Well, I decided I couldn't wait. Since tomorrow is Friday, I thought I'd give Elena a head start and use some of the plot bunnies I came up with. There's not going to be much romance, but the ships mentioned are Frank/Susan, Ross/Elena (not current), Ross/Brooke (current) and I haven't decided on who will be paired with Elena, Jessica and Sophie respectively. I mean, I decided for them in the story that I'll write that ties to the film, but we're talking currently. So, uh….

A/N: Seriously. I tried working on some of this at two in the morning. Elena, Ross, Brooke and Jessica are all 23. Sophie is 22. I only own the storyline and my OCs. Welcome to the continuation of chapter 2/the second shot in "Mourning Mom". It took me a while, but I settled on a title. This is chapter 1, so here you go. This is told largely in Elena's perspective unless I specify otherwise.

Rating: the lowest for now, but that's subject to change. I always forget which is which. Onto the fic!

Arrival in Greenville

(Last night into early this morning)

It had been a long drive, but I ended up making it. I got to the Carter residence and rang the doorbell. I had let out a single yawn. If Brooke was asleep, I would not be happy with her.

(Somewhere after 12:15)

After I ate breakfast, I took a shower before going to campus with Brooke leading the way. "I know you want to see your boyfriend," I said to her and she sighed.

"He was yours first," my black-haired (with dip dyed) violet hair friend reminded me. I took a breath. Yeah, we had dated in high school. We had lunch on the campus and chatted a bit more. "Sophie's probably in the library and I'm not sure where Ross is." She pointed me in the right direction before we parted our separate ways. It wasn't a forked path. It kind of looked like a distorted horseshoe.

(Later that night. Dinnertime)

It was so quiet, you could cut the silence with a knife. Brooke's brother returned home from App State. *

As much as Preston wanted to hang out with his friends, most of them were still not home yet or doing something else. A senior in high school was hanging out with us. He didn't mind. "Dude," he said to Ross. "you've been like... avoiding Elena all night. What happened?"

"Yeah, I was thinking that myself," Jessica said. Sophie's dad is in the military and deployed in Afghanistan. He's not going to be home for long, so (outside her exams), she's going to be seeing him. He's a Marine.

I looked at Ross and he looked away. "I guess since Ross won't talk, I will. It probably started after I got into the office for the intake coordinator. I had to wait, though, because she was on the phone."

-Hours earlier-

I had gotten to the office at around 1:15 and waited as I heard her talking on the phone to someone, but I didn't know who. So, I sat down and waited. "Elena," and I was stunned to hear Ross. I mean, I thought he might've been with his dorm mates or something.

"Ross. Hey. It's been a while," I had said.

He nodded. "Yeah. Since ...graduation like almost 5 years ago?" I nodded in reply. We would've talked more, but the door opened.

"Oh. Mr. Alexander," she had addressed Ross first, despite being directly in front of me. "I wasn't expecting you here, but you just saved me a phone call." Then she turned to me and said, "Miss Carter was telling me about you, but she failed to state your name."

I didn't think anything of it and said, "Elena Sangster. It's nice to meet you." We shook hands. Then we went into her office. She had us both sit down. I started playing Jewel Academy on my phone while I waited until she said I was done. I didn't want to come across as eavesdropping, which is why I tuned out.

Once Ross left, she asked me the questions that she needed to. I was caught off guard by her telling me that Ross had talked about me before, albeit not by name. We had been the prom king and queen in high school. Ross had been named the prom king one year prior and the prom queen ended up relocating …well, she got redistricted, but you get the idea. "It has also come to my attention that Miss Carter is dating Mr. Alexander. Did he cheat on you? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

I didn't mind because talking about my social life made me less nervous. "No, I don't mind. He just broke up with me and never really said why."

Then she asked me if I was a North Carolina native. I told her that I wasn't and that I lived in South Carolina but my hometown is Chicago. **

-End of tale/flashback end-

"That's it?" Preston asked.

I nodded. "Well, I don't think you want to know the intake questions. I'd rather know why you broke up with me, Ross," I said and he shrugged.

"You remember my parents, right?" he said as he got up and got a second slice of supreme pizza.

I nodded and Brooke groaned at that. "Ross' parents are so strict and seem to be like robots."

Jessica shot me a nervous look before saying, "Well, he at least has parents and so do you two. Come to think of it, so does Sophie. We're the only exempt ones."

I nodded. Jessica wasn't adopted, I've just only met her mom. She doesn't talk about how her dad died, but that was one thing we had in common. "Anyway, my parents said that Elena was a bad influence because of her 'foreign background' and that she wasn't the right girl."

Unbelievable, but then again, …nah, I lost it. "Well, that wasn't expected. Did you tell them that my mom, aunt and grandparents came here legally?" I asked and Ross nodded. I guess it just wasn't enough. After everyone left, I realized that I would be spending at least one night with Brooke.

"So, she went over what's gonna happen with you, right?" Brooke asked.

I nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. It could take place over a seven to eight day period. Er, school days," I said and watched the stars in the sky. I changed shortly after Brooke did. "You sure you don't want me to use my sleeping bag?"

Brooke shrugged. "Eh, the guest bed is comfy. This whole ordeal is gonna be awkward to say the least."

I had to agree with her on that. "We'll take them as they come, right?" Brooke nodded. "Alright. I gotta turn in. I had a long drive here you know and I'm really grateful that you let me stay."

Brooke grinned. "Anytime, Leyna."

...well, that's a wrap for chapter one. This is probably the shortest rundown that I have, so here it comes.

(*) For those of you who don't live in the United States or don't know what I'm talking about period, App State is short for Appalachian State University.

(**) Jewel Academy is a game I discovered in the Facebook app Messenger. I just cleared level 16 yesterday, actually. Part two: Yyah. So, Elena was born and [mostly] raised in Chicago. Then without spoiling more than I need to, she lives with her aunt and uncle when she's not in school and frequently visits her grandparents. As for her maternal grandmother, they still keep in touch.

End A/N: so, um… Yeah. I literally don't know what else to say. I don't know how much time I'll have … -_-'

Okay, lemme put it this way: say I can't update this today. I would update it when I can and just move along and say what happened on that day or say that it's (for instance) Friday when it's Sunday. Bear with me. This will be relatively short and is just to help me get out of my writer's block.

Next chapter: the contents of the note are revealed.

Please note that the above will not be the title. Some of those words might end up in the title, but it won't be in Elena's perspective.

As always, R and R, fave and follow, vote and ask.

Until next time.

~Queen