I woke up feeling better rested than I had in ages. I've really been sleeping well for the past few nights. Now that dad is in jail for attempted murder – on me – I don't have nightmares about him anymore. It also helps that I talk to Parker every night right before I go to sleep…

I pulled on a skirt and a nice singlet because the weather has really warmed up now and I put my hair up in a high ponytail to keep it off the back of my neck as much as I could. But my hair is so long anyway that it didn't do much good. Mum already had breakfast prepared when I came down stairs and I smiled as I inhaled the delicious smell of eggs. "Thanks, mum," I said enthusiastically.

"Someone is happy today," she said coyly.

I shrugged. "What can I say? Today's my last day of school."

She nodded and smiled. "What time does the graduation ceremony officially start?" she asked.

"Twelve," I said around a bite of food.

"I'll be there at eleven thirty then," she declared. I rolled my eyes; mum is always late. She'll probably get there just in time. "Will Parker's parents be there? I still haven't met them."

I frowned. "He told me his mum will be there. But from what Parker has told me about her you don't want to meet her."

Now mum frowned. "Well why not?"

I shrugged. "He said she was arrogant, strict and uncaring. Not the type of person I would have pegged on you becoming friends with."

Mum was thoughtful for a few seconds. "You never know…" she trailed off.

I smiled as I put my dishes away and absently rolled my wrist around – the cast had been taken off two weeks ago. There was now no evidence of the attack from my dad. I know Parker was happy that I got it off; I think it had served as a constant reminder to him of how he hadn't been there for me – which is stupid.

A horn beeped from the driveway and I couldn't stop the smile from tugging at my lips. Mum just rolled her eyes. "That's Parker, I presume," she said wryly.

I nodded as I ran to the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth. I grabbed my bag on the way to the door and gave mum a quick kiss on her cheek. "See you this afternoon," I told her before going out the door. I smiled when I saw Parker waiting in his sleek car.

I climbed in and leaned over to give him a 'hello' kiss. "Someone's happy to see me," he murmured as we pulled apart.

I just rolled my eyes. "Will your mum still be there today?" I asked.

"Yes. Why?" he asked slowly.

"My mum wants to meet her," I informed him as he pulled out of the driveway.

He frowned. "I don't think your mum would like her," he said shortly.

"I already told her that but she never really listens anyway," I mumbled, more to myself.

Parker smiled and his eyes flickered over to me. "You look nice," he said.

I frowned. "It's graduation; I'd feel too casual in shorts."

He laughed softly. "We're going to be wearing our gowns over the top anyway – who cares?"

I grinned at him. "And that, Parker, is an excellent point."

Anna was waiting for me in the car park when we pulled up and she wasted no time in saying hello to Parker before pulling me into a hug and squealing. "Can you believe we're graduating today? This is it!"

I smiled and laughed at her. "I can't really believe it either. A year ago I wasn't even going to this school…"

Parker wrapped an arm around my waist and Anna glanced at the clock on her phone. "Well, we pretty much have free periods until eleven so what do you want to do?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. Now that exams are over I just want to relax."

Anna grinned at me. "Excellent idea! Now, I'll be back soon; I have to go find Tiffany. Lauren and Collin are going to be late. They're, uh, busy."

I smirked. "Of course."

Anna smiled as she walked way and Parker leaned down to my ear. "Anna is so energetic all of the time," he whispered.

The way his breath hit my ear made it tingle and shivers ran down my body. "I know. It kind of makes me feel dull around her."

Parker pulled me more tightly against him. "You, Imogen, are not dull," he murmured before lightly kissing my forehead.

"Well, it looks like we have some free time. What do you want to do?" I asked. A few seconds later the bell rang and everyone who wasn't a senior went to class.

"What about the big tree out the back? No one should be there."

I smiled. "Good idea."

He took my hand as he led me around the back and, just as expected, the place was deserted. The other seniors must be coming late or are somewhere else. Parker sat down with his back against the tree and I sat in his lap, leaning against him. He absently began stroking patterns across my stomach and I relaxed into him. "Mm, that feels good," I murmured lazily.

His fingers then moved lower and began playing around the edges of my shirt. His fingers were warm against my skin. But then I started laughing because I'm really ticklish and he rolled his eyes at my reaction.

"Do you know what college you're going to yet?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It's hard to choose." I gave threw him a pointed look. "I'm pretty sure it'll be easier to choose when I finally find out where you're going."

He smirked. "Xavier college."

I smiled as I lay down and rested my head in his lap. He started to stroke my hair. "Really? I wanted to go to that one too."

He nodded. "Good."

We were silent then for a while. I was feeling kind of sleepy and he seemed to be thinking about something else. He never stopped stroking my hair though. After a while he smiled for no apparent reason and I raised an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny?" I asked him.

"I was just remembering the swim day. Do you remember how bad at throwing you were? You'd make a terrible life guard," he laughed.

I smacked his stomach but started laughing with him. "And then you saved me and gave me CPR right in front of everyone."

