Delilah's POV

Ashton comes running over to my locker, his bag bouncing with every step he takes. He grabs my shoulders and shakes me.

"The last day of school is officially over!" he says excitedly. "We are officially seniors."

I pull his arms off of me and laugh. "Finally."

Michael comes over, breathing heavily. "Y-you... Can't just... R-run away that fast..." he says to Ashton, taking deep breaths.

Ashton laughs. "You gotta workout or something, Mikey. It wasn't that far."

Michael shakes his head and leans against the lockers. "There was l-lots of stairs. Give m-me a sec."

"So how many days is it until you're in Australia? Ten?" Ashton asks me.

"12 days."

"That's so exciting! You're gonna see Luke after so long. Are you excited?"

I smile. "Of course! I'm nervous though." I shut my now empty locker and turn towards Ashton.

"Why? There's nothing to be nervous about!"

"Is it the p-plane?" Michael asks. "I d-don't like flying either."

I shake my head. "I dunno. What if it's not the same? What if he met someone better?"

"I doubt he's met someone better because he lived there for years and only had one girlfriend. Plus he loves you. Don't worry. It'll be fine," Ashton tells me.

"I know, I'm sure it'll be okay. It's just been a really long time."

I think until I'm actually in Australia, looking at Luke, I will be nervous. It's been months since I've seen him. A lot can change in a few months. Feelings can fade and people can change. Luke and I may find that we're not compatible anymore. Maybe he has met someone else. There's so many things that can happen. 

In the past few months, I've watched everyone around me change. Michael has gotten more talkative and his stutter has improved. Ashton has gotten a girlfriend. Lucy has grown at least three inches. I don't know how much Luke has changed. I don't think I have changed, but the whole world seems to be shifting all around me.

What if being at home brought back a bunch of unwanted memories for him? Luke is fine over the phone, but he could be pretending so I don't worry. What if his mom is doing really badly? He said she's doing well according to doctors. There's so many what ifs...

I'm sure everything will be fine, but there's still a lingering doubt. 

Ashton puts his arm around my shoulders. "Well, let's go do our end of the year tradition."

All three of us walk down the hall and outside to the parking lot. Ashton gets into the passenger seat of my car and Michael hops into the back.

"H-how long have you h-had this tradition?" Michael asks.

"Since middle school," Ashton tells him. "Now you're a part of it."

Our end of the year tradition isn't anything extraordinary. We've done it so much now though that it would feel weird to not do it. Ashton thought of it when we were in the seventh grade. We get all kinds of food, have a bonfire, and talk about everything that happened throughout the year. Ashton usually gets out some anger that has piled up throughout the year and burns some of his schoolwork. 

When we get to the store to buy food, Ashton quickly gets out of the car.

Ashton turns to Michael when he gets out of the back. "Okay. Here's the rules. We each have $15. Spend it wisely. This is a cheap store so you can get a ton of stuff. We have ten minutes. Whoever gets finished first doesn't have to pay for their portion. If your portion is over $15 or you take over 10 minutes, you have to pay for everything. Meet in front of aisle eight. Got it?"

Michael's eyes widen, and he nods quickly. I don't think he was expecting so many rules. This is what Ashton and I have always done. It's kind of stupid and childish, but it wouldn't feel right if we stopped doing it. Ashton has only ever had to pay once. I've had to pay every other time. Ashton takes this very seriously.

Ashton smiles. "Alright. Time starts once we're in the store." Ashton walks quickly to the entrance.

"Is this w-what you always d-do?" Michael asks me quietly. He tugs nervously at the hem of his shirt.

"Yep. If you lose, I'll help you pay. It's a lot of money. Don't worry." I tell him. I know he doesn't have a job, so he's probably concerned about losing.

"Th-thanks. This seems f-fun though."

I nod. "It is. Ashton gets a little crazy. He's knocked down a few innocent bystanders in the aisles."

Michael laughs. "I can i-imagine."

Ashton is waiting impatiently at the entrance for us. We pick up our pace and meet him at the doorway.

"Ready?" Ashton asks.

Michael and I nod. Ashton hands each of us a basket.

"Let's go!" 

Ashton shoves through the doors and is instantly lost in one of the aisles. Michael heads down to the chip aisle, and I walk over to the candy.

I toss some candy into my basket, making sure to get some Skittles. I quickly take a picture of the Skittles and send it to Luke. 

I continue on through the aisles, quickly grabbing whatever catches my attention. I'm trying to keep track of prices, but the more things I get, I keep forgetting where I left off. 

I see Ashton running with a shopping cart and jumping onto the back of it to roll through all the aisles. He is insane. He notices me and waves frantically before disappearing into another aisle.

