The journey has finally come to an end. Here it is, the very last chapter of Just Another Cliche. Hopefully this gets updated on time, if it doesn't bear with me! This weekend is going to be crazy hectic: tonight I'm going to a carnival, tomorrow I'm going to volunteer at Stanford for Choir reasons, Sunday I'm studying hard core for my Math Analysis Honors quiz that I really need to pass because my current grade in that class is... not so hot... BUT. I did put all my heart and soul into this chapter, and I really hope you guys enjoy it! I couldn't have made it this far without your encouragement, your sweet reviews, etc! There will be more Author's Note rambling at the end of this chapter, as well as an additional list of certain Reviewers I just want to thank. CHAPTER 18, folks... last update of JAC ever... Just a note: the chapter shifts back and forth to Trish and Ally's AP Psych speech and Auslly moments strewn throughout the year.

It's ironic, really, to get nervous in front of the class when you're about to say a speech. If you look at it from a different perspective, you've known these people practically your whole life if you've gone to elementary school with them. You've seen everyone's best and worst moments. In a way, even if you're not close with them, you've grown up with them.

You've seen them change.

I'm gripping so tightly onto the AP Psychology notebook that my palms are getting indents from the spine. The bundle of nerves in my stomach are coiling tightly together, but luckily Trish is up here with me. I shoot her a nervous look, and she sends me back a reassuring smile. We've been preparing this speech, this project, for nearly a year, perfecting each detail until it's almost just right. After what seems to have been hours of researching, typing, printing, coloring (yes, coloring)- we're finally done.

"Ms. Dawson and Ms. Dela Rosa? You're up," Mrs. Jefferson calmly announced, folding her hands together in her lap. I nodded and took a deep breath, beginning.

"At first, Trish and I were a little hesitant about our topic for this project, but we finally came to the conclusion that we should go through with it," I said, unrolling a poster and tacking it onto the board. "Platonic friendships are friendships that are intimate and affectionate but not sexual."

oooo

"Austin," I laughed as he gently pressed his lips against my neck.

"What?" he murmured. I gently pushed him away, sighing as I sat up from my bed, adjusting my T-shirt. His eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. "Are you taking that off?"

My jaw dropped wide open as I smacked him on the shoulder. "No, God!" I exclaimed. "Austin, I'm not ready to... I mean, we haven't even been... And I don't have any-"

His lips fervently found mine as he cut off my words, then pulled away, pressing his forehead against mine. "I'm never going to pressure you to do something you don't want to do," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I could never... hurt you that way. I promise."

I brushed his hair away from his eyes so I could look at him properly, leaning in to kiss him softly on the cheek as I wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him. "Thanks," I mumbled, burying my face into his shoulder. "For understanding."

"I should understand, I've known you practically my whole life, Ally," he chuckled, hugging me back tightly.

oooo

"The idea of platonic friendships actually comes from an entirely different era," Trish stated, pointing to a picture of Plato plastered on our poster. "This Greek philosopher stated that guys and girls can just be friends. But guys," she paused, looking at everyone in the room, "come on, who are we trying to kid?"

Laughter erupted through the classroom, and she even managed to get Mrs. Jefferson laughing.

"A study using 44 men showed that 24% of them felt more than just friendship towards their girl friends, and the other 14% were interested in dating," she continued, pointing to our pie chart. "However, studies also show that women are more likely to get emotionally attached to men when it comes to friendships, therefore making it more likely for women to invest actual feelings in their guy friends."

oooo

Strolling through the halls with Austin has never been something new. But now, it's something special due to the fact that his hand always seems to find mine, our fingers intertwining with each other's. At first the expressions on people's faces were so priceless. I can't even count the number of times we got stopped in the halls.

"It's about time, Moon!" a football player shouted happily, giving Austin a high five, which Austin happily returned.

"Austin and Ally, I knew it!" another girl exclaimed. It took my all not to burst out laughing.

"Is this real?" I asked him as we stopped at my locker. He simply laughed, hugging me from behind.

"Does this feel real?" he replied, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and kissing me on the cheek. I felt my face grow pink, which clearly answered his question.

oooo

"Platonic friendships are tricky," I stepped in, clearing my throat. "We're human. We typically tend to grow feelings for the opposite sex, especially if the opposite sex holds qualities that we like. The line between friendship and relationship is pretty thin in high school."

"We interviewed many students on their opinions of platonic friendships in high school," Trish said, pulling up a video on the projector.

"Platonic friendships? Um... yeah, I guess they could happen somehow, unless the guy and the girl end up falling for each other, of course," a timid and shy freshman answered.

"Nah, man, eventually guys and girls always develop feelings for one another. That's just how the heart works," one senior on the baseball team explained. He then winked at the camera, causing all the girls in the room to giggle.

