AN: Thank you to faithful reviewers greatpretender27, the always brilliant manhattanProject, NickiMinajLover, and my pal SuperGravyMan. Everyone else, thanks also. Keep reading and alert-ing and stuff. :D

IV.

1ST WEEK OF JUNE 2013

"…That was… the craziest thing I've ever had to go through. Ever. In. My. LIFE!" That's Harper. She's flipping out over our just concluded thesis defense.

Her group mates—Caitlyn and I—are both still so hyped up on caffeine, and nerves, and caffeine, that we're still speechless and in a state of trauma and shock and—

"Holy shit, that was crazy," now that was me.

Caitlyn is the last to gather her bearings, "How do you guys think we did?"

I was rather impressed with the both of them in there. Heck, I'm impressed with myself. Of course I've had full faith in us from the start, but I didn't expect us to do as well as we just did. I was thoroughly surprised. Pleasantly.

"We did pretty well if you ask me. Good job, you guys. The worst is over. We're practically outta here," I beam at them.

"Oh my god."

"What is it now, Harp?" says Caitlyn, with her 'I'm ready for anything' game face on.

"Oh, nothing. We're graduating. We're actually graduating. Damn."

The three of us then give a sigh all at the same time, as if on cue. Caitlyn slouches in her chair and tilts her head towards the sky. "We've spent so much time with each other we now share brain cells."

We share a laugh at that, at everything else we've been through, at what we've just achieved, and what are to come.

x x x

I haven't seen Mitchie since shortly after Christmas break. Most of us spent our holidays reviewing our thesis papers and being uncertain about our futures, so much so that I for one forgot about my feelings, which didn't really bring me relief since they were replaced with anxiety.

She and Shane are still together, which I think is wonderful, and I'm not being sarcastic. Mitchie is so cute being one-half of a couple. If only we'd known we would get to see this side of the girl when she was in a relationship, we'd have pushed her to boys early on—solely for our entertainment.

I've gotten over the fact that I don't feel any kind of pain or resentment because she's not with me, as well as the fact that this may be abnormal. I just probably have so many damn things on my mind lately. I desperately want these next few weeks to pass already. I swear I'm on the brink of losing it.

Fortunately about a week after thesis defense I received a life-changing phone call. It was from one of my superiors at my summer internship with whom I had gotten quite close. This was how his announcement went: "Hey Alex. You remember how you were constantly yapping away about your Big Apple dream? Well guess what. Because I'm a saint, I can make it come true. The network's looking for fresh meat in the Creatives department. I put in a good word for you, and they said if you can send over a portfolio and resumé ASAP they'd be willing to fly you over here right after grad. Of course the pays not that high for trainees, and the hours are insane, but—"

I'm not so sure if he said more after that 'cause I was too busy screaming and jumping up and down.

x x x

3RD WEEK OF JUNE 2013

It still feels like a dream. In fact I might believe I just dreamed the whole thing if Zeke (the guy I owe big time) hasn't been nagging me almost everyday to get my papers done since his first call. I'm really happy for Zeke. He used to work in the tiny department of the large network subsidiary I was thrown into last summer. Before that he was part of the network's Writers' Pool. They recently begged (bribed) him to go work for them again for a new series they were shooting purely in New York called NY Rush Hour. It's about a group of friends trying to make it in NYC. Shouldn't be too hard to twist around; I'm about to become exactly that—'trying to make it in NYC'.

My parents and brothers are ecstatic for me. They were happy that my dream was going to come true soon, but more because they said I was finally going to shut up about it. I guess I was a bit yappy. Hey, that's passion for 'ya.

I'm sitting at Harper and I's fave spot at the park, under that big umbrella, which is convenient now that summer's approaching. I'm taking a break from studying for our final exam ever, for the subject Media Law. Harp and Cait are supposed to be here with me; I don't know where they are. I didn't bother to look for them since I'm perfectly okay by myself.

I take a long swig of my bottled iced tea. Out of the corner of my eye I make out Mitchie approaching the table. I put the bottle down and smile at her as she takes a seat to my right.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," I say, taking her in. She learned to fix herself up a little more when she got herself a boyfriend, so you could just imagine how even more stunning that's made her lately.

"'Hey yourself?' You haven't seen me properly since January and all you can say is 'Hey yourself?'"

