Back from camp… YAY! My head's totally messed up, including my TV schedule… I thought that Sex and the City is on 1AM on Sunday, but that's the time for an anime… hate summer camps.

I don't know if I'm just being paranoid, but I keep having this feeling that my stories are all so repetitious. I don't know… one thing really bad about summer is that my random thoughts start to come out and roam my brain freely without the schoolwork suppressing them down…


Beyond Yesterday

I hopped into the cafeteria at the start of fifth period as usual, and my eyes automatically moved to the table on the freshmen side where Mulder and I sat everyday. But he was not there. I shrugged and walked over, pulling out my lunch. Maybe a vexing teacher delayed him. Maybe he was in one of those subject help rooms. He probably would be showing up later. Ten minutes later someone showed up. But it wasn't Mulder; it was Ellie.

"Hey there," She said, gathering her hair into a bun. I looked at her questioningly, and she replied, "Chemistry drop day."

"You look like as if something exploded in your face," I said, noticing traces of black soot on her face.

"Almost." She waved her hand around her head angrily as if chasing away flies, "I was helping a freshie with her lab makeup, and she heated the whole thing up way too high—we're using Fahrenheit and she thought it was Celsius—so the thing started boiling in less in a minute. You should see the mess."

"Sure. Hey, do you know where Mulder is?"

"Mulder?" she cocked her head to one side. "Haven't seen him yet. Wait a minute—what's today's date?"

"November twenty-seventh," I replied, wondering what did the date got to do with Mulder's mysterious disappearance.

"Aha—that's it!" she slammed a fist down on the table, nearly spilling our orange juice, and startling some other people sitting around us. "His sister disappeared on November twenty-seventh. That's why."

 "His sister disappeared on November twenty-seventh?" I repeated numbly; to me it didn't seem to be a good reason to miss school for one day.

 "Yeah. Hey, why don't you go over and visit him this afternoon?"

 "Me?" I looked up at her, surprised. "Why?"

 "I think it would be the best for him if he could find someone to tell his story which nobody believes," she said, and then added, "I'd go myself, but I've been listening to his story for four years and I've got to stay after school to help another kid with his math homework. Got to get more volunteer hours—just need six more and I'll have ninety hours on record!"

I couldn't think of anything else to do but to stare right at her. "You spent all those hours on volunteer work?"

Ellie smiled, looking quite pleased with herself. "Yep. Looks good on college applications. You should start doing that too. Anyway, are you going to visit him or not?"

I shrugged. "Sure, as soon as I get my biology and geometry homework done."

 "I'll help you out right now," she said eagerly, her hand searching for a pencil in her bag. "Now where did my pencil go? I'm positive—"

 "That you used it was a hair stick," I said, pointing at her bun. Her hand quickly reached behind her head and pulled the pencil free from her hair.

 "Damn. Need to go shopping for hair sticks this weekend… wanna come?"

 "I'll have to ask my mom first," I replied, pulling out the packets my teachers had handed out during class.

 "Okay. Oh and remember, when you go visit Mulder this afternoon… don't try to judge his story. Just listen."

***

I knocked on the wooden door and stepped back, wishing that I hadn't told Ellie I'd come. Mulder and I were friends, but we were not that familiar with each other. I didn't feel comfortable to share his secret.

As I waited for someone to open the door, I tried to imagine what it would be like, if Melissa was taken away from me. Sure, we've fought before, but didn't all siblings do that? I probably would never be able to stand my parents and brothers without her.

The door opened, making a creaking sound and interrupted my train of thoughts. A mid-age woman, whom I assumed to be Mulder's mother, appeared in the doorway. "Yes?" she inquired. I took a deep breathe. Relax, relax. You're just dropping by because he wasn't in school and you're worried. No big deal.

 "Uh, is Mulder… is Fox home?"

 "Yes he is. May I ask your name?"

 "I… I am Dana Scully, his friend from school… he wasn't in school today so I thought I'd just, uh, drop by and see if he's… alright."

She cocked a questioning eyebrow at me. Just like Mulder. "Yes I believe that he is alright. At least, that was what he said. Today is… just a date that sometimes prove to be too much for him."

 "Samantha disappeared today, didn't she?" I blurted. Mrs. Mulder stared at me, her look a mixture of suspicion and shock, and I quickly added, "Ellie told me. You know, Ellie Rosenberg."

