able to help but let his imagination run
amok； sending him stumbling across the snowy landscape to her ramshackle Chinatown studio
apartment and making love to her in all sorts of odd yogalike positions on her unfortable futon
bed as the sun was rising over the bleak； snow…covered city。 It was almost as if none of it had
actuallyhappened 。 It wasfiction 。
Except it wasn？t fiction。 He？d cheated。
Dan had been dreadfully hungover for the remainder of the weekend and too deeply mired in
existential guilt and self…loathing to answer Vanessa？s countless messages on his cell phone。
He flipped to the back of his history notebook。 What if he wrote Vanessa a poem and e…mailed it
to her during lunch next period？ That would be more meaningful than flowers or chocolate or a
cheesy Valentine？s Day card。 The best thing about it was that he wouldn？t have to talk to her and
possibly admit that he？d cheated on her； because he？d never been any good at telling lies。
Mr。 Dube was writing on the board now。 Dan pretended to makes notes in his notebook。
Chalk angels；he wrote。Making meaning。
Then he thought about something Mystery had said when they were drinking their fourth or fifth
Red Bull cocktails。 Something about how she was tired of writing obscure poems that skirted
around what she was really trying to say。 Subtle was out。 Direct was in。
Kiss me。 Be mine。Dan wrote； imitating the little slogans on those candy hearts girls were always
passing around on Valentine？s Day。Hot stuff！
He reread the words without really seeing them。 His mind was still too full of his night with
Mystery to process anything else。 Her stringy dirty blond hair had smelled like toast and when
she？d touched his bare stomach with her cold； clammy hands； his whole body had rippled。 He？d
never even asked her what she meant by premature death or how his poem ？Sluts？ had saved her
life； but he？d been so intoxicated by the taurine in the Red Bull and by her appallingly yellow
teeth； he probably wouldn？t have remembered anyway。
Lost my virginity again；Dan wrote； which was the truth。 Doing it with Mystery was like losing it
again。 Was it possible that every time he made love to a new woman it would feel that way？
Before he could imagine who the next lucky girl would be； the bell rang and Dan snapped out of
his reverie； slapping the notebook closed and tucking it under his arm。 ？Hey；？ he called to
Zeke。 ？I？ll buy you some sushi for lunch if you wait for me to whip off an e…mail in the lab。？
？Okay。？ Zeke shrugged； trying not to look too excited that his old friend was actually deigning to
pay attention to him again。 Since when did Dan Humphrey； king of cheap egg rolls and bad coffee；
eatsushi ？
？Heard you got lucky Friday night！？ Chuck Bass shouted Dan？s way as they passed each other
on the stairwell。 Chuck was wearing his Riverside Prep uniform navy blue V…neck sweater with
nothing on underneath it。 ？Nice work。？
？Thanks；？ Dan muttered； hurrying upstairs to the puter lab。 He was kidding himself if he
thought Vanessa wasn？t going to find out about him and Mystery； but as soon as she received his
latest poem he was convinced she？d forgive him。 Just as Mystery had written in her note？he was a
charmer。
girls go gaga over secret admirers
Vanessa felt a little ridiculous hanging out with the desperate girls in the packed； overheated
Constance Billard puter lab； all checking their e…mail for the hundredth time to see who？d sent
them a pathetic e…card for Valentine？s Day or posted a message on their Secret Admirer page； the
alarmingly uncreative new tradition the school had started last Valentine？s Day。 But Dan usually
logged on at least once a day； and since he？d been so busy this weekend meeting Rusty Klein at
the Better Than Naked show and hadn？t had a chance to call her back all weekend； she figured he
might try to e…mail her today； especially since it was Valentine？s Day？ not that either of them
really bought into that mercial holiday bullshit。
Of course not。
？Hey；？ she heard someone say。 It was Dan？s little sister； checking out her Secret Admirer page at
