Forever [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty Five

The last day of school seemed busier than usual. Classes went by in minutes. Lunch seemed like a second long. Dana felt like she didn't even have a moment to say all that needed to be said to her teachers.

Before she knew it, she was sitting right next to Lana and Jessia in the courtyard. The girls looked at their emails, where their college choice left instructions on how to set up their student accounts. It seemed like even when they were supposed to focus on each other, their futures came first.

"My student email is so long. How do they expect someone to remember this?" Lana complained. "Girls, let's just... phones down and eyes up!" Jessica and Dana did as told with wrinkles on their foreheads. "This is turning us into old women, and it hasn't even started. We need to focus on summer and our trip to Colorado."

"Colorado!?" Jessica jumped. "When did we agree to Colorado?"

"Right now," Lana cheesed. "No one is leaving their friends without going on an epic trip. I refuse to be the one left out and looking insane. So starting now, we plan all this week and head out the last week of June."

The idea sounded great. Dana was all for it. She couldn't wait to tell Chandler. She knew he would be excited to see her off and enjoy time with her friends. Even though she would miss him like crazy.

Senior year was over. It was the year of many firsts and a ton of lasts. As she looked at her two best friends, she saw a bunch of forevers.

The girls picked up their caps and gowns that lay behind them, then headed towards the student parking lot

"The colors are hideous, but everyone is going to be wearing white anyway. Where are our amazing boyfriends taking us after we walk the stage like the bad bitches we are?"

Dana bit her lip as she thought about Chandler's graduation party after the actual graduation. "What about a party?" She blurted. Not a single soul disagreed. "Chandler's parents are letting him have the house until the morning. As long as we clean it up, then everything is cool."

Jessica shrugged. "I'm down for an alcoholic binge to kick off the summer." Lana agreed. "Then let's do it. My parents didn't have anything planned for me but a dinner over the weekend."

At the end of the week, the senior class gathered on the football field, where they conducted two run-throughs of what was about to happen in the next two hours. Not a single soul was worried about mistakes, but about not having enough time to get dressed. The principal spoke to deaf ears and phones that recorded everything.

"Hey," Chandler jogged over to Dana, who constantly pulled down her cotton shorts that rode up the longer she stood.

She softly waved at him moments before they connected lips. "Hi! Isn't it fun and really warm?" She chuckled.

"You're going to miss this weather. The Midwest is no joke. My dad is taking me to get some warmer clothes before the summer is over." The thought gave Dana chills. "But if it gets too bad, then I can make that trip to keep you warm. I don't mind at all."

"Stop. Don't be too tempting." She rocked back and forth on her feet as she took one last look at her class on this campus.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked seriously.

She let out a light sigh. "Not at all. Are you?"

He shook his head. "Not even a little."

They stood next to each other for a while. Just standing in their silence and looking around as their classmates joked and laughed. It felt like they were the only two out of over a thousand who dreaded this end. Maybe she was being dramatic, and this next chapter wasn't a huge deal. Then she looked at Chandler, and his nonchalant appearance was riddled with worry. She knew right then that it was a big deal, even to him.

Lana danced around in her flowy white dress to whatever song Ethan played on the speakers in her backyard. Dana envied how the two of them just went with the flow without a worry in the world. She's asked Lana a million times how she is managing, knowing her time with Ethan was shorter than anything. Lana and Ethan agreed to call their relationship and fling and go their separate ways after graduation.

Chandler and Dana were more than that. She didn't want to agree to call it quits. She considered long distance, and she also questioned just how long she would be holding him back. The expectation of him waiting four years for her was unrealistic. They needed room to grow, even if that meant without each other. She could see the worry on his face every time he looked at her.

Even now, as she stood across the yard with a drink in hand and a soft smile. She could see him sitting on the lawn chair with a forced smile and a mind full of thoughts.

He waved. She waved. They both looked away.

"It usually goes unspoken." She looked at Jessica, who was standing right next to her. "Take it from the relationship queen." That sentence made Dana gulp. "It's also going to hurt like shit. The things that hurt the worst are usually the things that must get done."

"Every day I think about how much I'm going to miss it." She stirred her lemonade around with a whirl of her wrist. "Hurts already. I can't imagine it getting any worse."

She gave Dana a light nudge. "He will understand. He's probably been thinking of it for a while."

If so, he hasn't been saying anything like it. He's hinted multiple times that he wants more time. That he will even visit. The words bounce around in Dana's head like a ping pong ball. Maybe Chandler wasn't being honest, and he would surprise her with the breakup. Then again, he wouldn't blind side her.

"Come on! Group picture! We have to get there if we don't want them to start without us!" Everyone rushed to the sound of Lana's voice, which was more eager than usual. "Move it! We have minutes!"

Chandler quickly made his way to Dana's side as she tried her best to maintain a genuine smile. He draped an arm across her shoulders, and she did the same to his waist. Lana started the timer on her phone and ran between Jessica and Ethan.

"Say goodbye, senior year!"

"Goodbye, senior year!"