Thanks to Burt Bacharach, Seal and Kelly Clarkson for the song. I appreciate it!

Foolish pride

Is all that I have left

So let me hide

The tears and the sadness you gave me

When you said goodbye

Walk on by

Ashley had been dreading this day. It's not that she didn't want to go home and see her friends and family, it's just that there was one person in particular she was a little uneasy about seeing. She didn't leave him on good terms and never did anything to try and fix it really. The last part was on purpose, though. In fact, she did everything in her power to make sure he wouldn't come after her. It's not that she wanted him to be unhappy, quite the opposite in fact. She knew everything she did was out of necessity, even if he never understood. Even if he could never forgive her. It took her awhile to stomach the possibility, but she knew she'd get over it…eventually. Sure she left to find herself, but she stayed longer for him, and if that meant he'd end up hating her then she was going to have to live with that; she had to learn to live without him.

She arrived the day of graduation and talked to most everyone without running into him. She had not been looking forward to confronting him, but she soon realized the longer it took the worse it became. The anticipation of the moment was truly agonizing. Her insides felt as if they were being eaten alive. She could barely pay attention when anyone was talking to her. She finally caught up to Ellie, who told her he was out of town recording his album. This news made her sacrifice worth everything, and now she could at least put her worries aside for one day and be happy for her friends. Then she heard that dreaded word no girl ever wanted to hear…"Manny!" She had wanted him to move on, but really, Manny. Why her? Whatever, it didn't matter anyway. He went on with his life and that's the only thing she could ask for. Sure, if she had the choice she wouldn't have chosen Manny, but that was not her decision to make. It was his and he apparently made it, albeit not a good one. At least not according to Ashley.

She ran into Jimmy again and felt terrible for pressuring him to ask Ellie out. She could've sworn those clues Ellie was giving her were about Jimmy. And if not him, then who? Whatever, it didn't matter. She upset Jimmy and she had to fix it. Jimmy had always been a great boyfriend: uncomplicated, sweet, a true gentleman and certainly nothing like him. He did try to change her once, but he realized his mistake and is a better person for it. She ended up kissing him that day. It didn't really mean anything to her, but it appeared to mean the world to him. She quickly realized the kiss was a mistake, but it was unfortunately too late. She sort of led him on and didn't know how to fix it without hurting his feelings. She decided to figure it out later, as she had other things to worry about. Well, one thing anyway.

The graduation ceremony went smoothly and turned out very nice. She wished she could have been a part of it, but she would be soon enough. Everyone gathered outside where the hugging and kissing began. She scanned the crowd and spotted Ellie. She walked over and gave her a huge hug. It was then that the moment she had been dreading ever since she first left came to fruition. He was standing across the way with her. But she thought he was out of town…he must have wanted to surprise her. Ashley forced a smile across her face and thought she pulled it off rather nicely. So nicely, in fact, that he waved and smiled back. Then she thought maybe he wasn't smiling at her. She glanced over at Ellie and saw something bizarre. Ellie looked sad. But why did she look so sad? It soon hit her all at once and she immediately felt sick to her stomach. The guy Ellie had been "crushing on"…it was him. Ellie liked him? What in the world happened while she was gone? Images and thoughts ran through her mind. She sat down on the steps, as to not fall over first. While she didn't particularly like Manny, at least she could do her best to avoid him while he was with her. If he had been with Ellie, she couldn't do the same. Ellie was her best friend. She couldn't avoid her, no matter how hard she tried which meant she couldn't avoid seeing him with her. Ashley began to feel sick again and excused herself.

She made a mad dash to the bathroom before she had the chance to embarrass herself. Looking into the mirror, she soon realized she had been crying and hadn't even known it. So much for not being embarrassed. Her mascara was smeared and running down her face. She grabbed a paper towel and began rubbing at the marks. When she felt the damage was repaired as best as possible, she made her way back outside. And then she saw him. He was alone. He was walking toward her with his head down. He must've not noticed her, because he walked right past without so much as a smile or a friendly "hello."

She turned around and said, "Hi, Craig."

He put his hands in his pockets, stopped for a second and then kept walking.