outshine

August 2081 - Sheldon and Alana Fortney are 49, Melissa is 14. (Lucy Harris is 15.) Last update, September 2079.

This is actually a story about love, in a twisted kind of way. A very powerful love and a lot of fateful choices.

In her life, Alana has learned that there are no right or wrong choices, just the ones you make, and the ones you don't. From every choice brings forth a lifetime of consequences, further choices and more consequences. Was her marriage to Sheldon a mistake, or just a choice? It's hard to call some choices mistakes - if not for this very choice, she wouldn't have her daughter Melissa.

Alana cut things off with Benjamin after she married Sheldon. She wanted to be faithful, or at least she wanted to try, and the way she was with Benjamin couldn't be just friendly. So she abstained from Benjamin, but there were others. Some you may know, but many you don't. But when she failed in some ways, she succeeded in not seeing Benjamin for many years, thirteen to be exact.

But then it all fell apart last summer. She was working the patio at Deppiesse's Lakefront Bistro, on a warm sunny day. He had aged, as she had, but she recognized him instantly. He had always been her drug, and there, on that fateful day in June, she felt herself falling hard off the wagon.

You see, even this townie girl knew it. This is what he does. And as Alana walked back to her podium that day, she knew nothing would ever be the same again.

***

On the morning of their court date, Alana and Sheldon are up at dawn, talking everything over before Melissa wakes.

Let's not give the appearance that this isn't mutual. Sheldon is finished with this marriage too. Alana hasn't exactly been faithful to him, and Benjamin wasn't the first. She's cheated on him many times before. She kept it well hidden from everyone, but he knew. Maybe this was the final straw for both of them.

But if there is one bit of brightness born from the past fourteen years of this union, it is Melissa. They both know Alana doesn't have much of a case for custody, but there will be a ruling anyway.

They're already talking like it's decided. Sheldon says, "If she doesn't want to take violin lessons, then she won't. Don't think you're going to tell me how to raise my daughter."

"Our daughter," Alana says. "She's still OUR daughter."

Should they sell the wedding portrait to pay the legal fees? Really, what are you supposed to do with things like these?

Sheldon's lawyer is Nathan Lind. At first, Sheldon is thinking how is this a lawyer, he's just a baby! How does he even have a law degree??? But it turns out Nathan does, in fact, have a very legitimate and prestigious law degree from Sim State University, and is quite bright. Alana hired George McCarthy, who has an equally legitimate law degree from Lake City University, and Claire Bradshaw presides over the case.

Sheldon is grateful that at least his lawyer managed to wear a suit!

Claire says to Alana, "So you don't have a job where you're going? Or a place to live yet? Can you tell us how you would provide for your daughter?"

George is thinking, Oh crap, I thought she might bring that up! We're so going to lose!

Sheldon adds, "And that's besides the infidelities. That counts, right? And besides, I'm a teacher, I have good standing in the community!"

Alana says, "You teach high school gym class!"

Sheldon says, "It's health and physical education, actually, and home room."

Nathan doesn't say anything. In fact, Nathan doesn't even have to say anything at all the whole time, as the case pretty much speaks for itself.

Claire has come to her decision. She feels that Sheldon can provide better for Melissa, and will receive full custody. Alana will receive summer visitations beginning next summer. Alana will receive 1/3 of the family's $19,000 net worth, and will be ordered to pay a child-support fee of $200 every pay period, until Melissa is 18 or finished with college.

George is thinking, Crap! I hate losing!

Nathan is thinking, Shit, that was the easiest $1000 I ever made!

Claire says, "I declare this marriage absolved. You can pay your fees to the cashier downstairs."

***

After the divorce is finalized, Alana's parents come over to say goodbye. Alana is setting out for Abandia City this afternoon, and Sheldon and Melissa are packing up to move to Lake City - they can't afford to live in Lakeside Heights on a single gym teacher's salary!

Tosha says, "Oh dear, you always were my troubled one, weren't you? Your brothers turned out so nicely."

Alana says, "I don't know, Mom. I'm just trying to exist."

They aren't sure how she actually has the nerve to invite him over here, on the very day of her divorce! Has she no shame??? Tad does not look very proud of his daughter right now. But Benjamin is here to pick Alana up - he has invited her to live with him, and they're riding back together.

