Farewell Grant High

The graduation went on without a hitch, and Amy couldn't be happier. She was ready to start a new chapter in her life, to finally grow up and start a new beginning. Everything in Valley Glen reminded her of her mistakes, her regrets, and her past altogether. She needed to get away from that. Everyone was walking off the stage and going to greet their parents. Amy was about to do the same until Madison and Lauren came up to her.

"I can't believe this! We're finally done with high-school this is it!" Madison squealed.

Lauren chuckled at her, "I know this is pretty exciting. And I guess well...this is goodbye Amy?"

"I guess so," Amy said, giving them each a hug. Lauren and Madison would always be considered her best friends, but she knew that after this they wouldn't speak much anymore. The minute Amy got pregnant, their friendship ended. Lauren and Madison couldn't handle being around her at the time, and now they were finally free from her. The way Amy saw it, it was best for them to get away from her.

She pushed past the crowd and made her way to her parents, and Ashley. She was actually surprised to see Ashley at her graduation. She was almost never in the house, and Amy knew that it had to do with her.

"Hey guys!"

"Amy!" George and Anne hugged her excitedly, and Ashley stayed to the side, her arms crossed.

"So Amy...marrying Ricky today?" Ashley mumbled.

Amy let out a sigh, but she didn't address the topic. In all honesty she knew that this thing between her and Ricky wasn't going to work out. She needed her freedom. She didn't want to be tied down. It might have been selfish of her, but she knew what she wanted to now, and she was going to go after it.

"Amy we are so proud of you!" Anne smiled, "You made it!"

"Yeah, I'm glad to finally be done with high-school and put all the drama behind me."

"Yeah me too," Ashley added, "Which is why I'm going to Italy for sure. My plane leaves today. So I just came to congratulate you Amy, and say bye mom and dad."

Amy's jaw dropped to the floor and Anne looked over at Ashley with concern, "Honey can't you get on a plane some other time? You don't have to leave so soon."

"I want to leave as soon as possible. I want to be away..."

"Away from your family?" George questioned, with a pained look in in his eyes.

Ashley rolled her eyes, refusing to look upset, "Dad what family? We haven't had a real family since Amy got pregnant."

"Hey!" Anne shouted, "Stop that!"

"No, mom...maybe she's right," Amy sighed, "Look I have to be somewhere but I'll see you guys later, and Ashley have a safe flight." Amy could feel her eyes getting watery as she walked away. She felt the regret, and shame all over again. Was she responsible for the falling apart of her household? Was she the cause of all of this? One side of her said that her parents were arguing way before she had gotten pregnant, but the other side said that her pregnancy split the whole family apart. She just couldn't take this anymore.

"Ashley you know that wasn't nice, you should really apologize to your sister," Anne scolded her.

"I only told the truth, and don't worry about it she'll get over it. After I leave today I won't harass you or her anymore," Ashley muttered.

"Ash is that what you think? That you're harassing us by being here?" George questioned.

Ashley drew in a deep breath as her parents waited for her to respond, "The only thing you guys care about is Amy, Ricky, and her baby. You guys don't even know me!"

"What do you mean we don't know you honey, you're our daughter!"

"You guys weren't there for me when I got my GED, or when I was deciding colleges. You guys weren't there for me when I had sex for the very first time. You guys are never there, you're too busy taking care of Amy. It's always about Amy, and Ricky, and John. I love my sister ok? I was there for her when she was pregnant. I supported her and stood up for her when her friends went behind her back and told everyone in the school about her. But she was never there for me. She doesn't care about anyone, expect maybe herself-"

"Ashley," Anne cried.

"No, mom just let me talk. I'm tired of sitting around waiting for things to get better. Valley Glen has nothing left to offer me. You said you wanted me to be happy right? So now I'm going to do that. I'm going to be happy in a place that is drama free, where I can start a new life."

"Did Toby want you to do this? Is he asking you to travel to Italy with him so you guys can have sex?" Anne asked with an agitated tone.

"If you knew me as well as you thought, you would know that Toby and I broke up."

"Ash I'm sorry-"

"There's no need to be. It doesn't matter anymore. You guys have fun, and take care...Look, you guys are my parents regardless of everything that's happened. I can't say I don't love you guys, or even that I don't love Amy, but I'm miserable here...And I can't do this anymore. I deserve to be happy too...Goodbye." With a pained expression on her face she walked away.

Anne and George stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"What have we been doing all these years George?"

"We've been screwing up," George replied with a sigh, "We were so busy fighting, and arguing that we didn't check on our daughters enough. And now, I think we'll have to live with that regret."

"I just don't understand how things got so messed up...George, why didn't we stay together?"

"Anne...why does anything happen? Why did you decide that you were gay? Things just happen."

"Ricky please, please don't be mad at me!" Amy pleaded, tears falling down her eyes.

"Please don't be mad at you? Please don't be mad at you!" Ricky was furious. His face was turning red and his eyes were getting watery, "I gave you every opportunity to break up with me! And you said no to all of them! You said you wanted to marry me!"

