Narrated through the eyes of the omniscient yet unseen character called "Gossip Girl" (voiced by Kristen Bell), this inconspicuous person runs a popular gossip commentary blog which holds the attention of all major characters on the show as she brings up-to-the-minute talk about the opulent, elite Upper East Side social scene. Leighton Meester portrays Blair Waldorf, the Queen Bee that has a strained relationship with her best friend Serena van der Woodsen (played by Blake Lively). Serena is the former It girl that suspiciously left Manhattan for a self imposed stint at boarding school before the beginning of the first season. Although Blair was hurt by her best friend's departure, she relishes her new position as the Queen Bee in their circle of friends, along with her boyfriend, Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), though she is blissfully unaware of Nate's involvement in Serena's sudden departure. All is not well in Blair's household however-- her father left her mother for a male model, Roman, (who worked for Eleanor Waldorf), further straining Blair and her mother's already tense relationship. Nate leads an angst-filled life and struggles with pressure from his parents to attend Dartmouth College. Additionally, his father has a crippling cocaine addiction as his mother remains in denial about the problems in their perfect world. Nate also feels trapped in his relationship with Blair Waldorf, as he is in love with Serena and slept with her directly before she left. Fueling Nate's demons is his childhood friend, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick). Cynical and morally bankrupt, Chuck walks on the wild side of life and is not above abusing others to service his own needs. However, Chuck does retain a soft spot for his best friend Nate and for Blair, who is just as manipulative as Chuck. Later in the season, Chuck realizes he has romantic feelings for Blair. When Serena returns from her self-imposed exile (as first reported by "Gossip Girl"), she finds herself excluded from her old crowd after her former betrayals come to light but she soon finds an ally in Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), an outsider in her privileged world. Thrust into a society where their financial and social status do not match that of their peers by their former rock star father turned art gallery owner, Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle), Dan and his younger sister Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) struggle to find a niche in their new environment. Rufus is struggling to reconcile with his estranged wife and also has a secret history with Serena's mother, socialite Lillian van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), who was once a groupie. Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr), a former guest, is Dan's best friend, and is secretly in love with him. She was added as a main cast member after the end of the writers' strike and became Nate Archibald's new love interest. Vanessa also appears in season 2 as Nate's love interest.