Summer of '79 (2/3)
By Deepblue21

They sat in silence for a while, occasionally murmuring a thought or musing, 
completely comfortable to say anything to each other. Dana eventually layed her head 
into the boy's lap to get a better view of the sky. He tried to point out all the 
constellations and galaxies he remembered from science class. He wasn't doing very 
well. Dana knew more about the stars' names than he did.
"Maybe you should be telling me about the stars," Fox said affectionately as he 
ran a hand through her hair. Her hair was almost dry now but it was still so soft.
"No," Dana shook her head as her blue eyes shined up towards him. "Tell me 
some more stories about your family." He had been telling her old family stories that his 
mother had told him about his ancestors. Little anecdotal stories like his great-
grandfather's journey to America from Russia and his grandmother's bold decision to 
marry a poor Russian immigrant's son during the Depression.
"I don't remember these stories very well, you know. My mom told me these 
years ago as bedtime stories."
"What, she didn't read you Mother Goose nursery rhymes like my mom did?"
"Not exactly. Anyway, I'm probably mixing a lot of fact and fiction."
"That's all right, as long as they're entertaining, right?"
"Sure. So what do you want to hear about now?" He liked telling her stories, even 
if he had to create a little bit of history whenever his memory blanked out on him during 
these tales.
"Tell me your favorite family story. The one you remember the best." She 
couldn't get enough of the great view she had of him right now. His handsome face was 
illuminated by the moonlight and she could better admire his strong cheekbones and full 
lips.
Fox thought about it for a while and finally decided to tell her about his 
grandmother's sister, his great-aunt Meg, who had been a Red Cross nurse in Europe 
during World War II. She had fallen in love with a German Nazi soldier who was a 
prisoner of war in the now Allied-occupied Italy. Meg and her German soldier were 
planning to escape the war and go to Switzerland. But during their escape, Meg's friends, 
out of fear for her safety and suspicion of the soldier's true motives, had told some Allied 
officers of the couple's plan. Their plan backfired tragically, they were shot while trying 
to escape across the Italian border. They died in each other's arms. 
After he finished the story, he looked down at the girl's face. Her shining blue 
eyes were staring right back up at him, only now they were filled with tears. 
"That is the saddest story I have ever heard in my life," She told him.
"Yes, it is," Fox agreed. "But terribly romantic, don't you think?"
"Terribly."
He leaned forward, hesitating only for a second, and kissed her again. This kiss 
was much different than their first tentative one. This one was more passionate. She put 
her hands into his hair to bring him closer to her. It was one of the sweetest and most 
thrilling kisses that either would ever experience for a long, long time.
"Hey." An outsider's harsh voice interrupted the happy duo's thoughts. 
Fox broke the kiss and looked up in surprise. Still laying in the boy's lap, Dana 
looked up to see Billy standing a few feet away from them. He had seen them. The 
couple looked at the intruder in shock and embarrassment, but neither made a move to 
separate. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his face looked accusing and 
disappointed.
"It's ten o'clock."
"Oh, okay." Dana reluctantly untangled herself from the boy's arms. She got up 
and brushed the sand out of her towel. She tried not to look at either of them because she 
was sure her face must have been flaming.
Fox felt the cold air immediately as the girl had left his arms. He silently looked 
up and watched as she got up and walked over to her brother. 
She looked back over her shoulder at him, biting her lip. He was still sitting there 
in the exact same position he had been in when they had kissed.
"Where's your sweatshirt?" Billy said a little harshly.
"What?" Dana was still looking at the boy.
Billy shook his head impatiently. "Your sweatshirt. You took it out here with 
you?"
"Oh yeah," Dana remembered she had left it on the other end of the beach. She 
had forgotten it when the boy had taken her to the rocks. 
"You better go get it," Billy glanced at the boy. "I'll wait here."
Dana looked at her brother suspiciously. "Don't do anything stupid," She 
whispered to him before she ran off in search of the errant sweater.
As soon as she left, Fox got up and brushed the sand off of him. He smiled at the 
other boy. They looked about the same age. Fox walked up to the boy who he correctly 
assumed was the girl's older brother.
