learning by crash and burn

September 2079 - Sheldon and Alana Fortney are 47, Melissa is 12.

Melissa Fortney is twelve now. She's a quiet girl, doesn't make a fuss, doesn't get into trouble. She likes to go hiking, and they live just down the hill from the cemetery, which besides being a little creepy, is a nice quiet place to hike to sometimes. Melissa has always been an outdoorsy kind of girl.

Sheldon is working as an elementary school teacher now, having been promoted to full time from substitute status. Alana is still working as a hostess at Deppiesse's Lakefront Bistro.

Melissa is going out with her cousin and best friend, Lucy for the night, and Alana and Sheldon invite their friends over to celebrate his new promotion.

Sheldon, Blake, and Berjes: the three musketeers (+Clarice) - these guys have been best friends for the longest time, since before any of them had wives or children.

Aurora Miguel makes small talk with Micah Phoenix about his work...

While Adrian Jackson and Sophie Phoenix are having quite the intense conversation! What's going on here?

Blake and Clarice Miller got a babysitter, to drive all the way from Lake City, and talk about the baby anyway? Ah, new parents. Well, at least one of these couples spent the evening with each other... This party is starting to look like an episode of Wife Swap!

So what is going on with these two after all? Adrian and Aurora may have an open relationship, but Sophie and Micah do not. And beyond that even, his son is dating her granddaughter!!! Surely there must be some things off limits! For the kids, Adrian, for the kids!

***

But the grown-ups aren't the only ones having fun around here. Melissa has some friends over after school the following weekend. But this was certainly not Melissa's idea. Nobody really sees Melissa Fortney, she's so shy. In fact, they probably don't even know they're at Melissa's house!

This party was Lucy's doing, and Lucy knows everybody! Across the street, Lucy has a little brother and sister at home, and no pool. "Come on, Mel, it'll be fun!" she says. Maybe it will. But Melissa just blends into the background as Lucy's friends pour in the door. All the teenagers who ever existed in the world, and their friends, and girlfriends and boyfriends, and neighbors... one last pool party before they close up the pool for the fall.

Tyler and Summer have been dating for over two years now and still going strong. It seems Tyler wasn't phased much at all by Stephanie Nova going off to college. Silly school boy crushes, you know.

Tyler isn't sure about commitments or settling down or long-term planning, or anything, though he doesn't mind now if Summer wants to call him her boyfriend. He thinks it's important that they not take things too seriously, at their age. Even so, Tyler Jackson knows where his heart is.

Seriously, he knows. Summer has to take off early to see her grandparents, and then Fiona McCullough tries her charms on him, and he says, "Dude, you're like, twelve!"

Beau Jackson will gladly make a fool of himself it it means getting his girlfriend Yvette into her bathing suit.

Melissa just hovers in the background most of the night, but she isn't invisible to everybody, and it isn't long before a cutie named Elijah strikes up a conversation. Elijah is fourteen and in the eighth grade at Lakeside Heights Junior High School. It's a good thing he's not shy, because she never would have had the guts to do it on her own.

Fiona isn't quite giving up on Tyler. Not yet. Sure, they're playing darts, but he doesn't know she's plotting his ultimate demise... or one single kiss at least. She just has to figure out how...

Awww, a moonlight dance under the stars? Or did Beau just want to get closer to her because she's only got her bathing suit on??? Beau really really likes her in that bathing suit!

Lucy is glad to spend the evening entertaining Dallas with her sparkling wit, which she is free to do since his girlfriend Vicky couldn't make it to the party. Lucy guesses she was kind of slow to notice, but she always enjoyed spending time with Dallas. Really really enjoyed spending time with him. And she's starting to realize what that might mean...

Well, she thought Dallas liked spending time with her too, so she thought she'd change the tone of their conversation, and oh my... Poor Lucy. She just got the wrong idea!

Totally wrong idea!

She's mortified. She doesn't know if she can ever talk to Dallas ever again. She's blatantly ignoring him as she plays a game of rock-paper-scissors with Tyler, because she just can't even stand to look Dallas in the face right now.

But the thing is, Dallas does think Lucy is pretty. And he does like her very much. He didn't mean to seem so angry - it was just shock, and surprise. And he has an actual girlfriend now. He doesn't really know what to say either.

Fiona thinks, maybe if she teases Tyler, he'll like her? Tyler knows, from experience, having outgrown that annoying noogie phase of his life, that's just not the way it works. Ahhh, Fiona has a lot to learn about romance, doesn't she?

Though, Fiona has in her arsenal something Tyler never had in his young adolescence - bouncing blonde curls, big brown eyes, and the breasts of a fifteen-year-old! Towards the end of the night, Fiona finally gives up on Tyler and finds another young man to prey on.

Fiona says, "Hi, I don't really know you, but do you want to make out?"
Dude says, "Sure."

First kiss, score! Maybe some girls are all about making things happen, rather than waiting around for the guys to make a move. We just might have our hands full with this one!

Still ignoring Dallas...

Lucy stays over for the night, after the party, and Melissa makes them a late dinner after the guests have left. You know, all that socializing works up an appetite. Melissa really had a lot of fun. And she met Elijah, who seems like a really nice guy. "It was a good party," Melissa says. "I'm glad you suggested it. Did you have fun?"

Lucy doesn't answer. She's too busy spilling her guts into her journal. She can't believe how dense she was! She wonders if she'll ever be able to talk to Dallas again. She could just die! She's mortified, shamed, embarrassed, and she can't even bear to say it out loud!