the next terminal。
？Hey Jennifer。？
Jenny rolled herself backwards on her black swivel chair and then pulled herself forward again。
Her curly brown hair was blow…dried straight and she looked older and more sophisticated than
usual。 ？So you and Dan must have had fun at that fashion show。 He didn？t get home until like；
Saturday afternoon。 My dad was grumbling about how spoiled and irresponsible we both are； but
then he pletely forgot to yell at Dan。 As usual。？
Vanessa smoothed her hand over her practically shaved head。 ？Actually； I didn？t go to the same
show he went to。 I got invited to another one。？
Jenny looked confused。 ？Oh。？
In the back of her mind Vanessa sensed that something was wrong。 What had Dan been doing out
all that time anyway？ But then again； everything had gotten screwed up in the snow。 Maybe he？d
spent the night at Zeke？s house or something。 Zeke lived downtown。
She logged on as hairlesscat； passwordmeow ； and clicked on her inbox。 Sure enough； there was
a message from Dan； and？big surprise？it was a poem。 Vanessa read the poem eagerly； grimacing
when she recognized that Dan had put absolutely no effort into it at all。Hot stuff？ What was that
all about？ And what was up with？I lost my virginity again？ ？ Who was he fucking kidding？
She hit reply and wrote back：Ha ha。 I laughed。 I cried。 What？s your deal anyway？ We？re
supposed to be making a film together； remember？
As she waited for Dan to respond； she logged onto her Secret Admirer page。 To her surprise there
were four messages：
I can？t stop raving about you to all my boyfriends。 No one mixes form with meaning the way
you do； milady。 ？prettyboy
You give this fucked…up world a new kind of beauty。 Keep your freak on。 ？d。
Happy Valentine？s Day to my very special sister on a special day。 ？Ruby Tuesday
Can you make it to Cannes？ Let？s talk over coffee in Brooklyn Thurs。 eve？ ？the film…maker who
discovered you
？
Vanessa rolled her eyes as she read the last one。 She appreciated everything Ken Mogul had done
for her； but he hadn？t exactly discovered her。 She？d been there all along。
She clicked on her inbox again but there was no response from Dan so she logged off。 ？See you
later；？ she whispered to Jenny； whose big brown eyes were glued to her puter。
？See you；？ Jenny replied without looking up。 There were three whole messages on her Secret
Admirer page。
sorry i didn？t get you any candy but i wasn？t sure which kind you like。 let？s get some after
school。 don？t really feel like going home right away anyway。 ？sadgirl
btw； when do you want to finish that painting？？ ？me again
？
Those two were very definitely from Elise； but the third one sounded like it might very well be
from a genuine； real…lifeboy 。
Sorry it took me so long； but I didn？t have the guts to write to you before。 If you want to meet me；
I take the Seventy…ninth Street crosstown bus home after school。 I？m not sure what you look like；
but if you see a really tall skinny guy with blond hair looking at you on the bus； smile because it？s
probably me。 Happy Valentine？s Day； JHumphrey。 Can？t wait to meet you。 Love； L
？
Jenny reread the message over and over。 A tall skinny guy with blond hair？ He sounded exactly
like the boy she？d seen in Bendel？s！ But what didL stand for？ Lester？ Lance？ Louis？ No； those
names sounded too geeky； and his message didn？t sound geeky at all； just sweet。 But how had he
gotten her e…mail address？ Oh； who cared？she couldn？t believe it：he wanted to meet her！！
Jenny immediately deleted Elise？s messages and ran to the printer to retrieve the one from L。 Of
course； she planned to ride the Seventy…ninth Street crosstown bus all afternoon and all night if
that was what it took。 But； God forbid； if they never found each other； Jenny would have his love
note to cherish and keep forever and ever。 And she？d thought she was through with love。 See how
magical Valentine？s Day can be？
hugs； not drugs
？So how e you didn？t call 911？？ Jeremy Scott Tompkinson asked Nate as he crumbled pot
into the EZ Wider rolling pape