第11部分(第1/8 頁)

her　dramatic　departure　from　Marcus？s　hometown。　Had　he　even　noticed　she　was　gone？

？？this　is　the　perfect　opportunity　for　you　to　find　some　work　for　the　summer。　A　job。？

Awhat　？　No　prende；　se？ora。

The　room　was　spinning。　？What　did　you　just　say；　Mom？　Ajob　？？

？Yes；　dear。　A　job。？

Blair　fell　back　onto　the　pillows　and　threw　her　arm　over　her　eyes。　？But　I？lldie　if　I　have　to　work。？

？Don？t　overreact；？　Eleanor　insisted。　？It？ll　be　a　terrific　experience　before　starting　school。？

？Haveyou　ever　worked？？　Blair　demanded。　She　began　to　flip　through　the　magazine　angrily；

almost　tearing　the　pages　as　she　turned　them。　She？d　just　fled　a　country；　having　been　spurned　by　the

love　of　her　life。　A　lecture　from　her　never…worked…a…day…in…her…life　mother　on　the　merits　of

employment　and　pulling　herself　up　by　her　bootstraps　was　the　absolutelast　thing　she　needed。

？That？s　beside　the　point；？　Eleanor　replied　evenly。　？We？re　not　talking　about　me；　we？re　talking

about　you　helping　to　pay　some　of　these　exorbitant　bills。　If　you？re　going　to　spend　this　much；

you？re　going　to　have　to　earn　something。？

Workfor　the　summer？　Blair　closed　her　eyes？no　one　she　knew　was　working　during　this；　their　last

summer　vacation　ever。　No　one！　Well；　except　for　Nate；　but　that　was　a　punishment。　There　was

Serena；　too；　but　that　wasn？t　really　a　job？it　was　a　dream　e　true。

Blair？s　eyes　suddenly　came　to　rest　on　the　page　in　front　of　her。Spe