Meanwhile, Melissa is out enjoying one last hike through the woods. She's doesn't think Lake City has any forests, and she's kind of worried about where she'll be able to walk. But in the process of saying goodbye to all her favorite hiking trails, she thinks she also picked up some poison ivy!

Itchy!

As if her luck couldn't get any worse, her mother is waiting to say goodbye, and there he is, the man who broke up her family, and her mother actually expects her to meet him. Melissa doesn't wave, but just nods at him. Her grandparents stand by to monitor the situation.

Alana says, "You understand, don't you, honey? Your father and I were just not happy together, and this will be much better for all of us."

Melissa can't see how this could possibly be better for her, and no, she doesn't understand. She can't fathom how her mother can just disassemble their entire family like this, so easily, like it never even meant anything at all.

Farewell Alana. We hope you find what you're looking for. Whatever that is...

***

Sheldon finds them a simple two-bedroom home on the south side of Lake City, just near the community park and sound stage. Melissa is happy to find that there are bugs in the city. She was actually worried about this. They're a little different here though - never in her life had she seen roaches until now! Roaches were not one of the species she was trying to collect, but their trash can keeps getting knocked over, and she's seen more roaches than she ever wanted to see.

Weirdest of all though is a strange woman who drops by one night. And Melissa knows you're not supposed to talk to strangers and all, but this woman is persistent, and just stands there until Melissa looks up and she says, "You're invited to come to Peerless Park."

The strange green woman leaves just as silently as she came, and Melissa is left to wonder, what the heck is Peerless Park???

But Melissa doesn't spend all her time with the bugs. Lucy's dad works at County Hall, and drives her out to the city to hang out on these last few summer days before school starts again. Lucy is always so nice, Melissa can never tell if she really means it when she says, "Sure, I'd love to hang out!" She'd probably rather hang out with Dallas, but she comes anyway.

Melissa Fortney is doomed to live in the shadows of her cousin Lucy - it's the way life works, isn't it? Some are just destined to outshine the others. Lucy turned fifteen this summer, and if it could even be possible for her to get any prettier than she already was, then she has. Lucy starts her freshman year in high school this year, so even though they would have been split up for most of their classes anyway, it's really going to suck being in entirely different schools.

Lucy says, "I feel like I'm being watched for some reason, do you feel that? Am I going crazy?"

Lucy is loved by everyone she meets. Even Vicky Garth would have probably been friends with Lucy, if she hadn't ever tried to come between Lucy and Dallas. Because Lucy is bubbly, kind, genuine, and fun! And Lucy is good at everything she does. Pillow fighting...

Kissing...

And even SSX3. But you know, she's friends with Beau Jackson and always hanging out at their arcade. Oh, how Melissa is going to miss hanging out with Beau just because of Lucy!

Lucy knows she's well liked. She doesn't mean to gloat about it. It isn't even something she tries for. She was just born that way, likable. She says, "God, why do I feel like somebody is watching me???" Lucy turns around and jumps a little at the sight of a rosy-cheeked garden gnome.

Lucy says, "You stole it?"

"No, I didn't steal it," Melissa says. "I found it, while I was out walking."

"Found it where?"

"In a yard."

"So you found something, and just took it? How is that not stealing?"

"Because nobody owned the yard, or at least it didn't look like it, you can't steal from nobody."

Things get a little existential from that point on, and Melissa wonders, if a family ceases to exist, does that mean it was never meant to exist at all? And would that mean that she was never meant to exist at all? It's kind of making her head hurt.

"Don't worry about it," Lucy says. "People get divorced all the time these days."

And how do you know when you're marrying somebody, if some day that marriage won't exist anymore either? Melissa says, "Do you think you and Dallas will get married some day?"

"Married?" Lucy says. "Oh my God, my mom won't even let me go on a real date with him!"

"You wanna know a secret?" Melissa says. Lucy nods. Who can resist a secret? Melissa says, "Well, since I'll probably never see him again, I guess I might as well tell you that I'm pretty much in love with Beau."

"I kind of figured that," Lucy says. "You've got pictures of him all over your wall."

They talk about all kinds of things that night, but mostly about Dallas and Beau. They stay up talking until at least four in the morning. When they finally go to sleep, Melissa whispers, "Lucy..." But Lucy is already asleep. She whispers again, "I'm gonna miss you."

It's the week before classes start again for the fall, and Sheldon has to start preparing his coursework. You know, those health classes do actually have lesson plans.

