Carol counted the money once again, making certain that she'd saved enough to fulfil her debt. God knew that she'd worked enough hours at her part time job, taking shift whenever she could. Her parents of course were worried about her taking on so much work, but given the fact that their eldest son could be such a lazy kid, Carol knew she should have been honored. Rarely had she worked so much, putting her job second only to her school obligations. After all, how was she expected to get into a good college without stellar grades?

(A few weeks earlier)

"Carol, you've got school!" Maggie said often than not. "And your grades are so good right now!"

"So what's the problem, Mom?" Carol protested.

"Well, what if they start to slip?" Jason asked.

"Mom! Dad, that's not going to happen!" Carol countered. "Besides, I have this all worked out! I really need the extra money!"

"Honey, you could have come to us." Jason said. "I admire you for taking on all this extra work and responsibility, but I would have been happy to lend you-"

Carol held up her hand in protest. "Dad, I want to do this on my own, all right? Look I appreciate the offer, but this has to be money I earned!"

Her parents still looked worried, but she was sure that she'd gotten her point across.

"That's very admirable Carol but may I ask what's so important?" Maggie asked.

She cringed. Although she hadn't expected this question, she should have. However, there was no way she could possibly explain why she needed so much money.

"I… I'd rather not."

"It's not dangerous, is it?"

Both Carol and her mom's mouths fell open in disbelief.

"Jason! How could you ask such a thing?"

Carol laughed. "Dad, get serious, okay? It's not dangerous!"

"All right, I just wanted to make sure…"

"Look, I'd love to explain it and… I will, but right now I want to keep it to myself, all right?"

Once again her parents exchanged glances and then nodded. "Well, all right." Maggie finally said. "We trust you, Carol. Don't we, Jason?"

"What? Oh, yeah, of course we do!" Jason said, a little too quickly. "But can't I ask what you need so much money for?"

"Jason, we just went over this!"

"All right, Maggie. I just thought I'd give it one more shot!"

Carol and Maggie laughed. "Don't worry, all right? Look, it's nothing bad but I just want to keep it a secret… for now, anyway. I can't even believe I'm doing this to be honest, but I'm not Mike, okay?"

Amazingly Maggie and Jason knew what she meant. "Well, all right." Maggie said "But if your grades start slipping for any reason-."

"I know, I know, I'll cut back my hours." Carol finished. "It'll be fine, Mom."

(Present day)

Now she counted the money once more and placed it in an envelope along with a card. The day had finally come; the day that no one in the Seaver family ever thought would happen. Carol's dumb older brother was actually graduating from high school!

As was fitting for her geeky older brother, the ceremony had been a complete disaster, what with Mike's diploma almost disappearing but then reappearing under the shoe of Estelle who then grinned sheepishly as she handed it to Principal Dewitt. But it was the look on Mike's face when he finally received his long-awaited diploma that Carol would remember for the rest of her life. Her family cheered and applauded at Mike Seaver's success, but no one cheered louder than she.

She had to admit that in the craziest sort of way, she was a bit jealous, not of her brother's success, but that she'd have to wait a while for her own high school graduation. It wasn't that long until she, Carol Seaver, would be walking across the stage to receive her diploma, hopefully with Honors and with any luck without all of the drama that took place at Mike's graduation. She wasn't that much older than Mike, but now her graduation day seemed like a lifetime away.

It was late now and her parents had long since gone to bed. But Carol was filled with too much excitement to sleep. Mike was out, of course(most likely at one of the many graduation parties that were happening around the city of Massapequa, New York, where they'd lived for as long as she could remember), and the chances were very good that he wouldn't be home until sunrise.

Her parents, as a strange sort of graduation present, had promised not to wait up for him and allowed him to stay out past curfew ("As long as you're careful and act like the responsible adult you've become" Jason warned), but that didn't mean that Carol couldn't wait up for her older brother. Still, it felt strange, caring about what time Mike arrived home. But as the saying went, there was a first time for everything.

She waited until the light in her parent's bedroom was turned off, leaving the hallway dark and the house silent. And then in her pajamas, she padded down the stairs to the living room. She barely noticed the silence or the darkness for the pounding in her chest. Why was she so nervous?

It was still early (by high school graduation party standards) but she took the opportunity to snuggle on the couch under a warm blanket. A movie starring dreamy Ralph Macchio was the perfect companion while she waited for her brother. But slowly her eyes began to feel heavy and she drifted off to sleep. However her slumber didn't last long.

The door burst open and she bolted upright, startled. "Mike!"

He jumped and flipped on the light, making her squint. "Carol! What the-."

She grinned sheepishly. "Um… Hi, Mike."

But he wasn't smiling. In fact, he looked angry, very angry. She should have known this idea would backfire. But she never dreamed it would backfire this badly. He glared at her, slamming the door and then stormed over to the sofa.

"Carol, what the heck are you doing in here?" He yelled, making her cringe.

"I-I was… watching a movie."

He glanced at the television, which to Carol's horror, displayed a test pattern in a rainbow of colors. And his expression changed. "You were waiting up on me?" he yelled.