"Hey," Fox smiled. He was about to introduce himself until he saw the withering 
glance the boy was giving him. Fox stopped in surprise, not sure what to do next.
"She's only fifteen," Billy simply said. "Leave her alone." His eyes were blue like 
his sister's were, but they didn't exude the same warmth as hers, instead his were cold 
and hard. And while he was shorter than this stranger he had just caught groping his baby 
sister, Billy was stockier than the lanky boy. Billy was confident that he could take him, 
if it came down to that.
But the boy looked stunned and said nothing. Billy looked at him through his 
narrowed eyes for a couple more seconds and then turned on his heel and left.
Dana ran up to her brother and shoved her sweatshirt into his hands. "Give me a 
minute," She said as she looked over at the boy on the rocks. She wanted to say good-bye 
properly, without her brother, and maybe get his phone number or address.
"Where are you going?" He watched his little sister as she took some steps over to 
the rocks.
"I'll be there in a minute, William." Dana said as she turned back momentarily, 
and then walked back to the rocks where the boy was standing.
"Hey," Dana said shyly as she got up close to him. She wanted to resume their 
closeness, but she knew that her brother's very unwelcome cameo appearance had 
spoiled it momentarily.
"Hey," Fox answered back, refusing to look at her. He felt so confused and guilty. 
She's only fifteen, he yelled at himself, how could you be so stupid?
Dana immediately noticed his detached behavior. This was much different from 
the boy who had kissed her and wrapped his long arms around her just five minutes ago. 
She smiled softly and reached out to hold his hand into hers like she had done before but 
he quickly crossed his arms.
Dana's smile collapsed. What had happened? She looked over at Billy. He was 
watching them like a stern schoolteacher with his arms folded and his chin up. Billy.
"What did he say to you?" Her voice was shaking. She was trying very hard not to 
cry.
"Nothing." It was a short, curt answer. Dana had never heard this tone before 
from him. The voice he had been using with her before was soft and warm and 
compassionate. She didn't like the change at all.
"Nothing?" Dana echoed, not believing.
Fox finally turned to face the girl. He could barely look her in the eyes. He was 
too scared that if he got lost in her gaze, he would forget that she was fifteen. Forget that 
she was too young for him now.
"You better go," He said in a cold voice. He couldn't believe how hard he was 
sounding, it amazed him that he could make himself sound so unfeeling. "Your parents 
may have a problem with you being up past your bedtime."
The last statement hit her out of nowhere. Her eyes first widened with shock and 
then began to swell with tears. The tears were coming on too much. She wasn't strong 
enough to stop them anymore. 
"All right, then," She whispered, her voice a mixture of pain and anger. She 
turned away quickly, her pride wouldn't allow her to let him see her crying. She slowly 
walked away and didn't let the tears fall until she was safely away from him.
Billy silently followed Dana as they walked off the beach. Once they started and 
were far enough away from the rocks and that boy, Billy wrapped the sweatshirt around 
Dana's shoulders.
"Dana-" He started to say, but he stopped when she shoved him away from her.
"What did you say to him?" Her voice was low and dark, a tone that Billy had 
never heard in his baby sister, ever.
"Nothing." 
Dana laughed harshly, her voice muffled by her crying. "Well at least you both 
got your stories straight."
"You're too young to be doing that kind of thing with a guy that old anyway, 
Dana. So forget about it."
"What the hell did you say to him?" She repeated.
Billy lost his temper. "I told him how old his new little girlfriend was. Or should I 
say how young. Jesus, Dana, the guy was practically my age." He shuddered at the idea of 
necking with a fifteen-year old. 
"It's a good thing I came when I did," Billy continued, his voice steadily rising. It 
was also a good thing no one was out this late, listening to them rant at each other. "He 
could of taken advantage of you. He might have wanted a lot more than kissing and how 
the hell were you going to stop him?"
"I don't need you to protect me," Dana yelled back right into his face. She had 
never been intimidated by her older brother despite the fact that he was much bigger than 
her. "I can take care of myself. It would be my decision, anyway Billy, mine if I wanted 
him to stop or not. It's not yours. So just butt out, Billy, and leave me alone!"
