Brighter than Sunshine

Every year since 1968, the Block family had vacationed in Nantucket, Massachusetts. William Block and his brother, James Block, carried on his tradition with their families. Both Block families would summer together in Nantucket, and they kept the tradition alive. William and his wife Kendra had two daughters that were two years apart, Claire and Massie. Claire was the eldest, and Massie the youngest. During the particular summer in question, Claire was seventeen and Massie was fifteen. James and his wife Lily had two daughters and one son. Henry was nineteen, Dylan was seventeen, and Kristen was fourteen.

But this particular summer, there was a change underway. Henry had recently completed his freshman year at Princeton University, and he was committed to a summer internship in England.

Four girls, ready to have the summer of their lives. United by the bonds of family and friendship. Four girls, each more different than the next. They each had their own interests and ways of looking at things, but they all loved their family.

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MASSIE

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Massie Block tossed one of her monogrammed suitcases onto the floor next to the twin-sized bed. She grabbed the other one that was waiting in the hallway outside her room and put it next to the first one. She would deal with putting her clothes in the closet later.

Massie grabbed a bunch of book out of her suitcase and put them on the shelf. She was known as the "intellectual" cousin. Massie got straight A's without trying, and always carried around a bunch of books with her. She loved to read as much as she loved music. Massie spent most of her free time either listening to music, reading, or playing guitar.

Massie crossed the room and threw open the window. The warm Nantucket air wafted in and surrounded her. She breathed in, enjoying the slightly salty scent it left. The vibrations of her iPhone pulled her out of her pseudo-trance. It was from Charlize, her best friend back in Westchester.

Charlize: Hows Ntckt? NY is lame w/o u! Im going 2 hmptns nxt week. Say hi 2 ur cousins 4 me!

Massie: Its gr8! Just got here. Rly xcited 4 summer. Hv fun in the hmptons!

Massie quickly texted Charlize back and turned off her phone. She had been looking forward to being in Nantucket all year, and now that she was finally there, she didn't want to miss a minute of it by thinking about life in New York.

Massie loved their Nantucket "cottage". It was on a bluff overlooking the beach, and they had the best sunsets. Massie and her family had stayed there since she could remember with her dad's brother's family. Massie parents and her Aunt Lily and Uncle James would all hang out together while all the cousins would go to the beach.

"MMMAAASSSIIEEE!!" A blonde ponytail flashed by Massie's and she was quickly engulfed in a hug. Massie eagerly hugged her cousin then stepped back.

"Oh my gawd, Kristen!" Massie gaped. Her cousin Kristen had shot up at least three inches since the last time they had seen each other. "Your like my height now!"

"I'm five eight!" Kristen exclaimed proudly. She went in for another hug. "I've missed you so much… I feel like this is going to be the best summer ever."

"It can be; as long as we don't let my dad near the barbeque!" Massie joked. She and Kristen chuckled at the memory of Massie's father, William, insisting that he grill the burgers for their family cookout instead of the live in chef. He ended up burning them and tossing the flaming burgers into the pool.

"Obviously. Hey where's your sister?" Kristen asked. She was referring to Massie's older sister Claire. Massie and Claire were two years apart but very close. Claire was 17, while Massie was 15.

"I have no idea. I guess Claire was in here earlier, but she bailed." Massie gestured at the bags near Claire's bed. "She must have gone to find Dylan."

"Ugh. Those seventeen year olds. Just because they're six months apart they think they're specialer than us." Kristen pretended to pout. "Whatever. You need to finish packing, young lady. I want to go to the beach."

"I'll do it later. You know I'm into procrastination." Massie grinned. "Let's go downstairs and see if Dyl and Claire want to go with us."

Kristen and Massie flew down the stairs and almost crashed into their parents and another random couple of adults. Massie caught herself and straighten up.

"Massie! Kristen! I'm so glad you came down!" Massie's mom Kendra gestured to their guests. "The Von Berg's were nice enough to stop by and say hello."

" Girls! So nice to see you!" Ms. Von Berg simpered. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Massie your fifteen now right? And Kristen is fifteen also?"

"I'm actually fourteen, Ms. Von Berg." Kristen smiled brightly. Massie could tell she was uncomfortable. Both of them hated talking to adults.

"Now that's a great age!" Mr. Von Berg butted in. "I remember one time when I was fourteen me and a couple of my friends bought these fireworks…"

"Excuse us. We have to go find Claire and Dylan." Massie interrupted Mr. Von Berg as politely as she could and she and Kristen raced out of the room. Once she and Kristen were safely on the deck, they were free to talk. "I haateee the V.B.'s!"

"OMG, same!" Kristen acted shocked and then giggled. "Okay, where are those idiots?"

"Who are you calling idiots?" Claire appeared at the French doors with Dylan following her closely. Claire grinned and enveloped Kristen in bear hug. Dylan came out of the house and hugged Massie.

"Mass! You look great!" Dylan gave her a once over. "I absolutely adore your outfit!"

"Thanks! You look amazing also!" Massie said in reply. Dylan was the resident fashionista of the family. She was without the current issue of Vogue in her beach bag.

"We were going to head down to the beach. You guys in?" Kristen offered to the older girls.

"Sure!" Claire and Dylan looked at each other and nodded. The four girls then proceeded up the stairs to change into their swimsuits.