"Platonic friendships, like me and Trish... kinda," Dez suddenly exclaimed, moving the camera towards himself.

"Dez!" Trish said in the background as she took the camera away from him. The class burst into laughter, and Trish laughed along.

"Platonic friendships are questioned on a daily," I said when the video ended. "Do they exist? Are they real? Or is almost every friendship just a romance waiting to happen?"

oooo

"Sometimes, Austin, the things that come out of your mouth..." I gasped in between laughs.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Ally, I can't believe you actually like these lame jokes," he replied. "You know I just tell them to make you laugh, right?"

I sighed, my cheeks burning from laughing so much. "Then you get double bonus points," I declared.

"Yes, double bonus points for making my girlfriend smile," he said, pumping his fist in the air. I rolled my eyes, then stopped in my tracks. His smile faltered. "Ally? What's wrong?"

His eyes followed mine, directly at the mailbox. The flag was up. His eyes grew wide. I cautiously stepped towards the mailbox, opening it and searching through the envelopes before I found the one that I was looking for. I looked up at him in fear, and he took my hand in his and squeezed it. I tore open the envelope, opening my mouth to read the first line.

"Ms. Ally Dawson, the Music University of New York is eager to accept-" I couldn't finish the rest as I jumped up and down excitedly, Austin lifting me happily up into the air as we danced around like goofballs up and down the street, clutching onto my MUNY acceptance letter like it was my life.

oooo

"Nearly 65% of girls at our high school have claimed that they've felt romantic feelings towards their guy friends at one point. 24% of that 65 also confessed that they weren't going to tell their guy friends," Trish explained to the class, who now seemed to be highly intrigued by our information.

"The other 41% claimed that they've told their guy friends or they've gotten over the guy," I commented.

"And it doesn't stop there," Trish said. "As we grow older, these tendencies and feelings only grow as not only a romantic aspect evolves but a sexual attraction, as well."

oooo

"Twenty questions," Austin said, stretching his arms comfortably around me as I leaned my head against his chest. We sat underneath a tree in the park, settled down on a blanket. "Go."

"Okay," I said. "What was the last thing you did before bed last night?"

"Texted you good night," Austin admitted as I laughed. "That's an easy question. Give me a harder one."

"Fine, fine! Alright... what is your favorite memory?" I asked. He took my hand in his, intertwining them together. He looked down at me.

"The day we met," he stated. I rolled my eyes.

"So cheesy!" I scoffed.

"But it's true! Ally, if Jack Coleman hadn't punched me in the face or stolen your sandwich, we wouldn't be here together right now," Austin explained. "Can you imagine that?"

I thought, long and hard about it, and felt my heart jump in fear at how right he actually was. My whole life was Austin-filled. For him to be removed from that was like removing the wheels of a bike: non-functional.

"My turn!" he exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts. "What's your biggest dream?"

I opened my mouth to say to become a singer, to be with you forever, but only three words came tumbling out: "To be happy."

He blinked at my response, so I decided that it needed further explaining.

"I hope to be happy in everything that I do. I hope to feel passionate about every part of my life and love what I'm doing every second of every day. And it's okay if it isn't the ideal American Dream, but if it makes me happy, then I'll be perfectly fine."

He nodded. "Happiness is a good ambition," he thoughtfully replied, causing me to smile in agreement. "Okay, your turn."

I tapped my chin with my free hand until an obvious question popped into my head. "What is your biggest fear?" I asked.

He cleared his throat and mumbled a scramble of words that my ears couldn't quite pick up.

"What?" I asked again. He sighed, looking up at the leaves of the tree.

"That you won't marry me," he said, his ears turning pink from embarrassment. I felt my own face flush in surprise.

"Oh," I answered. "Marriage."

"Yup," he said.

A silence filled between us, long gaps of it.

"How do you know we're going to get married?" I finally asked.

He shrugged. "I don't. But I know that I want to," he said.

I laughed. "Austin..."

"Ally, I'm serious," he said, straightening up in his seat against the tree. "I know what I want to do with my life, and I know that I want you to be a part of it."

I sighed. "It's sweet, Austin, but..."

"Can't you see it?" he asked, his eyes pleading. "Remember that day at the diner, when I asked you how do you know when you're in love with someone? Do you remember what you said?"

I nodded. "I said that time slows down and-"

"That's crap," he interrupted, and I frowned, opening my mouth to argue but he held up his hand. "That's crap because when I'm with you, Ally, time doesn't slow down. Time speeds up. When I'm with you, I believe in a fast forward. When I fast forward my life, I see you walking down the aisle. And when you arrive at the altar, I lift your veil and there you are."

