Day before Graduation

"I'm freaking out!" Willa said.

"Why?" Philby asked.

"This speech…it's got me all frazzled!"

"Relax Willa, you're going to kill it" Charlene said.

"Yeah, what she said" Maybeck chimed in between mouthfuls of whatever poison the cafeteria was serving today.

"You're such a charmer Maybeck, seriously, how'd you land this prince Charlie?" Philby teased but turned his attention to Willa. "Babe, you'll be fine, I'll be right there beside you. You have nothing to worry about."

Willa smiled, for she knew she was being stupid but she wasn't fond of talking in front of crowds. "Fine. I'll relax a little" she sighed.

"Not to change the subject but where's the love birds?" Maybeck asked.

"Who does that reference refer too this week? It seems like it bounces around the six of us" Philby chuckled.

"Well, considering there is four of us here, let me think…hmm whom could I be talking about?" Maybeck eyed Philby waiting for the light bulb to go off.

"Oh, right" Philby blushed with embarrassment.

Willa giggled, "I don't know. I haven't seen them all day. Amanda wasn't in class first period which is odd, she never skips."

"I didn't see Finn either now that I think of it" Philby said, thinking about the situation at hand.

"It is our last day, and it was optional for seniors but it's still odd, don't you think?" Charlene asked.

"You'd think one of us would've heard something" Philby voiced the truth.

"Well, Amanda is leaving soon…" Willa said, realizing what still hung over them heavily knowing the Keepers would soon be separated.

"They probably wanted a day to themselves. Wouldn't you?" Charlene said, stealing a glance at Willa and Philby. It was still a secret to Philby that Willa would actually be going to Stanford with him.

"Yeah, I would" Philby confessed quietly, grinning in Willa's direction, who wasn't looking at him.

….

"This was a good idea" Amanda sighed looking up at Finn, who looked like he was concentrating too much on something "right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah it was" he smiled down at his girlfriend who was resting her head against his shoulder and settling down on his lap. Finn had recommended they skip the last day of school and head to the Magic Kingdom. They had started the day by taking their good old time walking, hand in hand, around the park. They rode the boat around Tom Sawyer Island a few times, and went through the shops on Main Street before settling down on the lazy boy in the apartment.

"Is it graduation?" Amanda asked.

"Is it what?" Finn replied, confused, though it didn't take much these days.

"What's bothering you" Amanda said, already knowing the answer.

Finn simply nodded, not daring to look at her for fear he'd lose it in one glance. He'd had graduation on his mind all year, especially now with Amanda's departure just one week from tomorrow.

"I know…I'm leaving soon. I can't imagine how this must make you feel."

"You have no idea how I feel" Finn said, with a hint of anger in his voice. Although he didn't want to have this conversation, he knew with every bone in his body Amanda was going to bring it up.

"Don't be like that…"

"Then how do you want me to be Amanda?" Finn said, finally making eye contact with her. She sat quietly, not wanting to push him. Finn ran his hand over his face and rested his head on the armrest. "Sorry."

"It's ok, I understand" she said, trying to avoid the topic like Finn had almost succeeded in doing.

"Amanda, I honestly don't know how to do this" Finn confessed.

"To do what?" she asked.

"Separation, holding onto you. I know we've discussed this many times how we'll make it and all but how? Amanda, I need to know how!" he cracked.

Amanda sat up and started to run her hand up and down his arm to calm him down. She was determined to keep it together for the both of their sakes tonight.

"Hey…" she whispered, trying to turn Finn's face toward hers "look at me." He resisted. "Finn. I'll be back before you know it."

"Don't sugar coat this. You know you're going to be gone for a while, don't pretend you're not" Finn finally said.

Amanda stayed quiet for a minute, and then said, "I'm leaving in 8 days. Can't we just enjoy these last few days we have?" Finn could hear the desperation in her voice. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. Finn kissed her cheek and gently brushed her hair out of her face.

Not knowing what else to say, Finn decided to approach the topic full on and get rid of it for good. "I have one condition when it comes to keeping in touch."

"What's that?" Amanda asked quietly.

Finn sighed, slightly embarrassed about the next words that would come out of his mouth, "that we write letters. Sure, we'll call too but there's so much more I can say in a letter. More feelings and things that I can never seem to get out without sounding weird."

Amanda grinned as he started turning red. For all she knew, he was amazing with words for he always seemed to know what to say. The thought of a letter from him sent a stream of excitement through her. "Ok, agreed" she said as she held out her hand as for Finn to shake it.

He chuckled, "I don't think so" he said as he laced his fingers through her open hand and leaned up to kiss her. This kiss started off soft and gentle, till Finn got a little excited and retreated his hand from Amanda's and moved to her neck. Amanda tried to giggle but Finn's mouth on hers was preventing it from doing anything but kissing. They were soon interrupted by the chair, which was meant to occupy one, flipped backwards and landed the two on the floor in a fit of giggles.

Amanda continued her laughter even after Finn had gotten over the initial shock, until she gathered herself and calmly said "I want you to do something for me."

"Anything" Finn said suddenly intrigued.

"I want you to write me a letter before I leave, so I can read it on the plane" she said, hoping he'd give her the answer she wanted.

"Ok, I can do that. Any reason in particular you want me to do this?" Finn asked.

"Nope, I'd just like to know how this next year is going to go with your letters" she teased.

Finn grinned, "I see how it is," he said as he got up to help Amanda back to her feet. He grasped her arms and pulled her close enough that he could see the color of her eyes. He couldn't describe how beautiful they were and how much he loved looking deeply into them. He loved the fact that he could make Amanda smile and blush whenever he held her close like this. Finn knew that they'd just shared a perfect moment together, and in that instant, he suddenly knew all the reason he'd fallen in love with her, and what his letter was going to say.

Tomorrow's Graduation! Now, that doesn't mean it's going to be posted tomorrow since I don't have it written. But since I'm on Christmas break, I'll try to have this story completely written and posted in the next month! Hooray! I should warn ya'll, I'm not going to continue with this story in this many chapters. I may someday write short stories based off of what I've written in 3 parts since I do plan to continue writing here.

One more thing, the main reason I haven't updated in forever is mostly because I only got one comment on the last chapter. Ya'll have been great with the support but I need to know that people are reading this or else I don't see much point in continuing. Just a short comment or something so I can be reassured that someone out there is reading this…that'd be great :)

Comment please!

-Amanda