01X03,

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There's plenty of upside to being the spawn of the famously wealthy, but on the downside: super successful parents expect nothing less from their offspring and when it comes to college, that means the 'Ivy's'. It's more than just getting into college, it's setting a course for the rest of your life and for those few who aren't legacies, the pressures are no less. When parents have sacrificed for their children's future, what kid would want to let them down?

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that the heirs, and heiresses, from the Upper East Side were groomed to perfect from a young age, with their future being written for them from the moment they were born. Ellie Bass knew that there was no way to run from it. Much like the other parents in the UES, her father planned her future as well. He wanted her to be just as cutthroat and ruthless like he was in business without bearing in mind that Ellie had a dream of her own. Bart saw in Ellie the qualities that he believed Chuck to not have: determination, commitment and a mirror image of himself when he was a youngster, and yet, he failed to follow through with his duty of being a good father. Bart failed to see that Ellie did not want to go to Yale University like how he and the rest of the Bass family had done, and yet instead opted for Harvard to pay honour to her mothers memory.

Ellie knew that she had a future in business, but she wanted to be remembered as someone who had more than just a pretty face and slept their face to the top, or her last name, she wanted to be known as one of the best businesswomen that the entire of Bass Industries had ever seen. The final stretch of Ivy Week had arrived, and gave her the opportunity to move one step closer in order to follow her dreams.

She stared at her reflection in the floor-length mirror, a wary sigh escaped from her mouth. As confident as she was, Ellie couldn't deny the fact that the nerves which formed in her mind caused her to underestimate herself. Her hand reached for the bracelet that laid at the top of her vanity table, considering it to be lucky for her. It was supposedly given to Ellie on her tenth birthday by Bart, but she always knew the truth. Bart had forgotten to get her a gift and it was Chuck who had ran into one of the jewellery stores in Lexington Avenue with the twins' au pair at the time and picked out the most beautiful bracelet that his sister had ever owned. Chuck was a pain in the ass, and yet, he was Ellie's only true family.

Once her bracelet was clipped around her wrist, the sound of a message alert went off on her phone. Ellie furrowed her eyebrows before she turned to her bed, reached for her flip up phone and a small smile found its way to her face once she saw who the message was from.

Walk me to school?

Nate stood at the entrance of Ellie's room, one hand holding onto the paper cup-holders which was the home to the milkshakes that he had ordered for them, and the other around his phone. He already knew Ellie's answer before she could reply, as Ellie Bass was not one to refuse a vanilla milkshake. "Well?"

Ellie turned to face Nate. Her smile was bright as ever, "What's the point of asking me if you were just going to show up?"

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was considered a symbol of their friendship, since the first time Ellie and Nate ever walked to school together, they ended up being late because of the young girl's yearning for the Café that had opened up. It was also a bribe that Nate had often used whenever he had some groveling to do, or if he needed something from Ellie. She could always read him like a book, and vice versa. It had been that way ever since they were children and from their entire group of friends, Ellie and Nate always felt the most comfortable around each other.

Ellie was Nate's safe place, and she was his.

As they walked up the street which led them to their schools, Ellie noticed the change of tone in Nate's voice and the distant look in his eyes. It was only until the Archibald had almost bumped into an elderly woman did Ellie decide to bring the topic up. She pressed her lips together, "You're being extra broody today. What's the matter?"

Nate shook his head, "It's nothing, El."

A thought had crossed her mind. She believed that Nate was still being judgmental over her relationship with Isaac, but that was far from the truth. Nate would never judge Ellie, he was incapable of doing so. In his eyes, Ellie was always the purest one from their group. She was quite literally an angel.

Ellie frowned, "Are you still judging me about Isaac?" her voice was soft and unsure, almost as if she believed that if she raised it a little louder, she would break. Nate immediately shook his head. They stopped waking and faced each other, his hand reaching to place itself on the shoulders of her black trench coat, "No, never. Of course not." He paused, contemplating if he could yet again burden Ellie with the news of the downfall of his plans for the future. He dropped his hand to his side and sighed, "It's my dad. He's still on my case about Dartmouth."

Howard Archibald was the one person, other than Bart Bass, that was the most obsessed with following family traditions amongst every other parent in their adult social circles. He wanted Nate to follow in his footsteps, and had already began his plan to mold his son into a shadow of himself. Ellie pursed her lips, "Did you at least get the chance to bring up USC?"

"He always changes the topic whenever I try," Nate answered as the two continued their walk. He shrugged his shoulders, "It's like I'm not old enough to make my own decisions. It's either the Captain's way or no way at all,"

Ellie dryly laughed, "Well, the parents in the UES do love the sound of their own voices." She recalled the useless arguments that she had with Bart in explaining her reasoning behind attending Harvard. "I'm sorry, Nate, but the Captain is being ridiculous. I do get where he's coming from, but your happiness shoulder matter more to him than following some old family legacy."

Nate chuckled, "Have you met my father?"

They turned into another street and the view of Constance Billiard and St. Judes came into sight. Ellie's gaze fell on Isaac, his tousled hair and boyish grin becoming even more appealing to her as she watched him talk to another teacher in front of the school. What she felt for Isaac was nothing compared to what she once felt for Carter, but she did feel something. It was not just meaningful conversations in front of the fireplace.