"Ricky I have to do what's best for me," she cried, "Please understand that."

"And what's best for you huh? Going all the way to New York? Leaving John behind? Leaving me behind!"

"Rick you don't love me!"

"Bullshit. This isn't about me loving you, this is about you being selfish! You've always been selfish Amy. I've done everything for you. I changed my whole life, for you! And that's not good enough? What the hell do you want from me Amy?"

"You changed for me? NO! You changed for John. You did this for your son! Look I appreciate you being there for John. I appreciate you stepping up and being a good father, but I'm under no obligation to be your wife just because you did what any good man would do! Maybe I am selfish Ricky, but can you say that you're not? It wasn't that long ago when I was the one who ruined your life by getting pregnant. It wasn't that long ago when you were going around having sex with everyone and breaking peoples hearts. I'm not the only one who's been selfish."

"What is this about Amy," Ricky cried, "Just tell me how to make this right, please. We don't have to end this."

"No, Ricky we have to end this. I have to end this. I can't go through with this."

"You'll hurt John you know that?"

"John knows that I love him. He'll understand that."

"Is this about Ben? Are you in love with Ben again?"

"For once this is about me. This isn't about Ben, or you, or any other guy. I need to do what's right, and me being with you, it just isn't right. We rushed into this, and I don't want to rush into a marriage too."

"Do you love him Amy?"

"Ben was my first love...I'll always love him...but Ricky-"

Ricky walked past Amy and went to go get John.

"Come on buddy, we're gonna go."

John grumpily shook his head but Ricky picked him up anyway, "We're gonna go see grandpa and grandma today. How does that sound buddy?"

John yawned, and started to fall asleep on Ricky's shoulder.

"Where are you taking my son?" Amy questioned.

"I'm just going to Margaret and Shakur's house right now. I'll call when I get there," Ricky replied in an irritated voice.

"Ricky...I'm sorry-"

And then the door closed.

Amy couldn't help but replay the earlier conversation over and over again in her head. All she could feel was pain. Was this it? Was it truly over for her and Ricky? She knew that she needed to do this, but she had a hard time dealing with it. She sat there, completely frozen for hours. She kept looking at the door, waiting for him to come back. Maybe I shouldn't have said all of that. Maybe I do love him. But then she shook those thoughts out of her head because she realized the truth, her and Ricky weren't meant for each other, and it would take a long time until she was meant to be with anyone for that matter.

She took her phone out of her pocket and drew in a shaky breath. She scrolled through her contacts list and finally paused when she saw Ben's number. Her heart beat increased, and she could feel herself getting nervous although she wasn't sure why. She clicked on his contact and waited for an answer.

After three rings, the phone when straight to voice-mail. Beep.

"H-Hi...it's Amy I just...I really wanted to say that I'm sorry Ben. These past four years in high-school have been hell and I'm partially the reason for it being that way. I'm really sorry that I hurt you Ben and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the pregnancy sooner. I really just want to move forward and I hope that maybe one day you can forgive me? I'm just so lost right now. I used to be able to come to you and talk to you about this kind of stuff, but things changed...I really hope that we can be friends, and I'm sure I'll be seeing you in New York so uh, yeah...If you get this message call me back, i-if you want to you I mean," she sighed, clearly frustrated with herself, "Well um, bye. And Ben? Thank you for being there for me when I was having John. You were a great a boyfriend, and you're gonna make another girl really happy...Bye."

Amy ended the message and she could feel the tears falling down her face. She didn't know what to do, or where to go from here. All she knew was that she had to try and make things right, and that started with apologizing to everyone she felt she had done wrong to. She grabbed her purse and made her way out of the apartment.

"I'm surprised you're over here, I thought you'd be celebrating with your family."

Ben and Adrian were seated on a couch in what was once their condo. Adrian brought out some drinks and snacks and the two sat down and talked.

"Yeah well, you know I don't talk to Leo and Camille that much."

"I know they're hard on you Ben, but I'm sure they love you," Adrian muttered in a soft tone, "Why'd you call me though? Why would you want to come over here? I thought you'd call Amy."

"Amy? Why Amy?"

Adrian scoffed, "For the past few weeks you've been walking around saying how much you love her. Which makes no sense to me...didn't you have an epiphany or something? I thought you didn't love her anymore."

Ben sighed, "Things just got complicated I don't know. I've always loved Amy you know? She was my very first love and I was there for her throughout her pregnancy. I thought she loved me and we would last forever but then she ended up with Ricky and it just...it hurts Adrian. For the last four years high-school has left me with nothing but emotional scars...I guess I just came to talk to you because we've been friends for a while, and well I really didn't have anyone else. I mean Alice is dealing with her own issues because of her breakup with Henry, and Henry and I will never be close again since he...you know slept with you."

"Gee thanks," Adrian rolled her eyes.

"No! I-Well I didn't mean it like that I just meant-"

Adrian cut him off with the sound of her laughter, "Calm down I'm just kidding Ben...And I'm sorry by the way, about well...about everything. I should have never slept with Henry. I should have never done a lot of things."