"Oh forgive me, milady. What I mean to say is it is an extreme honor to behold your presence," so then I tell her, looking straight into her eyes, "May I have the pleasure of knowing how you have been fairing recently? With Master Shane, and final exams and thesis defense and such?" While I say all that, I give slight bows and gesture with my hand the way they did in Princess Diaries.

She has that face of mixed up expressions on again, before she reduces it to a small smile, "There really is no one quite like you, Alex Russo."

Keeping up my earlier manner, "Why, thank you milady, but how quick you are to arrive at this observation," I answer. And then getting tired of it, I add, "Oh, you know I can't keep that up for much longer, so seriously now: Hello Mitchie, how are you? And what does 'see properly' mean exactly?"

She giggles first, then "Same old, same old. As far as last few months of senior year goes."

"And Shane?"

"Shane has been…unusually affectionate and stuck to my side these past few days."

"It's like a drug, isn't it?"

"Yeah, pretty addicting," she says with a blush and a knowing smile.

"Uh huh. Careful." And at that she rolls her eyes.

"So, true enough, FFL's contacted me. They're making me come back," she informs me, pride evident in her voice.

"Oh, what a surprise!" I cry, feigning it. She moves to pinch me but I dodge and she misses. "I'm kidding. That's great, Mitch. I'm really proud of you, you know I've always been."

She looks down meaningfully for a bit then looks back at me. "I know. Thank you. I mean it."

"You're welcome."

There's a brief silence, which she soon breaks. "How 'bout you, any signs of a stable future yet?"

I've only told Harper, I've yet to tell Caitlyn. I planned to be all dramatic and tell Mitchie a few days before I was to leave, but since she's openly asking now, might as well tell her.

I lick my lips before I start, putting the words together in my head. "You remember my boss Zeke?"

"Pale skin, dark hair?"

"Yeah, that dude. Well the Writers' Pool took him back in… He's in New York now, for NY Rush Hour."

"He's a writer on that show?"

"He is. He called me up last week, offered me a job as a junior scriptwriter," I pause for any reactions. None so far. "…I leave July 6th, Mitch. I'm going to New York."

x x x

LAST WEEK OF JUNE 2013

It would be overly cliché to detail the whole conversation that took place after that. So in a nutshell, here's what happened.

Mitchie acted like a jerk at first and wouldn't believe me. I guess I can't be too offended at that, considering how many times I'd told her stuff that weren't true just for kicks. She would believe me sometimes, which was fun, which is why I kept doing it.

Anyway, I convinced her eventually, after showing her texts from Zeke nagging me for my resumé and portfolio, plus a reservation form with the airline for the July 6th flight.

And then she plagued me with questions like "Why did you not tell me sooner?" "Where are you gonna stay?" "Aren't you scared? New York's pretty scary." "Why are you leaving so abruptly? Don't you wanna get some local experience first?" for which I mostly had answers related to my dreams and how badly I wanted to succeed.

It was obvious she was worried about me, and I vaguely recognized her inability to comprehend the fact that not only will we not have much time to see each other after grad, something she'd already accepted, but also, I was gonna be way over on the other side of the country, where the time is three hours ahead. It blew her mind somewhat, I'm pretty sure.

She didn't say any of that aloud, of course. Regardless, I assured her I would text and call and chat and Skype as much as I could, that I would come back on holidays, and that she's not going to notice me being gone so much because these past few months had been a test of distance already. Over the course of these months there was barely any communication between us but we're still friends, I tell her.

After the initial shock she calmed down and showed me was happy for me and that I deserved it—albeit in that partly detached way of hers I always saw through. She would get like this whenever something she didn't like so much would ensue, something she couldn't do anything about because others felt differently towards it.

I don't know, maybe this is all the air in my head talking, but I sorta think she's at a loss. She never expected this to happen. She probably wants to stop me but she knows she can't, and she doesn't want to give in and directly show me that she'd rather I stay put.

I don't know, probably.

Graduation has come and gone. I literally cried when I saw my grades; they were high enough to let me graduate with honors. So grad was a pretty awesome day. Felt like a giant thorn had been yanked off my heart. As I lie here tonight on my old bed in the house I grew up in (I'm spending a few days with my family before heading East), I'm pretty sure I cannot ask for things to get any better.

This is gonna be good for me. I finally have the chance to get her off my mind completely. I don't see where my feelings are leading me to anyway. I'm gonna live normally and be great and be happy.

And if I'm really good, maybe fate will throw a nice new someone my way.