Manhattan's Elite

Chapter 1

*ARABELLA'S P.O.V.*

5:30 A.M.

Mornings in the Archibald household were never easy to deal with, especially as a teenager. I could hear my mother's high-heeled footsteps approaching my room. Deep down inside me, I hoped that she would stop there, but of course, it doesn't work out in my favor.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Bella, honey, are you awake?" My mother asked before entering the room.

I let out a loud groan in response before covering my face with my silk-covered pillow as she opened the light pink curtains that protected the windows in my room. As much as I love my mother, this was just too much; it was way too early for this. Despite my heart telling to sleep in, I slowly removed the pillow from my face and sat up as I opened my eyes.

"Mom, the sun isn't even out yet," I stated, gesturing to the window.

A soft laugh escaped her thin lips as she shook her head. She probably thought that I was being overdramatic. I mean I don't blame her. However, she also needed to understand that as a teenager, 5:30 A.M., was way too early for school. The only time it was ever acceptable to wake this early was for a flight or something having to do with a vacation. I glanced up at my mother and smiled at her, and she smiled at me in return. Her smile was just like a ray of sunshine and I could see why my father never got over her even when he was with my aunt.

Now you've probably been wondering who my parents are and well, they're the one and only Serena van der Woodsen and Nate Archibald. They were meant to be from the moment my mother returned home from boarding school years ago although, they both had gone through many obstacles in order to end up together; obstacles such as my aunt and father being together when my mother came back after a year and eventually having my mother date some guy named Dan Humphrey. From what I heard, Dan and my mother were totally in love, up until they found out that he was the one who was running the original Gossip Girl site, and the idea of him being the one who tormented them with all the drama and rumors during their high school and college years made my mother furious which caused her to end everything. It's so crazy to think about how my life would have been different if my father was Dan instead of Nate. However, I'm proud to be an Archibald — I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I snapped out of my thoughts, my mother had definitely said some things that went through one ear and out the other. I just nodded as she sat on my bed.

"Are you excited to start your sophomore year?" She asked with a tilted head.

"Definitely. I'm excited to see Camilla, start lacrosse and volleyball, and try out cross country for dad's sake."

My mother smiled brightly as she nodded her head. "Well, alright. You're starting to think more positively, and I think your dad would be really happy to hear that you'll try cross country this year."

Of course, my dad would be really happy since he was a runner back in the day and, neither of my siblings wanted to run. Rosalie wanted to do all-star cheerleading, and Sebastian wanted to do football and hockey. However, he also decided to take up lacrosse his freshman year of high school which made my dad ecstatic. I, on the other hand, had always found lacrosse interesting and decided to start even earlier than Sebastian at the prime age of 7 and 1/2 years old. From there on, my dad coached Sebastian and me up until now and probably until we both graduate high school. On top of lacrosse, my mother put me in ballet classes when I was around 2 and 1/2 years old. Since then, I've taken up other types of dance classes, started competing at the age of 6, and was an automatic shoo-in for our school's poms/dance team. It wasn't 'til this past summer that I decided to become a tri-sport athlete and what a better choice of a sport than running. Almost every single morning this summer, I went on a daily run with my dad to build up my stamina and endurance.