Dana couldn't stand it anymore. She bolted ahead of her brother and ran to the 
house.
Billy sadly watched her sister run away from him. He felt bad for how his little 
sister was feeling right now, but he didn't feel sorry. He would do anything to protect his 
sisters from older guys like that. When he had arrived at the beach to pick up his sister, 
he became concerned when she wasn't in front of the lifeguard stand like she said she 
would be. When he saw a couple sitting rather intimately on the rocks on the other side 
of the beach, he never thought that it would be his sister and some creep. He had to fight 
the urge to grab his sister away from the stranger when he saw the two kissing. It made 
him sick that some guy would take advantage of his sister like that. Thank God he came 
when he did.

Fox hadn't moved since the red-headed girl and her older brother had left him. He 
felt so awful. Where did that spiteful comment come from? The moment he uttered that 
awful zinger, he immediately regretted it once he saw that beautiful face crumple in 
tears. He wanted to apologize immediately, throw himself down on the sand and beg 
forgiveness, but he didn't. Maybe it was better this way.
He was so confused. He didn't know what to think of the beautiful stranger he 
had spent the evening with. They had talked and shared secrets and kisses that were so 
wonderful. He had thought she was younger than him, but not that young. God, he 
thought with a nauseous feeling in his stomach, she was just a little older than Samantha.
Fox glared up at the sky. I don't believe in you anymore, he said defiantly to the 
God who he had praised just ten minutes ago. What kind of God would bring him such a 
beautiful girl who seemed years more intelligent than he and then snatch her away with 
the horrible fact that she was barely a teenager?
 
Dana's parents immediately noticed her change of behavior once she had 
slammed her way into the house that night. They weren't used to seeing their usually 
most well-behaved child acting so moody. She had stomped off to her bedroom and 
slammed the door. Missy was in the room as well and her eyes widened as she watched 
her normally reserved sister sit down and burst into tears right there on the bed.
Missy was immediately at her side. She always had been. "What's wrong, Dana? 
Tell me."
And so she did. The whole wonderful, miserable story spilled out in between 
hiccups, choked back sobs, and fresh tears all over again. After her tearful recollection, 
Dana allowed herself to be engulfed in Missy's sympathetic embrace.
Why are boys like this? She remembered asking her older sister as she wiped the 
tears off on Missy's sweater. Why are they so dumb?
"Because they're programmed differently than us, Dana," Missy said 
automatically. "They're fifteen minutes behind us, always."
"I hate Billy." She didn't mean it. Of course she didn't. But right then she did 
because she had no one else to blame.
"I hate him too, then." Missy replied soothingly, knowing it was what Dana 
needed to hear. Dana didn't need rationale or practical explanations right then, what she 
needed was comfort and understanding. 
There was a knock at the door. Missy and Dana both looked up. Missy's arms 
were around Dana now, supporting her.
"Dana, honey?" Her mother's soft voice could be heard through the door. "Are 
you all right, dear?"
Missy and Dana both looked at each other. Missy attempted to get up to open the 
door, but Dana shook her head. Dana didn't want anyone to see her right now.
"I'm fine, Mom," Dana didn't sound very convincing.
"Oh, okay." Dana could tell her mother was unhappy that she hadn't chosen to 
confide in her. At least, not right now. 
"I left some cut watermelon in the fridge, girls, if you should want any later 
tonight."
"Thanks, Mom." Missy said through the door. The door had been closed the 
entire time. She felt bad, thinking of her mother outside the door trying to talk to her 
girls, wondering why they wouldn't let her in.
Missy and Dana listened as they heard their mother slowly walk away from the 
door.
"I'm sorry," Dana said, her voice shaking with frustration. "I can't tell them this, 
not now. Not when it just happened. Maybe not ever."
"I know," Missy felt so bad for her sister. To have your first kiss and first 
rejection happen within a matter of minutes. She felt like strangling Billy and that 
asshole who broke her sister's heart. How could they have been so insensitive? Poor 
Dana, she thought. She looked absolutely miserable. 
"I just don't get it," Dana could feel the tears building up again. She sighed. She 
thought she had finished all the crying that could possibly come out of her. But just 
thinking of the beautiful hazel-eyed boy made her upset all over again.