I felt my throat closing in on me, my eyes tearing up as a wobbly smile appeared on my face.

"Oh man, Ally, don't start crying. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that time slowing down was stupid, I just meant-" I covered his mouth with my hand as I let out a shaky laugh. I sniffled.

"No. No, this kind of crying is a good thing," I promised. "Fast forward. I like that."

He removed my hand from his mouth, grinning. "I like it, too."

oooo

"We've come up with a staircase that shows steps on why platonic friendships are almost always relationships waiting to happen," Trish said, pointing to the first step of our staircase on the poster. "Step One: Friends have common interests. No matter how opposite two friends are, they obviously have some kind of common interest to be able to bond so well."

"Step Two," I said, pointing to the next portion of the staircase. "Time span. Once a guy and a girl become friends, they get to know each other on a deeper level. The more time that passes, the deeper this level gets."

"Step Three: Heartfelt actions. Eventually," Trish pointed out, "either one of them, boy or girl, doesn't matter, is going to begin noticing how nice their friend is, how smart, talented, and thoughtful their friend is. Then they're going to realize that they know no other person in the world that acts like this one person, which leads us to..."

"Step Four," I finalized. "Hidden emotions. This final step is when the friend begins to form romantic emotions toward their friend due to their heartfelt actions."

"The staircase is gold, everyone," Trish stated.

oooo

"Trish, where are we going?" I hissed, tugging at the blindfold. She slapped my hand away from it, causing me to yell at the sting.

"Just hold still," Trish said, grabbing at my hand roughly as we weaved through people. I sighed in frustration, wondering what all this ruckus was about. I'd been at my locker, simply putting away a few notebooks and folders when I suddenly became blind.

"Dez, are you getting this?" I heard Trish whisper, making me feel even more alarmed.

"Filming?! Dez, what's going on?" I demanded.

"It's a secret, Ally," Dez said, and I glared at him even though he couldn't see my hatred filled eyes. We finally stopped walking and the blind fold was removed.

"I am going to kill you guys, why did you-" My words wavered, hung still in the air as I tried to take in what was right in front of me.

Austin. Holding flowers and a small jar of pickles that had a sign with a single word on it.

Prom?

First, I grabbed the flowers, observing their bright colors and inhaling them until I felt dizzy with the florescent. Second, I happily took the jar of pickles, thinking about how I was going to devour them later. Third, I settled all these items carefully on the ground and kissed my boyfriend because it was the least I could do, really.

oooo

"We have come to the conclusion that although platonic friendships may exist, most of the time the heart gets in the way and speaks up," Trish explained. I nodded.

"Sometimes the heart just wants what it wants. And sometimes friendship isn't always enough. Sometimes there's more, and that more is the relationship aspect that high school students, college students, even adults seem to be aiming for," I said.

Claps and whistles immediately exploded. Mrs. Jefferson proudly clapped along, and as Trish and I headed back to our seats, she stopped me. I blinked, waiting for her commentary.

"I knew you two were working hard," she said with a sly smile. "And might I say, you and Mr. Moon make a fine couple."

And for a moment the teacher and student bond broke as we giggled, just two women talking about love.

I adjusted the cap, brushing the tassel out of my eyes as I fixed the creases in my gown. I turned around, searching for that familiar blonde boy of mine. My eyes landed on his just as his own found mine, and we shared a knowing smile as we faced forward, our attention focusing on the principal at the podium.

"Class of 2014," Principal Moreno declared. "I am proud to see each and every one of you here on this fine day: your graduation day. And now, here is your valedictorian, Andy Heigenman."

I let out a sheer whistle for him, clapping until my palms stung. "Go Andy!" I shouted. Andy stepped up to the podium, adjusting the microphone until it was just right.

You know Andy, the perfectionist he is.

"Good afternoon student, parents, and faculty. Today I present to you the Class of 2014," he declared. The audience clapped loudly, and I managed to see my parents and Austin's parents clapping proudly on the bleachers. And then the most surprising thing happened, the most unexpected thing, something very un-Andy.

He threw his speech card behind him.

"Two weeks ago I wrote this amazing speech that I just threw to the ground right now. I spent hours and hours on it, but now that I'm up here, I've realized one thing: That perfection will get you nowhere." Thoughtful silence filled the area as we all let this sink in. "Our entire high school career has been about striving for perfection, whether it's striving to be a top student, striving to get good grades, striving to please everyone around us. Well, let me tell you one thing: I'm tired of striving for expectations that aren't my own."

The entire class cheered loudly at this statement that seemed to ring so clear and true. Why had no one ever said it before?

