Vanessa Abrams is a young, beautiful artist who remains an outcast among a cluster of New York's most elite, wealthy teens. Her best friend is Dan Humphrey, who is from a similar middle-class background. She works at a coffee shop in Brooklyn and has a history with Dan that has not been fully revealed yet, but was evident in the tension between herself and Serena van der Woodsen at the time Serena began to date Dan. Towards the end of the first season of Gossip Girl, Vanessa developed a romance of her own with Nate Archibald, although that fizzled before it really got going. We can't wait to see what's next for Vanessa in Season 2!