He smirked. "I'm very heroic," he murmured.

I rolled my eyes. "What was it like, giving me CPR?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged. "I can't say I was really paying much attention to what it felt like. I was too preoccupied with worry, plus I was concentrating hard on doing it right."

"Uh huh," I said skeptically.

He then started laughing again. "And do you remember how you kept slipping over? You're so uncoordinated."

"Hey, sport just isn't my thing," I said defensively. He smiled and murmured something in Italian. "What did you just say?" I demanded.

He raised an eyebrow. "You managed to pass the Italian finals with 90% - you tell me."

"I still don't know how I managed to do that," I murmured incredulously. "You must be a really good tutor."

"Not as good as you," he murmured.

"I know – you're now a mathematical genius with 98% on the final. All thanks to me, of course," I said jokingly.

He smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately, probably messing it up. I couldn't quite care though. "You got 99% though," he pointed out.

I snorted. "So? Who was among the best in the country with English?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes and looked over at the horizon. I looked at him instead. His face was catching the sun just right, complimenting his amazing bone structure perfectly. His green eyes seemed so intense in the light.

I reached up and placed my hand against his cheek, trapping some of his hair in the process. He looked down at me and smiled, his eyes softening. He slowly leant down and softly pressed his lips against mine. My arms curled around his neck and locked on tightly as I held onto him.

He positioned himself better over me, using one of his hands to keep him propped up. The other hand was curled tenderly around my neck. His tongue began to smoothly trace along my bottom lip and I shivered. My hands began to wonder as the traced the muscles of his chest. I still found it hard to believe that an eighteen year old could have such a good body.

But then just as we were really getting into it my phone rang, sending vibrations through my body. I sighed as I pulled back from Parker to see who it was. Anna. I frowned. "I should probably take this… she hates it when I don't answer," I murmured to Parker. He said nothing but instead moved his lips to my neck and brushed my now messy hair out of the way.

"Hey, Anna," I said as I answered my phone.

"We can go pick up our gowns now!" she squealed.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Ten," she said promptly. Wow; only two more hours left. It was kind of disorienting.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Out the front of the school. Meet me there in five minutes."

I sighed wistfully, very aware of Parker's lips against my skin. "Ok," I agreed before we hung up.

"What did she want?" Parker asked as he pulled away.

"She wants us to meet her out front the school in five minutes so that we can pick up our gowns," I told him as I took out my hair.

He caught a strand as it flew in the wind and slowly tucked it behind my ear, sending a shock through my body. "I think you should wear your hair out," he said absently.

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Ok," I agreed.

We lingered for another minute before getting up and going to the front of the school. Anna was already there waiting with Tiffany, Lauren and Collin. Lauren and Tiffany squealed and hugged me when they saw me, a lot like Anna had. I awkwardly hugged them back; I never really understood why some girls hug all the time.

"Why do girls always hug each other?" Collin asked Parker, his thoughts apparently in line with mine.

"I have no idea," Parker answered.

We weren't the only ones there to pick up our gowns. Once we got them the girls wasted no time in whipping theirs on. Collin, Parker and I hesitated though, unwilling to throw on another layer in this heat. The six of us went back out the front and Parker went off to go and find Kyle. I'd met Kyle now but I don't think we related very well. He had seemed very quiet and nonchalant but, for some reason, I got the vibe that he approved of me. Parker had told me that he liked me but I was still skeptical.

Mum arrived at five to twelve and I was only able to give her a quick hello before I took my seat along with my class mates in front of the stage. The principal addressed us all, telling us what a wonderful year group we'd been (probably saying the same stuff he said every year) and then the special awards were given out. Parker was named the valedictorian and I cheered for him loudly as he went up on stage. I really wasn't surprised that he got it.

Then we were all called up one by one, in alphabetical order, to receive our diplomas. Mum took a picture of me when I got mine. When it was all done some people were in tears, including mum. She found me and gave me a huge hug, telling me how proud she was of me. Then she surprised me by giving me car keys. "It's about time you got your own car, anyway. It's in the parking lot," she said, fighting back tears.

Then Parker found me. He swept me up into his arms and gave me a strong kiss that I was all too happy to comply to. Then I heard a click and turned to see mum had taken a picture. She winked at me before going off to find Anna's mum – who she gets along with like a long lost sister.

Parker laughed and held me against is chest. "Congratulations on valedictorian."

"Congratulations on your new car," he murmured.

I smiled as I looked down at the keys. "Now I don't need to rely on you to drive me places… but I still don't mind if you do," I said suggestively.

He laughed and turned me around so that he could re-capture my lips with his. "I love you," he murmured against my lips.

I smiled in the midst of the kiss. "I love you too."

And then voila! This story is officially complete.

Thank you to all of you so much. The response for this story has been amazing. I hope you all really liked it :)

And if you want more you can always read my new story Insomniac Road… I'll be continuing with that one now again. (wink wink nudge nudge ;))

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed 'My Dilemma' :)