Ben shrugged, "The past is the past. We all have to move on."

"Do we Ben? Amy's going to be going to the same school as you. It's not too late for you and Amy to make things work."

"It's not too late for a lot of people to make a lot of things work Adrian."

Adrian raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about-"

Adrian and Ben were interrupted by a knock on the door. Adrian put her food down, "Hold that thought, I wonder who that is."

Ben waited patiently as Adrian went and opened the door. To her surprise she saw Omar standing there. She froze for a moment, completely in shock. Ben turned his head just in time to see that Omar was standing there.

"Omar...what are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that I made a huge mistake in breaking up with you, and I really want you back," Omar said, "May I come in?"

"Omar..." It took her a minute to realize that Omar was really standing in front of her door, asking to come in, asking to have her back. She felt like she should feel happy about this moment, but for some reason she didn't. She just felt confused.

"Maybe I should go?" Ben finally stood up, making his way towards the door.

When Omar saw him his expression immediately changed, "Wow...so I've been at home thinking about us and you've been what? Fucking this guy!"

"Omar no it's not like that-"

It was crazy how in a split second Omar's feelings could change. It was dangerous even. He accused her of everything. He never waited to hear her side of the story before yelling at her. It was overwhelming to deal with.

"Save it! You know my brother was right, you really are a slut-"

"Hey!" Ben shouted, clearly frustrated, "You have no right to talk to her like that!"

"You guys just, just stop. Omar you should go...and don't come here anymore."

"I wasn't planning on it," Omar shook his head in disappointment as he walked off. Adrian closed the door behind her.

"Remind me why you dated him again?"

Adrian chuckled but he could see her eyes getting watery.

"Hey," he said softly, "That guys an idiot ok?"

"No...he's right. I am a slut-"

Ben cut her off when his lips pressed against hers. They were warm and familiar and Adrian could feel the thumping of her heart. She didn't understand what was going on, but she didn't want to stop it either. Being in the moment with Ben felt good, and she hadn't felt good like that in a long time.

Ben pulled away almost too quickly for Adrian's liking, and she wondered if he felt guilty for what he did. Their foreheads touched and their breathing was heavy, and Adrian felt herself smiling although she wasn't sure if she should be smiling or not. He finally pulled away from her after he caught his breath.

"Um...I-I think I'm gonna go."

"Oh," Adrian said, "Yeah that's probably for the best um...goodnight Ben."

"Goodnight Adrian," Ben said, staring at her for a another second or two before leaving the house.

Adrian sighed as she took a seat on the couch. Now she was even more confused than before.

"So you guys aren't getting married?" Margaret and Shakur were surprised to say the least.

"No," Ricky gritted his teeth, "Amy doesn't want to marry me. She wants to go off to New York and live happily ever after with Ben. I'm never good enough for anyone."

"Now don't go saying that honey, you're just as good as any of those other guys. You've come a long way."

"And where the hell has that gotten me? Nowhere."

Shakur sighed, "Look Ricky, maybe Amy just isn't the right one. You have your whole life to settle down and get married, what's the rush?"

"That's not the point! The point is...Who am I kidding? I never loved her and she never loved me. We just did this for John."

John was in the other room, pretending to play with his toys. He didn't understand what was going on, but he could sense that something was going on. He wondered where his mommy was. He missed her.

"I wouldn't say that. You guys have both come very far and I know you care for her a lot-"

"But do I love her? Did I ever love her?" Ricky persisted.

"Well honey I can't tell you what you feel. Some things you just know on your own," Margaret sighed, "I knew that I loved Shakur when I realized that I would do anything for him. I would be patient with him and not give up. I wouldn't get jealous seeing him with any girls because I trusted him with all my heart. We just had this special bond that nobody could break," she glanced at Shakur, "And don't you dare bring this up ever."

Shakur and Ricky laughed at this.

"Well thanks mom. Do you mind watching John? I need to run an errand."

"To see who? Amy?"

Ricky shook his head, "No, Dr. Fields."

Margaret tossed him a small smile, "Alright, keys are on the counter, be back soon."

"So that's it, you guys are done?" Ashley questioned, a little surprised.

For the first time in a long time, Ashley was sitting on Amy's old bed and the two were actually talking. Anne was taking care of Robbie and George was most likely at Kathleen's house.

"Yeah...I guess, it's really over," Amy said, "I don't even know how to feel."

Ashley hesitated for a moment, and then she pulled her sister in for a hug. It was these rare moments from Ashley that made Amy feel like for once she wasn't alone.

"Ash...I'm so sorry about everything."

"Don't worry about it."

"I should have-"

"Shoulda coulda woulda but you didn't. So let's move on ok? It's time for everyone to move on."

"Are you really going to go to Italy?" Amy asked.

Ashley nodded, "I have to do this for me, just like how you have to go to New York for you. I have a late night flight."

"Good luck..Ash...Do you think I made the right decision?"

"I think you made the right decision for you," Ashley shrugged.

A/N: I think I ended this first chapter awkwardly. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. This is just my take on something that could have happened after graduation.