Nate recognized the distant glimmer which filled Ellie's eyes, and turned to follow her gaze. He felt the energy drain from his body, "He's your teacher." He reminded the Bass. Ellie rolled her eyes at Nate, sighing as she replied, "Thank you, Nate, for stating the obvious."

He narrowed his eyes, "Do you have feelings for him?"

Ellie let out an exasperated sigh, "What we have is -"

"Illegal?"

Ellie playfully pushed Nate's shoulder as she let out a dry laugh. She evaded his question for a moment as she thought of an answer. What did she feel for Isaac? It wasn't love. People only fall in love once in their life, and her person was Carter Baizen. Whoever she fell for after Carter would always be a rebound.

"Complicated," she admitted. There was no adjectives other than complicated that would describe her forbidden romance. She pursed her lips as she and Nate began to make their way up the stairs of their school. "Isaac is different from all the other guys I've met before. He's interesting, he's funny and-" as she ran out of words to describe her person, she turned to her best friend and playfully bit her lip. "-and you seem a little too interested in my love life, Archibald."

"I'm just looking out for you, El. I don't want you to get hurt."

They may have had a moment as they stared into each other's day, oblivious gaze which had landed on them. Isaac stood at the bottom of the staircase, one hand holding onto his briefcase that was filled with papers and documents and the other wrapped around his cappuccino. He stared at the best friends who seemed to be in their own world whenever they were around each other, laughing at the corniest jokes and being themselves. Isaac watched as Nate stole the vanilla milkshake from Ellie's hold once he threw his own away. In that moment, Isaac felt nothing but jealousy.

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hall was occupied by the presence of the students from Constance and St. Judes' juniors seated on either side as they listened to the song sung by the choir. Ellie listened diligently to the rendition of 'Fabulous' by Fergie. Despite her dislike for a good amount of the girls, their unfortunate combination of pink and orange mashed together on a daily basis being the prime reason, she couldn't help but admit that they had done a good job. She joined in on the applause given to the choir once they were done and the Headmistress of Constance moved closer on the stage to address the students from both of the schools.

"Good morning students," her voice sounded through the room, just as Ellie had set her sights on Isaac. He stood with the teachers, his arms behind his back and dressed in a blue checkered shirt and a matching tie. "I ask all of you to show a little sympathy for our junior class. They are almost through with Ivy Week,"

Ellie felt a tug on the sleeve of her black Dior cardigan, and when she looked to her side, she saw Blair beaming at her in happiness. The Bass has returned her friends smile before she looked back at the stage to see that the St. Judes Headmaster had begun to address the students as well, "As is our long standing tradition. The Constance Billiard girls will be in charge of Friday nights mixer and the St. Jude's boys will provide the ushers for the visiting representatives,"

The nerves had formed a bubble inside of Ellie's mind waiting to burst. She had convinced herself that all she needed was her award winning smile and a subtle hint as to who her father was, and she would have a spot secured in Harvard. "For those of you dreaming of attending an Ivy League school, this mixer is the most important event of your life."

What the Headmistress had said was told to Ellie and her classmates more than a thousand times before, so Ellie slowly felt herself withdraw her attention from the teachers and to Isaac. Her eyes danced across the room in a bid to not make it too obvious that she wanted to look at him, before a small smile appeared on her face when she made eye contact with him, and when he smiled back at her – Ellie had bit her bottom lip to avoid smiling more. She might not have loved him as yet, but she did feel something.

"The things I would do to that man," Kati Farkas spoke from beside Ellie. The Bass turned her head to face her friend, her eyes widened in confusion and fear for the fact that she may have been caught out. She gulped, "He's out teacher," she stayed, ignoring the jealousy that brewed from within her. Isobel Coates snickered, "Who cares? A man like that is a gift from God himself,"

"Girls, remember being class is always better than being trashy," Blair mused, her eyes briefly meeting those of her friends.

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into routine with Blair once the assembly was over, and the students left in their own cliques. She linked her arm through Blair's, the minions followed behind, and laughed at a hideous bohemian-chic look that a girl from Ellie's science class had. The smile from Blair's face drifted when Serena Van Der Woodsen's appearing figure caught her attention, having not forgotten about the betrayal by her once best friend.

"Aww," Blair cooed as she stood in front of Serena, "too bad you missed the assembly. Not that it matters, Brown doesn't offer degrees in slut."

That was their new routine at school whenever the two had passed each other in the hallway, or when Serena was near Blair. There would always be insults and taunts tossed, and like always, Ellie was caught in between.

S not so fashionably late and dressed down by B.

Anger was also something that Ellie felt toward Serena, but it was not for the same reason as Blair. Her anger revolved around the fact of how abandoned she felt when Serena left the city, and for having been alone when she suffered through the worst heartbreak of her entire life. Ellie looked at Serena's face, a look of exhaustion and sadness that was displayed on the blondes tan skin. She was never able to pick a side between Blair and Serena, but she also did not want for Serena to feel alone.