"As I look out into the crowd, I don't see just an athlete, just a shy kid..." His eyes locked with mine. "Just a singer." I smiled. "I see the skin we've really been living in. I see that, in a way, we've all changed, whether it's physically, mentally or even emotionally. And sometimes change is scary, but you know what? Sometimes change is good, too. Sometimes change is necessary. Change, spontaneity, and dreaming- these are three aspects that will get you somewhere. So don't be scared for the future. Embrace it. Know that there's so much more than just this. There's a lot waiting for us out there. And yeah, it's intimidating, but at the end of the day, you have to give yourself a pat on the back because you haven't made it this far for nothing."

Another explosion of loud cheers erupted, and Andy's grin was so wide I was unsure of how it fit on his face.

"So, on a better note, I think the end of my speech card went a little something like this: Congratulations Class of 2014! We did it!" he exclaimed, taking off his cap and throwing it in the air as we all mimicked him, a chorus of whistles and cheers filling the air as golden caps showered the sky. I looked over at Austin, at Trish, at Dez, at my parents, and realized that Andy was right.

I haven't made it this far for nothing.

The cold waves lap against my toes, freezing them until they feel like icicles. A familiar figure takes a seat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I lean my head against his own. The sun is just dipping down, setting fire to the sky as pinks, reds, and oranges fill the horizon.

"Last summer was so different from right now," I murmured, getting goosebumps from Austin's fingertips lightly grazing against my skin.

"Last summer, we were so different," he chuckled, and I smiled, warmly recalling at how right he was. "This place never changed, but we did."

"For the better, do you think?" I asked.

"Of course for the better," he replied.

"Change," I mumbled.

"What about it?" He looked at me, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.

"Everything's going to change now," I said carefully. "I'm going to MUNY, you're going to UCLA. We're going to be so far apart..."

He sighed, tilting my chin upwards to face him. "Hey," he said softly. "You're right. Everything is going to change. The distance is going to change, the atmosphere is going to change, but us? We're the only thing that's not going to change."

I bite my lip in hesitation. "You promise?" I asked. He shook his head and I felt my heart wilt.

He smiled. "I know," he said confidently, leaning in to press his warm lips against mine. It was the same place, the same spot near the waves that one summer ago, but everything had changed. I had changed. He had changed. We had changed. But the water, the sand, the sun hadn't changed, and that's when I realized one thing.

I had finally gotten my sunset moment.

SOOOOOOOB. It's done. We are done, guys! I feel sad yet happy at the same time, ifthat even makes any sense. I hope this journey has been just amazing for you guys as it was for me. I really wanted this story to revolve more than just around Austin and Ally's romance. I wanted to write about before Ally could really love Austin, she had to learn to love herself first. I wrote about fears for the future, because the future is definitely something I'm scared for at the moment because college is just around the corner. And I wrote about friendships, because we all seem to be looking for that place right between friendship and relationship. Do I like him or are we just friends? And I promise you that sooner or later, you'll figure it out. It just takes time. And now here is the list of these special people I wanted to thank:

Got2LiveItBigTime- Thank you for always leaving such sweet reviews and for always reading every new chapter! It really meant a lot to me!

1DR5- Your reviews literally made my day and made me laugh, girl! You are too funny! I love you to the moon and back, and thank you for always reviewing and reading!

WolfGirl999- Don't think I didn't see your lovely reviews because I DID. My advice for you now: I don't know you personally, but I'm certain that you're a kind, sweet, talented person with so much love to offer everyone. Have some faith and confidence in yourself because I believe in you. High school is a big transition, but friends are easy to make, I promise. Thank you for always leaving such amazing reviews, and thank you for reading my story.

4everawriter- I LOVE YOU. I just love you! Your reviews always made me smile and made me feel happy! Because of you, I'm actually seriously thinking about majoring in writing in college, so thank you.

writermeAL- Thank you thank you thank you for always reviewing! It really meant SO MUCH, so thank you!

Jackie is Grey- You really were such a dedicated reviewer and I just wanted to personally say thank you! Your reviews always made me smile.

InfinitelyWriting- I can't even. Your reviews were beautiful, I just... I can't. Sending all my love to you.

im that idiot- Thank you for reading my story and reviewing at like 2 am haha, so sorry I kept you up that late!

And special thanks to Emily (I can't remember your fanfiction username at the moment)- Thank you for notifying that people were actually talking about my story on Twitter, which I think is AWESOME and AMAZING! The wonders of the internet, right? Thank you sooo much, you have definitely become one of my Twitter Auslly buddies.

Thank you so much for everything guys. Last few words: He's out there somewhere. No matter what, don't lose hope. Just have patience, and have fun with what you've got. Friends, family, sports, music, whatever makes you happy- pursue it with all you've got. Love you guysss.