Michael is casually strolling through the store, typing each price into his phone calculator. He only has a few things right now.

I check my phone to see the time. There's two minutes left. If I've kept track correctly, I have $3 left to spend. I quickly grab some Oreos and make my way to aisle eight. I hope for once I am first and haven't spent over $15.

When I get to the meeting spot, Michael is surprisingly already there. I thought Ashton would definitely be first.

"How much did you spend?" I ask Michael.

"$13.06. I l-left some room for t-taxes or mistakes."

I laugh. 

Ashton comes running over, out of breath. 

"I was running with the cart and then I jumped onto it to roll with it and the whole cart tipped over and everything fell out all over the place and I crashed into a bunch of cereal and I had to clean it all up," Ashton says, rambling on and on. "It was literally a clean up in aisle 10."

Michael and I start laughing hysterically. Ashton leans his head on my shoulder and sighs heavily.

"I don't even know how much I spent. I probably will have to pay for all of us," Ashton says. "This is a mess."

We checkout all of our food. Michael ends up winning. Ashton and I split the cost of Michael's, and Ashton didn't end up spending over $15 on his portion. 

All of us head back to my house and go into the backyard. We empty all of our food from the bags, making a giant pile in my backyard. Ashton gets started on the bonfire, which usually takes awhile. 

"S-so what are your p-plans for Australia?" Michael asks, sitting beside me on the grass.

I shrug. "I'm not really sure. Luke and I haven't planned anything yet. He said he wants to take me to the beach and show me all his favorite places, but that's all I know so far. I don't exactly know what's out there."

Michael nods. "D-do you miss h-him?"

"Every day."

"I bet. I m-miss him t-too. If it wasn't f-for him, I wouldn't h-have you guys." He pulls out some blades of grass and twists them around his fingers.

"You're right! We wouldn't have a lot of things if it wasn't for him."

"Do you w-wish he was h-here?"

"Of course I do. But soon I'll be all the way over in Australia with him."

There's a lot of things I wish Luke had been here for. I try not to think about all that we're missing from each other's lives though. It's better to think about what's ahead than what we've missed.

I notice Ashton start a small spark that bursts into a fire after a few seconds. Michael and I focus our attention to Ashton.

"Michael, would you like the honors of burning the first failed test?" Ashton asks, pushing Michael's backpack over to him.

"How do y-you know I h-have a failed test?" Michael asks, unzipping his bag.

"Who hasn't?"

"The valedictorian," I say.

Ashton shushes me and Michael laughs.

Michael rummages through his bag and pulls out a slightly crinkled piece of paper. He crumples it into a ball and tosses it into the fire. He smiles and turns to Ashton.

Ashton unzips his bag and pulls out an overstuffed binder. "I've been keeping all my terrible grades in this folder all year. I've been waiting for this moment." Ashton empties all the papers into the fire, watching the flames grow stronger. 

"No more waking up early," he says, tossing another paper in. 

"No more late night studying." Another paper. 

"No more bad cafeteria food." This time a few notebook pages.

"No more fighting for a good parking spot!" His parking sticker is added to the flames.

I roll my eyes and open up a bag of chips from the snack pile. 

"You wanna burn something, Delilah?" Ashton asks.

"I never have. It'll feel weird if I start now."

Ashton shrugs. "Okay, let's all share our favorite and least favorite parts of this year. I'll start. I personally liked Halloween. Even if I did pee myself. I did not like my three detentions for being late too many times."

Ashton mentions some things that happened in his classes and things teachers got mad at him for. He's always caused trouble in school, but he doesn't even mean to. He just never stops talking or laughing.

Michael clears his throat. "I d-didn't like presenting in S-spanish class. I have enough t-trouble speaking English." He laughs. "I liked m-meeting you guys and a-all my n-new friends."

I reach over and give Michael a hug. "We're happy to have you as a friend." When we first met Michael, he barely spoke. I've watched him grow into a more confident person who is able to accept himself and have fun with us.

I think for a few seconds before speaking. "My least favorite part was Luke leaving. I had a lot of favorite parts though."

"You can only pick one," Ashton says.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, give me a second." I quickly think about all the good memories I've had. "My favorite part was when Luke spoke for the first time."

"Your whole year has revolved around him," Ashton says, tossing a piece of chocolate at me.

He's right though. From the moment I met Luke, my thoughts were constantly about him. He intrigued me from the start. I try to think of some of the best memories from the past year, and the majority of them involve him. I wonder what my year would have been like if he hadn't been in my life.

In a few days, I will be with him again and we'll make more memories. I can not wait.

I have gotten progressively worse at updating :((( school is taking over my life atm and I have book signings all the time but those are worth it because I get to meet a bunch of you!!!

love youuuu

-ashley