"You look nice, Dad," Melissa says.

"Thanks, Mel. You know, first day at a new job... Well, there's plenty to eat in the fridge, and you girls be good. Don't get lost in the city or anything, in fact, don't go any further than the park."

Melissa told Lucy about the strange lady she met and the strange invitation, but she thought it was common knowledge not to mention such things in front of parents! Lucy says, "She gave you a membership to a secret club? Oh, no, I'm not allowed to go to one of those, my mom says I could get abducted or something."

Sheldon says as he's getting up to leave, "And no secret clubs!"

When Sheldon has gone, Lucy says, "So, do you want to go to that club then?"

Melissa says, "You just said you weren't allowed."

Lucy says, "I'm not allowed to do anything!"

"No, why don't we just go to the park - there's a festival there or something."

So the girls walk just down the street to the park, where the Lake City Summer Stage Festival is wrapping up its final week.

"Oh my God," Lucy says. "You didn't tell me she was working here this summer. She's gonna beat me up! Do you know how to fight?"

"No," Melissa says. "Do you?"

"No! Why do you think I keep so many friends around?"

Lucy takes off in a sprint. Melissa says, "Oh my God, you don't have to run!" Melissa figures it's a good thing Lucy is so popular, because she really is a dork sometimes!

As they've escaped the non-threat that is Vicky Garth, they stop in front of the bake-sale table and crack themselves up with laughter. Rolling in laughter until their sides hurt. When they finally stop laughing, Lucy looks up and says, "Hey, there's Blair. He's staring at you."

This isn't exactly shocking. Blair is known to stare at Melissa, and since he's been walking her home from school for a few months now, she's gotten somewhat used to it.

She goes over to say hi, and she actually asks, "What are you doing here?" He's working, obviously, though he answers the question anyway. He also says, "Hey, I have a lunch break in about half an hour, are you hungry? I get a discount on the hotdog stand!"

Melissa is actually famished, so that offer is just a little too good to pass up!

She leaves Blair to his cash register, and goes to find Lucy to pass the time.

Melissa isn't at all surprised to discover Lucy has found her way up on stage, and is performing an open-mic comedy routine. Up in the spotlights, just where she always is. So she listens for a while, and it's mildly funny. She also goes over to the pottery table, and maybe it's a little dorky, but she makes a clay plate to take home to her dad.

Blair finally gets his lunch break, and they sit down at the hotdog stand. Melissa says, "So you know you can't walk me home from algebra anymore, cause we moved and everything."

"Yeah," he says. "That's what I heard."

"It was fun though," she says. "The walking. I mean, I'm glad we did that."

Lucy is still entertaining a small crowd as Blair and Melissa finish their hotdogs. But Melissa is wondering why Blair is staring at her so weird. It makes her kind of nervous. She hopes she doesn't have mustard on her face!

He says, "Can I kiss you?"

She says, "Me?" It's a stupid question, maybe. There's nobody else around. "Yeah, okay," she says.

She closes her eyes, because she figures that's what you're supposed to do when you're kissing somebody.

It isn't because she wants to be invisible. For maybe the first time in her life, she is anything but invisible, and it's kind of nice. Though she's a little surprised by it, even if maybe she shouldn't be. Melissa never expected to find that away from the luminescence of her cousin Lucy, she might actually have her own capacity to shine.

***

Further gameplay notes on move-aways:

My move-aways so far have usually been pairs, but I wanted to note that it doesn't have to work that way. Alana drew this round's final move-away event, but that does not mean the whole family has to move. The whole family can move depending on the situation, but they don't have to stay together.

In this case, that restaurant scene really did happen last summer. Alana really does have higher attraction to Benjamin and always has, even when she married Sheldon. And it is true that she probably never would have been with Sheldon except that Benjamin wouldn't give her a family. And I really did take a peek in Alana's memory bank to discover that she had been ALL OVER TOWN behind Sheldon's back, lol! Sheesh! I knew of one infidelity, but was very surprised to discover that she had cheated on him with four or five different men! Where was I when that happened?!?

Anyway, since I ADORE my little bug-hunting photo-taking Melissa, I took it as the perfect opportunity to break up her family instead, lol. So Melissa stays, and she'll be okay, plenty of families divorce these days.

And LOL, Sheldon's divorce memory was green, and said something like "I'm so glad to be rid of that loser" :)