Massie and Claire went into their room and Dylan and Kristen went into their adjacent room. Massie threw open the suitcase with her swimsuit and started rifling through. On the other side of the room, Claire was tossing her swimsuits on her bed. The bright colors of her bikinis provided bold contrast to the crisp cream bedding and the neutral walls.

"Claire! Please don't make a mess! We just got here!" Massie whined to her sister.

"I'm just picking out a swimsuit, then I will put the rest away! Gawd, chill." Claire replied. She settled on a white and pink embellished bikini and threw the rest back in her suitcase.

Massie decided to wear green-knotted bikini. She quickly put it on then grabbed a short black dress as a cover up and some sandals.

"You ready?" Massie asked Claire.

"Umm. Yes." Claire grabbed her LG Shine off her bed and stuffed it in her beach bag, along with magazines, sunscreen, and a water bottle. "Aren't you going to bring anything?"

"I already put on sunscreen this morning, and you have everything else I will need!" Massie smiled. "Come on, let's go!"

The two sisters left their room in a state of organized chaos, and charged into the room next door. Dylan was stuffing Elle and Lucky into her already packed to the brim beach bag, and Kristen was pulling on a pair of jean shorts over her black bikini.

The four cousins left the house and started towards the beach. The best way to get to the beach was to go down some stairs, then down a small path. The path took you directly to Sandy Cove Beach. It was a public beach with lifeguards, but it had little to no parking. Because there was barely any parking, not many people came unless they had a permit or lived in one of the large houses on the bluff, like the cousins.

The four girls set down their stuff on prime real estate near the lifeguard tower. Massie lay her striped towel down between Dylan and Kristen's towel.

"Hey, Claire! Do you have my sunglasses?" Massie leaned over Dylan and asked her sister. Claire reached in her bag and pulled out Massie's Ray Ban aviators out of her tote. Massie slid them on. "Thanks."

"Mm. Check out hottie lifeguard over there." Dylan gestured with her Tom Ford oversized shades. "Three o'clock."

"The blonde or the brunette? There are two of them." Claire surreptitiously checked them out. "They're both pretty cute."

"I was talking about the blonde. You can have the brunette." Dylan offered with a gracious smile.

"Your too sweet!" Claire joked. "Should we go talk to them?"

"Sounds good." Dylan slowly got up and dusted herself off. She extended her hand to Claire and helped her up. "Bye, kids!"

Massie and Kristen stayed where they were and watched Dylan and Claire talking to their cute lifeguards. Dylan was twirling her hair and giggling while she was talking to the blonde lifeguard, and Claire was flirting with the brown haired lifeguard.

"While they get their flirt on, do you want to go in the water?" Massie asked Kristen. "It's getting too hot just sitting here."

"Definitely!" Kristen smiled. She and Massie started down to the shoreline.

There were barely any waves that day and the water was sparkling under the warm sun. Massie waded out deeper into the aquamarine waters. She loved the feeling of the cool water touching her skin on a warm day.

"This feels sooo nice!" Massie dunked her head and combed her wet hair back.

"Ahh! I think a fish just touched my foot!" Kristen screamed. Massie rolled her eyes. Kristen was becoming more and more like her sister every day. Dylan was the resident drama queen of the family, and she was always making a fuss about something or another. Kristen was the sporty one of the family. All she ever did was play tennis. In the summer, she would even have to wake up early and practice on their private courts outside the house.

"Krissie, its fine. There are like no fish around here!" Massie used Kristen's old nickname. "Hey, where are Claire and Dylan going?"

Claire and Dylan were going towards their abandoned towels. Once they reached the towels they stood there in a confused manner and scanned the beach. Once the spotted Kristen and Massie, they strolled towards them.

"Guys, c'mere!" Claire motioned for the girls to join them where she and Dylan stood at the shoreline. Kristen and Massie obeyed and swam back in.

"What's going on?" Kristen asked once she and Massie had gotten out of the water. Kristen wrung the salty water droplets from her dirty blonde hair as she waited for the answer.

"Chris and Kemp invited us to a bonfire tonight!" Dylan squealed. "You guys can come too, they said! Chris said his younger brother and sister are going to be there and they are around your age!"

"How do we know that they aren't total freaks?" Kristen asked. "And by the way, are Chris and Kemp the two lifeguards?"

"Chris said that they were cool, so I'm taking his word because he is hot." Dylan sniffed. Claire nodded in agreement. Dylan continued. "And Chris is the blonde one, and Kemp is the brunet."

"Okay. We'll go." Massie gave in. The girls headed up the beach and lay back down on their towels. Massie spoke again. "Doesn't it feel weird being here without Henry?"

"Yeah, I guess. I miss him. But at least he's coming back next summer." Claire leaned back. A couple of preteen boys walked by and stared at Claire and she glared back at them. "Keep walking."

"So the bonfire starts around eight. I think we should get there at nine." Dylan grabbed some sunscreen from her bag. "Thoughts?"

"Works for me." Massie said. Kristen and Claire both nodded. Massie noticed that Claire wasn't really paying attention and she was looking at the lifeguards again. But it was the blonde one who was looking back at Claire, not the brunet she had originally talked to.

Whatever. Massie thought. Its probably nothing. But she couldn't shake the feeling that Claire was not paying attention for the rest of the time at the beach.