Serena was definitely more of a California girl than a New York girl. She had been to New York many times, and like most people in her world, her parents did own a place in New York, but it was nothing compared to what the Rockefeller's had. Her family's was a four bedroom apartment in a very nice building overlooking Washington Square Park. It cost them a few solid millions, but it wasn't the epitome of the most elite of the elite. They had that in California, where their Newport Beach estate spanned a few acres of beachfront territory, and in Italy, where their home was one of the largest and nicest in the country. Linking in with her just not being used to living in New York for more than a week at a time, Serena just preferred the more relaxed lifestyle she was able to live in California, over the fast paced one of New York. On one hand, it was a lot easier to blend in with normal people in New York. She was frequently bothered by paparazzi in both cities, but she could also get away with going a couple of days in New York without her photo being snapped if she really tried to stay off of the radar. All of the places she spent time in California, from restaurants to boutiques, were accounted for by the photographers, so it was hard to go out without being followed. This summer, she wouldn't even be graced with the anonymity that New York sometimes offered her, because she had signed onto a contract agreeing to allow cameras to follow her. And with those cameras, and the frenzy that their E! logo would bring, would lead to the real paparazzi haunting her too.
To: Liv, Jack
lucy and i are on our way!! mike is on his way too, but he's coming straight from lga
Serena and Luciana had flown in from California the day before. They spent the day shopping and then saw "The Lion King" on Broadway for what must have been at least the tenth time. It was one of Serena's favorites, and felt new to her every time she saw it. She had such respect for the actors and actresses in the show. It was one thing to do what she did, and act on screen, but to do it live was such a different story. Plus, they could not only act, but sing and dance too, and Serena would readily admit that she wasn't much of a "triple threat".
While Serena was nervous for this new chapter of her life, she didn't resent it as much as the others. She didn't think of herself as the type of person to be drawn to drama, so she wasn't worried about being a part of any televised scandals. Maybe she was thinking too innocently, but she was just excited to be able to spend a summer with her family and best friends. The contracts just ensured that none of them could run away if things started getting bad, and Serena really believed that they would actually force everyone to work out their problems. They would come out of this summer stronger than they went in, she hoped. "You can just let us off on the corner of the next block," Serena said, reaching through the partition of the Escalade to tap the driver on the shoulder. He gave her a disgruntled nod, which had her frowning, but she turned to Luciana mid-thought."Are you excited? I hope things aren't still awkward between Mike and Katy."