Disclaimer: 'Gossip Girl' belongs to Cecily von Ziegesar, Josh Schwartz and the CW. No copyright infringement intended.

Daniel Humphrey was returning to his Brooklyn home after his first day of high school. He attended St. Jude's School for Boys on the Upper East Side. And he was one of 10 boys total who had a partial (or full) scholarship. His mother was an artist and his father owned an art gallery – he was also an ex-musician. Dan's classmates' parents were lawyers, politicians, CEOs, and socialites. He had been completely ignored or pushed aside.

Dan sighed. Four years. And then he would be off to Dartmouth and become a writer. It would be worth it.

He entered the loft to find his sister and mother playing Scrabble.

"How was school?" his mother stood up, walked to him, and kissed his cheek.

Jenny looked up, eyes wide, envious.

"Fine," was all he could use to describe that place.

His mother opened her mouth to ask more but Dan moved around her. "I have homework."

"It's the first day of school!" the 12-year-old huffed.

"It's an elite, private high school, Jen." And he opened his door, immediately shutting it behind him.

Dan set his bag down and stripped off his blazer, letting it fall to the ground.

As he pulled off his tie, the girl sitting on his bed finally made her presence known: "You won't get a job with Chippendales with that performance."

Dan jumped. "Shit, Vanessa, where'd you come from?"

"They teach you to swear at that prep school?"

"Sorry," he sighed and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"It's okay. Just don't think Cedric is used to such vulgar language."

That's when Dan noticed that Vanessa wasn't alone. In her arms was a Cabbage Patch doll.

"Um…what are you doing with that?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Waiting for you to come home. He was keeping me company. Is it really going to take this long every day?"

She scooted over on the bed and he instantly slid up, lying beside his best friend who attended one of the Brooklyn public high schools.

"Come on, Danny. Tell us all about those elitist, snobby rich boys. Did they fulfill your every hope and dream?" she fluttered her lashes and grinned.

"Don't call me that, Nessa."

Vanessa gasped and held Cedric up at arms length. "Did you just hear what he called me? And that tone!"

Dan rolled his eyes and snatched the doll from her. "Enough, please."

She nodded and then curled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "That bad, huh?"

He remained silent, starring at the Cabbage Patch Kid still in his hands.

"What did they say to you?"

Dan shook his head. "I'm just there so Dartmouth'll pay attention in four years."

She lifted her head and put her hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Dan, you have to be with these people for four years. You can't just ignore them. You have to make friends. You need to have fun. So, tell me what happened."

Dan just looked at her. Her hand still held his chin. Brown locked with blue and he started to lean in.

"Yes! I win!"

Jenny's shout from the living room brought him out of it and he shook his head. She dropped her hand.

"Um…they're playing Scrabble. You know my mom always let's her win. Because it helps her build a vocabulary. Which is really important, you know. And Jen, she's always so hyper and has to let everyone know she won…"

"Dan."

He closed his mouth; a slight reddish tint on his cheeks.

"You were going to tell me about your day," brushing off the almost-kiss.

"Oh, right," he leaned back against his bed. "It was definitely…not middle school. And I don't just mean that in the sense of age and awkwardness, but it's the Upper East Side. You could smell the money. And we were all wearing identical uniforms."

He sat Cedric against his chest and laid his hands over the doll.

"I'm in all honors classes, but I don't think they offer anything less. And there's these two guys in all my classes: Chuck Bass and Nate Archibald. And I'm pretty sure they were both high since the first bell. And Chuck Bass is so obnoxious and sleazy."

Vanessa nodded her head.

"Other than that, great day. Good classes. I think they'll be a lot of writing and great reading this year."

She continued nodding, patting his arm, and then rested her head on his chest beside Cedric.

The two remained like that for an unknown amount of time before Rufus Humphrey barged in. "Dan, dinner's ready."

Rufus then noticed the kids. "Oh, hi, Vanessa. Didn't know you were here. Will you be staying for dinner?"

Vanessa lifted her head, but before she could respond, Dan answered with a "yes."

She looked at him. Dan was smiling. She smiled back.

.end.

Author's Note: This was written before 3x08 aired. Alas, what can I say. The Humphreys are just predictable with their board games. Scrabble. It's what they do.