"Oh Dana," Missy cried as she hugged her sister again. She hugged her hard, 
trying to take away some of her little sister's pain to make it hurt a little less. "He's not 
worth it, he isn't. I know you might think he's really great, but he's not. Please don't 
cry."
Dana shook her head. "You don't understand, Missy, you didn't see him. You 
didn't talk to him for three hours like I did. He was amazing.I've never met a guy like 
him before. All the other boys I've met have been so obsessed with looking cool and 
making fun of what you say, but he..he listened to me. He understood." Dana looked up 
to the ceiling for a second as the tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to spill over. 
"What if.."
"What if what?" Missy gently prodded.
Dana looked down back at her sister, the tears slowly falling down her cheeks. 
"What if he was the one, the one I've been waiting for, and he's gone now forever?"
Missy laughed softly and took her sister back in her arms. And she had always 
thought that she was the melodramatic one while Dana was the practical one. But then 
again, no one is ever practical when it comes to boys.
"Dana, believe me, that's not the last boy that's going to make you feel this way," 
Missy promised. "There will be plenty of boys who are just as wonderful. And in the rare 
possibility that this boy tonight is the one, then nothing, not even William Scully, Jr. is 
going to stop you two from being together. Soulmates find a way to be together in even 
the worst of circumstances."
"Like you and Jason?"
Missy smiled at the thought of her own boyfriend. "Yes, like me and Jason."
"But I'll never see him again."
"If he's the one, Dana, you will."

Several Days Later..
Dana sullenly watched her parents pack up the luggage in their bedroom. She 
lazily sat in a wicker chair in the corner and didn't even bother to pretend to be reading 
the magazine she was holding. Missy, Charlie, and Billy were getting ready to go to the 
beach one last time. Their week on Martha's Vineyard was coming to an end. They 
begged Dana to come along with them, but she refused. Just as she had refused every 
other time they had asked her that week. After her incident with the hazel-eyed boy and 
Billy's interruption, she hadn't set foot on the beach, instead choosing to sulk in the 
house or go into town and walk aimlessly through the gift shops.
Missy stood outside the doorway with a couple of towels in her hand. She had to 
convince her sister somehow of getting out of the house. Dana couldn't spend her last 
day of vacation cooped up in the house.
"C'mon, Dana," Missy cooed, "The beach, last day. It'll be fun. C'mon Dana, 
you're not going to leave me alone with Billy and Charlie, are you?"
"Sorry." Dana shook her head.  She wasn't going to move.
Missy sighed. "You're being dumb."
"So I'm being dumb."
Missy looked imploringly at her parents for help. 
Maggie walked over to her youngest daughter and put her arms around her from 
the back.
"Missy's right, honey," Maggie softly whispered in  her sullen daughter's ear. 
"You should go out and get some air. You've been cooped up in here for too long."
"I'd rather be here with you guys, Mom."
William cleared his throat and walked over to his Scully women to join their 
conversation. He knew Dana had been upset for most of their vacation over some 
incident she had with a boy on the beach. He knew that much from Billy. And William 
was not at all sorry about Billy's actions. He knew he would have done the same thing 
and possibly given the little twerp who kissed his daughter a good scare. But watching his 
little Starbuck mope around the house so unhappy and so devoid of any spirit broke his 
heart.
"As much as we love being with you Starbuck, wouldn't you rather go out and 
have fun with your brothers and sister?" William asked as he put his hand on his 
Starbuck's shoulder. They were all surrounding her now, all trying to cajole her out of the 
chair and go back out into the world. "Your mother and I are going to return the rental 
car now, anyway. You don't want to be home by yourself, do you?"
"Do you think I'm not old enough to stay home alone?" Dana asked, defensively. 
Why didn't anyone think she was old enough to do anything?
"No," William denied. "It'll just be very boring for you." He paused for a second 
and smiled. "What are you so scared of out there, anyway?"
Dana stiffened. "Nothing."
"Then why don't you want to go out with your brothers and Missy? Are you trying 
to avoid someone?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
Dana looked up and glared at her father. He only smiled bigger, realizing his 
victory.

[End of part 2/3]