Cecily von Ziegesar - The Carlyles

Copyright 2008 by Alloy Entertainment

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Poppy

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

First eBook Edition: May 2008

The Poppy name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group.

The characters, events, and locations in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Produced by Alloy Entertainment

151 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001

ISBN: 978-0-316-03243-8

Gossip Girl

You Know You Love Me

All I Want Is Everything

Because Im Worth It

I Like It Like That

Youre The One That I Want

Nobody Does It Better

Nothing Can Keep Us Together

Only In Your Dreams

Would I Lie To You

Dont You Forget About Me

It Had To Be You

The Carlyles

I do desire we may be better strangers.

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

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Surprised to hear from me? Dont be. Somethings happened on the Upper East Side, and I cant keep quiet about it. Theres a new threesome in town, and theyre far too exquisite not to talk about....

But first, I need to back up a little.

As we all know, this summer our beloved Avery Carlyle passed away. Benefactress extraordinaire, she gave away pieces of her fortune to museums, libraries, and parks the way other people donate last seasons dresses to St. Georges thrift shop. At seventeen, she made headlines dancing on tables at Elviss first New York show. At twenty-one, she married (for the first time) and moved into the famous peach-colored town house on the corner of Sixty-first and Park. And at seventy, she still drank scotch and soda and was always surrounded by fresh-cut white peonies. Most important, she knew exactly how to get what she wantedfrom husbands, society hostesses, heads of state, anyone. A woman after my own heart.

And why should you care? Keep your panties on, Im getting to that. Avery Carlyles wayward daughter, Ediewho ran away years ago to Nantucket to find herself through artwas called back to New York to sort through her mothers affairs. Judging by the bookcase of leather-bound journals (and the six annulled marriages) the elder Mrs. Carlyle left in her wake, that process may take a while. Which is why Edie recently shut down the Nantucket house and moved herself and her fatherless triplets into an infamous penthouse located on Seventy-second and Fifth.

Meet the Carlyles: O, ruggedly handsome, buff bod, golden blond hair, an ever-present Speedo... looks good so far. Then theres A, wheat blond hair, cobalt blue eyes, a fairy-tale goddess robed in Marni. And lastly B, which simply stands for Baby. Aw. But just how innocent is she?

Of course, our UES friends are up to some new tricks. Theres J, last seen drinking Tanqueray gimlets on a yacht in Sagaponack. But why was she there, when she was supposed to be performing arabesques at the Paris Opera House? Did the pressure get to her, or was she just homesick for her tycoon-in-training boyfriend, J.P.... ? Dont forget the impeccably mannered R, swimming laps in the rooftop pool at Soho House while his mother filmed a piece on summer entertaining for her television show Tea with Lady Sterling. We all know Lady S cant wait to plan his fairy-tale wedding to longtime girlfriend, K, but will young love endure? Especially when K was seen in the confessional at St. Patricks? They say confession is good for the soul.

What will the old crowd think of these three new additions to our fair island? I, for one, cant wait to see whether they sink or swim....

Dear GG,

So, my mom went to Constance Billard like a million years ago with the triplets mom, and she told me the reason they moved here is because A slept with the entire islandboys and girls. And then B is, like, this crazy, brilliant genius whos mentally unstable and never washes her clothes. And O apparently swims up to Nantucket on the weekends in a Speedo. Is that true?

3some

Dear 3,

Interesting. From what Ive seen, A looks pretty innocent. But we all know looks can be deceiving. Well see how brilliantly B does in the city. As for O, Nantuckets a long way away, so I doubt he can swim that far. But if he can... Ive got one word for you: endurance. Exactly what I look for in a man.

GG

Dear GG,

I just moved here and I love New York!!!!! Do you have any advice to make this year the best year ever?

SMLLTWNGRL

Dear STG,

All I can say is, be careful. Manhattan is a pretty small place itself, albeit much more fabulous than wherever you came from. No matter what you do, and no matter where you are, somebody is watching. And its not going to be gossiped about in your high school cafeteriain this town, its bound to hit Page Six or Gawker. If youre interesting or important enough to be gossiped about, that is. One can only hope.

GG

Dear GG,

I bet youre just saying you deferred college because you didnt get in anywhere. Also, I heard that a certain monkey-owning dude never made it to West Point, and I think its pretty mysterious that hes still here and so are you. Are you really a girl?? Or are you even a senior? I bet youre just some nerdy thirteen-year-old with no boobs, so people cant tell if youre a girl or a boy. I mean youre definitely not the real thing. Even the site looks different.

RUCHUCKB

Dear RUCHUCKB,

First of all, its called a makeover! Get with the program. Second, Im flattered that my continued presence is spawning conspiracy theories. Sorry to disappoint, but I am as feminine as they come, without a pet monkey in sight. My age? As the venerable elder Avery Carlyle would say: A real lady never tells.

GG

This just in, from the newbies: O running in Central Park, without a shirt. Does he own any shirts? Lets hope not... ! A trying on a silver sequined YSL minidress in the dressing room of Bergdorfs. Didnt anyone tell her Constance has a dress code... ? And her brunette sister, B, in FAO Schwarz, clinging to a guy in a barn-red Nantucket High hoodie, putting stuffed animals in inappropriate poses and taking pictures. Is that what they do for fun where theyre from?

Okay, ladies and gents, you all probably have to go back-to-school shoppingor, for those of you whove headed off to college, read Ovid and chug a PBR in your new eight-by-ten dorm room. But dont worry; Ill be here, drinking a glass of Sancerre in the corner booth of Balthazar, reporting on what youre missing. Its the dawn of a new era on the Upper East Side, and with these three in town, I just know its going to be another wild and wicked year...