Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom – I never have and I never will, simple as that. You know exactly what would happen if I owned Danny--oh wait, it did happen! Silly me. ;)

Author's Note: All right, I am very excited that I am more than halfway through with this challenge. There are thirty in total, and I'm hoping to get at least one or two done per week, so I can actually finish something that I started. There are a couple more that I plan on going through before I start the sequel to "Ten Things..." so we'll see how that goes. Thank you for reading, my lovelies!

Note: There are a few spoilers from the final episode of Danny Phantom in here, so if you haven't seen it, I wouldn't advise reading this. Or, hell, if you want to, go right ahead.

016 : Thanks for the Memories

Rating : G

Theme : 2. The subconscious ; Bury

May 26, 2007

Sitting on the small folding chair in the huge auditorium, Sam Manson pondered the events leading her up to this point in time, her high school graduation.

She watched her classmates stand, accept their diplomas, and basically run back to their seats, jumping in glee and waving their diplomas high in the air for all to see. She was a little jealous of them, even if she didn't want to admit such a travesty. She was jealous of the fact that they were so accepted and adored by the entire student body. Sure, she wasn't as much of an outcast as she was when she first entered Casper High, but she still was who she was, as well as her two best friends; to some, that wasn't enough–to her, it meant the world.

After the awkwardness of Freshman year passed, and even younger teenagers entered the halls of Casper High, life moved on. After the world almost being destroyed, Danny had become more of an icon after successfully saving everyone. Despite the fact that he had to forfeit his secret for it, he was proud of himself. She was proud of him more than anyone else, and greatly relieved that he didn't get demolished himself; that was one of the greatest scares of her life, when she thought he had crashed into the top of the mountain while flying the jet.

As the turmoil and work involved of Junior year passed, the stress-induced portion of Senior year began. With trying to find colleges for all three of them as well as trying to manage getting ready for round two of the SATs, there was barely any time to sleep, much less keep up with everything. Danny had the hardest time of all, but Sam helped him along, picking up the slack in certain areas so that he would be able to relax every so often. That's what girlfriends are for, right? When Danny was told he didn't even need an application to get into the school of his choice, due to being the savior of the world and all, he got a bit cocky. After thinking about it for some time and deciding that Amity Park would forever be his home, he just chose the local University so that he wouldn't be all that far.

Sam had the harder of the two's decisions, but with Danny being tied down to the town and Tucker already decided on a University a ways away, she felt like it would be best to just hang around. There would've been a time where she would've given anything to get out of Amity Park; however, now there was something else keeping her there besides school: Danny. She was beyond in love with the boy, and she had come to terms with that many a time during the duration of their friendship. She knew what she wanted to do in life, so it didn't matter where she needed to be in order to accomplish that. Sam felt like her staying in Amity Park with Danny would be the best thing she could do. With Tucker going off about an hours ways away, she figured he needed at least one pillar of Team Phantom to lean on when the going got tough.

After the issues of the stress passed involving Senior year, senioritis kicked in (mainly for Danny). Work barely got done, but he managed to squeak by with enough of a C average that he was golden. Sam, on the other hand, still tried to keep up with things, but not to the same extent that she used to.

Presently, Sam's eyes darted to the main podium as she heard said boy's name being called. Smiling and applauding with everyone else, she cheered on her boyfriend, proud of where he was today. He grinned that lopsided, charming grin of his and proceeded back to his seat with a loud, "YES! FINALLY!"

Tucker was up next, with not as much applause, but with applause nonetheless. He whooped when he received his diploma, and went back to his seat (most likely to check his PDA which was in his inside pocket vibrating every so often).

As time continued on, she allowed her thoughts to wander, as well. Her heard sped up in nervousness as people were called; if she fell on her face, she would be mortified. It was the first time in a while that she decided to wear high heels (much to Danny and Tucker's amusement), and it took a little extra effort to walk, especially up and down stairs.

Her row stood suddenly, preparing themselves; without a second thought, she followed suit, even if she wasn't paying full attention to what was going on around her. Her eyes searched for the boy with the raven hair and the sky blue eyes, who she knew was bouncing excitedly in his chair; as if he knew she was searching for him, he turned around and grinned. That smile made her believe he knew something she didn't. Suddenly she wished her last name began with an "F" so she'd be able to be up next to Danny and Tucker, who were unbelievably lucky to have last names so close to one another, and would already have possession of her diploma. The flittering thought that maybe one day her last name would begin with an "F" made a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Samantha Elizabeth Manson," Mr. Lancer's voice boomed, breaking her free from her thoughts.

Darting her eyes to the front of the auditorium, she stepped out of the aisle and walked, a small smile gracing her delicate features. After shaking his hand and exchanging a few words, she turned around to applause she wasn't expecting as she went back to where she was sitting. Successfully making her way down the small amount of stairs, she held her head up high and triumphantly, very proud of herself. Catching the boy with the azure eyes... she felt like she wouldn't have a problem with the future at all, as long as he was in it.

End Note: I felt like doing something Graduation-ish seeing as I'm graduating on the 30th of May, this upcoming Wednesday, and I am very excited. The scene is based on my actual graduation ceremony that I've been practicing for the past week. Also, to those who have graduated and are graduating, congratulations! It's about time, no? ;)

- A