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Blair liked to see the world of Constance Billiard in black and white, especially when it came to underclassmen. There were projects and then there were victims. Being the start of her junior year, this year was the first time Blair would be one of the upperclassmen which gave her extra superiority over the incoming freshman class. Last year’s minion prospects hadn’t gone according to plan and she needed to find the perfect girl soon. She didn’t have much time until her senior year and the graduation and preparing the next queen would take days of work.
When she walked into her art class, she was quickly disappointed to find that her evil witch of a teacher had decided to kick off the first day with a lovely little seating chart. Art wasn’t Blair’s favorite class, in fact, she was only in the class because she signed up for it on a whim in middle school and eventually had to follow it through. To a younger more naive Blair art would be an opportunity to connect with her mother. If she proved herself a good artist she could make some fashion sketches to impress Eleanor. Much to her disappointment, the art class at Constance had been much more still lives and nothing Eleanor approved.
Blair was placed at a table by a new girl, a pretty little blond with big brown eyes who seemed utterly captivated by her. She smirked as she sat down, enjoying the rush that came from being admired. The girl had to be a freshman, she looked too young to be any older. Reluctantly, she was impressed that a freshman could start off in the advanced class but she kept that little comment to herself.
As Blair sat down the girl shoved away her paper and markers which only served to capture her attention. From the brief glimpse she got, Blair spotted a sketch of a model in a dress not so different from the ones that littered the floor of her mother’s office.
To keep her air of composure, Blair greeted the girl with an almost smile but no words. If this little freshman truly had what it took to be a minion she would need the courage to approach Blair first.
“You’re Blair Waldorf, right?” The girl asked, almost instantly, startling her slightly.
“Yes, I am. And you are?”
“Jenny,” she smiled before hastily adding her last name. “Jenny Humphrey.”
Humphrey. Blair turned that name over an over in her head. She couldn’t think of any other Humphries she knew which meant that Jenny most likely did not have an older sister. She was completely new to Constance. Young Jenny Humphrey had never been exposed to the total psychological warfare that was the high school part of Constance.
She smirked, giving the girl a one over. Her uniform was neatly pressed and she presented herself in a way that made it obvious she cared. Maybe she was like Blair, maybe she cared too much about how she was perceived. She could have been mistaken, truthfully she didn’t really care. Getting to know the freshman wasn’t how she planned to spend her year. She had SAT prep, college essays, extracurriculars, the list went on. The world never stopped for Blair Waldorf.
Working on their first project of the year, Blair watched Jenny write her name in perfect calligraphy onto her paper and a brilliant idea blossomed in her mind.
“Jenny?”
Jenny kept working until she felt Blair’s expectant gaze. “Oh! You’re talking to me?”
Blair rolled her eyes.
“What is it?”
“I’m throwing a party this weekend. If you make the invites with that calligraphy you can make yourself one.”
“Really?”
“Really. You in?” Blair challenged, sliding a long list of names across the able and towards Serena:
Jenny grinned, practically jumping at the opportunity of going to Blair’s party. “Of course!”
She nodded approvingly. “Good,” Blair smirked. “I expect them ready by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow…wow…”
“You can do that, can’t you Ginny?”
“It’s Je-“ the younger girl began before cutting herself off. “I’ll do it. I can do it.”
Blair dismissed herself from the table, crossing the room to find Penelope who was in the same class. “Invitation problem solved,” Blair smirked shooting a glance over at little Jenny Humphrey who seemed to be practicing her calligraphy already.
“You got a freshman to do it?”
“She’s desperate and she’ll do it for free. Now, do me a favor and get me her file.”
Penelope nodded in response and Blair returned to her seat only to find Ms Williams, her art teacher, looming over her table. Blair chose to ignore her, sitting down, and returning to her project but the teacher refused to leave. Finally, fed up with this nonsense, Blair looked up at her teacher expectantly. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t have to, just waited.
“If you’re tormenting the freshman again I’m going to have to write you up.”
Blair’s face scrunched up. She knew she had a record for not being the nicest but she hadn’t even done anything to little Ginny—yet. Who was Ms Williams to threaten to punish her like this? All her other teachers seemed to not notice the power Blair had over the other girls at school or they would turn a blind eye to her but Ms Williams was always desperate to start a fight. She stared at the art teacher like she was crazy until their little staring contest was interrupted by Ginny.
“She wasn’t being mean to me. She just invited me to her party. That’s it.” The freshman interjected.
Now it was Ms Williams turn to be confused as she looked from Blair to the freshman and then back to Blair.
“What an odd way to invite someone to a party, Blair,” she responded condescendingly.
Blair plastered on her fakest smile. “I’m sure you would see it that way.”
Ms Williams chose that moment to walk away and Blair rolled her eyes.
The freshman—Ginny, no, Jenny—smiled at Blair. Blair gave her a small smile in return. The girl had morals that was for sure, and loyalty too. Even Kati and Is, her closest friends—other than Serena—weren’t that trustworthy. Jenny was actually showing potential to become the next queen or at least a good minion.
The bell rang to mark the end of class. Blair got up, grabbing her bag and heading across the room toward Penelope. Before she left she glanced back at her new seat mate.
“Jenny, bring me the invitations at lunch tomorrow. We sit on the MET steps.”
“Yes, Blair,” Jenny replied quickly.
With a satisfied smirk, Blair left the room. This years freshman were shaping up to be better than last years. What a relief.