"So what will it be, Dan? Cheerios and Chaucer? Or an illegal party at your prep school pool with your high-society girlfriend and her nasty cohorts?" his friend Vanessa probes. Dan hollers to his father in the next room that he and Vanessa are heading out for the evening. As the two Brooklynites join the pool party, Dan remarks how much he feels like an outsider. The scene before them comprises of their fellow classmates sipping martinis and taking shots of vodka, a table covered in cocaine and other illegal substances, and teens drunkenly making out in the crystal blue water. Nearby, secret lovers Chuck and Blair are arguing about why Blair cannot be around her boyfriend Nate because of how much it upsets Chuck. As Dan embraces his beautiful girlfriend Serena there is a commotion to the right as a few, seemingly drunk, classmates are roughhousing. Suddenly one of the boys is shoved and his head hits a metal pole with a loud thump; his limp body splashes into the water and is enveloped in a cloud of blood. The high-schoolers begin to scatter knowing the police will come, while Nate, despite knowing the consequences of being caught, stays behind to administer CPR. The question that lingers in the air is 'who will take the blame this illegal and disastrous pool party?' (Rosenfeld).
Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side. Here live the privileged, beautiful, powerful, and filthy rich. The teenagers here have the world handed to them, with unlimited access to money, fancy parties, and opportunities to flourish or fall. The CW Network's guilty pleasure TV show, Gossip Girl, gives us a glimpse into this world. The show follows beautiful, blonde socialite, Serena Van Der Woodsen and her best friend yet sometimes rival, Blair Waldorf. The series starts at the beginning of their sophomore year in high school and follows the girls, their families, and their friends until the end of college.