She froze, suddenly nervous. She'd never seen him so angry before. "Well, yeah, but it was only because-."

"Dang it, Carol! I thought Mom and Dad trusted me!"

"They do, but-."

He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm a high school graduate!"

"Well, duh Mike, I mean, I was at your graduation!" Instantly she regretted her comment and began to apologize but he was already heading upstairs.

"Mike, wait!"

He turned around, flashing her a look of annoyance. And she certainly couldn't blame him. But she had to do what she'd waited so long to do before she lost her nerve.

"What?" He snapped. "What is it, Carol?"

She swallowed hard and picked up the blue envelop that sat on the coffee table and handed it to him. "This is for you."

In true Mike Seaver fashion, he rolled his eyes as he took the envelope from her. "Oh gee, thanks Carol. What is this? An 'I'm so glad you're moving out soon' card?"

She pretended not to be hurt by his comment, but the truth was that it stung badly. And suddenly she was blinking back tears, desperately trying to avoid his gaze.

"No, Mike… it's…"

"You know Carol, I can't believe that you would stoop so low to-." When he paused, she turned around in time to see his stunned expression as he slowly opened the card. And then he looked at her. "Carol…"

She smiled at the stack of money that she'd laid carefully in the card. "Happy graduation, Mike!"

He looked down at the money and then picked it up, thumbing through it as though he'd never seen green currency before. "What is this?"

"It's… your graduation present!"

His jaw dropped. "Carol, are you crazy? There's over two hundred dollars here!"

"I know, believe me, I've counted it so many times!"

"I-I don't understand."

"July 4th, 1976, remember?"

He thought for a moment and then looked at her blankly, which made her laugh.

"Mike, how can you have forgotten? You're the one who reminded me of it a million times since school started!" Again no response and she sighed. "The bet we made when we were kids! I believe you said that you weren't going to gradulate and then you asked what it meant. It's not my fault you were jealous because I could read at four years old!"

He thumbed through the stack of bills again. "Carol, where did you get all of this money?"

"Oh, working a lot of hours, like all the time! Mom and Dad thought I was crazy, but it was the only way. Besides, who cares where I got the money, Mike? Can't you even say thank you?"

Suddenly she was crying, but she didn't care anymore. Her plan had backfired yet again. She should have known it would end badly, but she hoped that this time things would be different. Embarrassed to be crying over something so stupid, she turned away from him. But then she felt his hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn around.

"Carol, I… I'm honored, really. But I can't take this…"

"Why not?"

"Because, it's… not right! Money for graduation presents should come from parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles! Not sisters!"

"But we made a bet!"

"Come on, that was a stupid bet! We were just dumb kids! I can't believe you took that seriously!"

"You're the one who continuously brought it up, so you must have been thinking about it all of these years!"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Take it Mike. Please."

"Carol…"

"Look, I'll just say it. None of us… not Dad, or Mom or Ben or me… especially me… ever thought you'd graduate from high school, but… you did it… and…" She took a deep breath. "I'm proud of you."

He blinked in surprise. "You're proud of me?"

"Don't make me say it again, okay?"

"This is nice and all, but-."

"But what? It's not enough? Didn't you say fifty bucks plus interest? Well, I wasn't sure how much interest you charge, so I guessed. But I can see that I guessed wrong. You're obviously not happy with it, so-."

"No, I am… I just-."

"What?"

"I can't believe you did this for me."

"Well, I'm proud of you. And… I'm going to miss you when you go away to college."

"Hey, you'll have Ben."

"I'm going to miss you, Mike. Now just take it before I have to hurt you or someth-."

Her words were muffled when he pulled her into his arms for the biggest hug he'd ever given her in his life and she didn't ever want to let go. "I love you, Mike." She said against his sweater.

"I love you too, Carol."

They were still hugging when their parents came downstairs.

"What's this?"

Embarrassed, Carol pulled out of Mike's arms. "I… Um… was just giving Mike his graduation present. "

"Graduation present?"

"Yeah, um… Carol, I don't know what to say, but… thank you."

She hugged him again. "You're welcome Mike. And I meant what I said. I am proud of you. I always have been, even if I don't say it often enough."

Mike laughed. "You've never said it. But thanks."

"Jason…"

They looked up to see Maggie staring at the envelope in disbelief, followed by the look of complete surprise on Jason's face.

"Carol…"

"I-I told you guys there was nothing to worry about. And just so you know, I'm going to cut my hours back at work."

Her parents joined Carol and Mike in a hug. "I've never been more proud of my children, ever." Maggie said tearfully.

"Mom, you've already told me about a hundred times. It's not like I'm the first kid who has ever graduated from high school!" Mike said.

"I wasn't talking about that." Maggie said, tearfully. "I meant this. I've been waiting my whole life to see this. It's like a dream come true."

"For all of us." Jason finished. "But I've known it all along."

"Known what, Dad?" Carol asked.

"That your mom and I have the best son and daughter two parents could ask for and we love you more than words can say."

Carol and Mike engulfed their parents into a hug. "We love you too, Mom and Dad."

THE END