Starting Over: rewrite

Opera's and Yale

Who's fashion did you like more? I personally loved Blair's the most.

Ella's POV

"What are you going to do if you get Yale and Blair doesn't?" I ask Serena as we eat lunch.

"No, Blair is getting Yale. That's all that's all that matters." Serena responds.

"Do you want Yale?" I ask her.

"I don't know what I want. I...I toured Yale because of Blair, and I did fall in love with it, and now Dan is pushing us both to go there and have this fairytale life and...I don't' know what I want."

"You still applied to Brown, right?"

"Of course."

"Yale is a wonderful school, and as much as they recruited you because of your feature in some tabloids, you're still smart, Serena. You have to be smart to be at Constance. You may not be at Blair level, but don't count yourself out. If you want Yale, take it. Don't let Blair or anyone keep you from doing what you want." I advise her.

"But Blair would be crushed, and...this is her dream." Serena argues.

"And she would love to lose Yale to you above anyone else. She loves you, Serena, and if this is what you want, then she will support you. But do it for you and no one else."

"You don't think it's a good idea I follow Dan to Yale."

"When you have to use the word follow, it's never a good idea." I tell her. "You don't want to be like Blair's minions who only do everything she says and follow her around because they have no idea who they are. You are stronger than that. A man is never worth following around for if it's not something you want as well."

"How are you so wise, E?"

"Watching the women who fawned over Bart. Willing to do everything he wanted, and when he was done, he tossed them aside. Your mom, she challenged him. She said no, and when he pushed a line she was not willing to cross, she left, and I do admire that about her. Carter, wanted me to drop out of school and follow him. To travel the world together. Mostly because I had the funds and he didn't, but I found myself thinking about actually doing it, and right before I told him yes, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I didn't recognize myself. I was willing to leave everything behind for some guy, and I didn't want to be like those girls who my dad dated. I wanted to be better." I explain to her.

"I love Dan, and I don't want to lose him." Serena states.

"Distance can make the relationship stronger." I reply. "You could easily visit each other, and you'll always have something new to talk about. Introducing each other to the college friends you meet and going to each other's campuses and sharing your favorite things."

"I don't know." Serena mutters, but we stop as the typing of keyboards gets our attention. We look up, and Blair is being followed by her minions as she takes a seat. The minions won't look up from their phones, let alone breathe.

"What are you guys doing?" Serena asks them.

"Shh." Blair scolds her. "Don't talk to them. They're working. Refresh." She orders. Alerts are going off, and the minions are gasping. "What? What is it?" Blair asks. Blair looks at her phone, and her eyes widen. "I'm sorry...I simply can't read it. The font is too small. I have to check it on a..." Nelly yanks Blair's phone out of her hand.

"It says waitlisted in bold." Nelly takes the pleasure of delivering this news to Blair, who is crushed.

"I got in." Dan exclaims as he joins our group. "I did it. I got in."