She turned to Blair and sighed, "B, I might stick around here for a while." She slowly slipped her arm out of the lock which the Waldorf had it in. Blair recognized the helpless look in Ellie's brown eyes and scoffed, realization dawned upon her. "Careful E. I heard that there's a new virus called 'the lying, backstabbing, slutty best friend'. It's contagious." She sneered, glaring at where Serena stood before she walked away with her minions following behind.

And it looks like E has finally picked a side. Could B have lost her most faithful solider? Game on, ladies.

Serena felt grateful for Ellie. A small smile formed on her face as she looked at the brunette, "Thank you for staying," her voice was equally as small. She slowly fell into pace with Ellie as they walked together, entering the courtyard. They sat down at one of the stone tables, Serena watching as Ellie began to complete her homework. "Blair is still so mean, but you're –"

Ellie purposefully dropped her Latin history textbook on the desk, finally meeting Serena's longing gaze. She shrugged her shoulders, "You slept with her boyfriend, what did you expect?" she retorted, her voice harsh and filled with venom. Serena was used to the taunts and insults from Blair, but not from Ellie. "E."

Ellie licked her bottom lip, "For the record, I only stayed because I felt bad for you. I still think that you suck."

Serena nodded, "I deserved that. E, I already lost Blair, and whatever possible relationship that I had with Dan, I can't lose you too." She admitted. Ellie's face fell, the harshness that she had once had when she had first approached Serena dropped in an instant. She sighed, "I broke up with Carter, and days later, you left town without a word, and it sucked having to lose two people who I really cared for in the span of one week."

Serena drowned, "How do I make things right?" she sighed, her hand slowly reaching across the table as she enveloped Ellie's in her own, giving it a slight squeeze. Ellie knew that she would welcoming an earful of opposing comments from Blair, but she was always a people pleaser. She rolled her eyes and smiled at Serena after what felt like a lifetime had passed, "I did see a pair of Doc Martens on Park Avenue,"

That was what Serena needed to hear, to know that Ellie had forgiven her. Any trace of sadness was removed from her face as she grinned brightly, the thought of winning over one of her two best friends becoming a reality. She nodded, "Consider it yours."

♛

West Side had never been a place in which Ellie considered to like. She was rarely seen in it, and when she was, it was under the circumstance of attending a party or buying new clothes. However, ever since Isaac rented an apartment there, it felt as if the UWS was slowly becoming a second home to her. She was dressed in incognito: her long black coat, a navy blue pashmina scarf that was wrapped around her head and dark sunglasses. She did not want to be noticed, and yet, she did quite the opposite.

The moment she had stepped foot into Isaac's apartment, she knew that something was wrong. He was distant, standoffish even but she pegged the blame for his behavior on the day that he must have had at school. Isaac sat on his bed with his book in hand, his attention seemingly being on his novel and yet his mind was still centered around the jealousy that he felt when he saw Ellie and Nate together.

"Jonathan Steele. Bestselling author turned college professor. Divorced with two children, and is currently married to his job," Ellie read, examining each and every word that was written on the official Wikipedia page of the Harvard alum. She scoffed in annoyance as she had read over something that she already knew. "So much for Google knowing everything."

"Hmm."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she was met by silence, only by the sound of her boyfriends 'hm'. She spun around on her chair as she focused her attention from her laptop, and turned herself to face Isaac. She narrowed her eyes at him, "What's up? You've been acting weird ever since I got here."

Isaac shrugged, "I just had a long day at work."

"Yeah, school was tough for me too. Are you going to the mixer tomorrow?"

"I have to. It's a part of my job, Elizabeth."

Isaac had never been as moody as he was that day. Ellie knew that something was wrong with him, but she was clueless as to. She stood up from her chair and rubbed his hands against her jeans before she moved over to the bed, "Isaac, what's wrong?" she sat on the bed, waiting his response. Isaac sighed and removed his glasses as he placed his book on the bedside table, "I saw you with Nate Archibald this morning,"

Ellie came to the conclusion that Isaac's foul mood was stemmed from the event of Nate knowing about their secret. She widened her eyes in realization and smiled, "Right, I spoke to Nate and he agreed to not say anything about us, and what we saw."

"it's not about that, Elizabeth. It's about you and Nate." Isaac replied.

"Me and Nate?" she asked, amused by what Isaac referred to.

Isaac pursed his lips and sat up straight, "I saw the two of you this morning, walking to school laughing while drinking milkshakes," he paused and sighed, "It-it seemed as if something else was there."

Ellie wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded to hear that Isaac was jealous of her friendship with Nate. She had never considered the Archibald to be more than a friend to her, because Nate was Nate. He was the person who Ellie could spend the entire night talking to while sitting under the dark night sky.

"And there is." Ellie admitted. Isaac furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but the Bass refused to laugh. He realized that she was serious. Ellie shrugged her shoulders with a small smile on her face as she fondly recalled the beginning of her friendship with Nate, "Before Blair, and before Serena, I had Nate. We've been together ever since kindergarten, and I love him. He's my best friend."

"Is that all the two of you have ever been? Just friends?"