A faint smile curled up at the corners of her mouth. "Ah yes, Ellie. She's a nice girl," her eyes surveyed my face. "And you must be one too. Fox and Ellie both got an instinct when it comes to people. Come on in."

She waved me into the living room, and then went to the foot of the stairs. "Fox? A friend is here to see you. Come down."

 "Is it Ellie?" Mulder's familiar voice drifted down the stairs; "She can come up."

Mrs. Mulder glanced back at me. "No Fox, your friend Dana is here. Now come down, please."

There was a pause, and then he said, "She can come up. I don't mind."

His mother sighed rather heavily, "Well, I suppose he can have it his way for today." She turned to face me. "This way, please."

I followed her up the stairs, thinking what a queer family this was.

***

 "Didn't think I'd see you around here," Mulder said as I stood in the doorway of his room, watching him lying flat on his back in his bed.

 "You weren't in school and I was worried," I said, and he turned his head to look at me.

 "That's really thoughtful of you. Where's Ellie?"

 "She has to stay after school to help someone with homework."

He sat up in his bed. "Stocking up her volunteer hours again, I see."
I stared at him and he looked down on his hands. Finally I said, "Do you want to talk about your sister… how she disappeared?"

He smiled humorlessly. "You won't believe it. No one has ever believed it. Not even my parents. Or Ellie. Sometimes I don't believe it myself either."

I went into his room and pulled a chair next to his bed. "I usually would prefer to share the load with someone in this kind of situation. Take some weight off the shoulders, you know."

He shook his head. "You won't understand."

 "Come on. It's not like I've never lost a family member before. My grandfather died when I was ten. I know how much it hurts, to have someone close to you taken away."

He suddenly seemed very interested in the patterns on his bed cover. "But your grandfather did not float out of the window in a beam of blue light, did he?"

 "No. Actually, he was carried to a cemetery by my father and uncles," I admitted.

He lay down on his bed again and covered his eyes with one arm. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, until he pushed himself up against the wall. "You should go home. Don't you have homework?"

 "Ellie helped me get them out of the way. And I'm not leaving until I know what happened on this day years ago."

He stared at me and I stared back. He sighed, throwing a pillow at me. "We're not in a staring contest, Dana."

I caught the pillow and threw the pillow back at him. "I'm not giving up either way."

He placed the pillow down and leaned against the wall. "You sure you want to know?"

I nodded. "Why else would I be here?"

He grinned wearily. "Okay, then." Closing his eyes as if trying to concentrate on the memory, he began in a dreamy tone.

 "It all happened when I was twelve. We were just normal siblings, you know. Fighting and arguing with each other and our parents…"

***

Mulder opened his eyes and looked at me. I was still in shock, and I bet my jaws were touching the floor. "Told you that you won't believe it."

 "It's just hard to believe; you don't hear things like that happening everyday."

 "Yeah?" suddenly his eyes flickered to life, filled with anger, sorrow, and confusion all at the same time. "I bet it's happening everyday; but they are covering it up."

 "They?" I looked at him, confused. "Who are 'they?'"

Mulder waved a hand dismissively. "You won't believe. You won't want to believe it if I tell you right now. Besides," he glanced at the clock, "You should get going now. It's late."

I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost six in the evening. "Oh no!" I jumped out of the chair, grabbing my bag. "I'll be late for dinner!"

He got up from the bed and stretched. "See? That's how long it takes to tell a crazy story."

 "It's not crazy," I protested, although all my logics were screaming that he definitely was a nutcase, just like Bill and his friends said. My intuition, which lacked exercise, however, was telling me that Mulder was telling the truth. He was telling exactly what he saw and knew.

 "Thanks, even if you do think it's crazy." He grinned, leading me to the front door.

His mother smiled at me warmly as she handed me my jacket and scarf. "You sure you don't want to stay for dinner? Fox's father is going to be late again, so there will be enough for everyone if you stay."

 "Thanks, but my mother doesn't know that I'm here and I don't want to make her worry."

 "Well, you're always welcomed to stay the next time you visit." She nodded, and then went to the kitchen.

 "Your mother is nice too," I commented, pulling my jacket on. Mulder nodded in agreement.

 "Yeah. She could be unbearable sometimes though."

 "All parents have their 'unbearable moments,' Mulder. That's what makes them parents instead of just people with kids."

We laughed, and I looked at him inquiringly. "I'll see you fifth period tomorrow?"

 "Fifth period, tomorrow." He nodded. "Thanks for being here and listening to me, Dana. It means—it means a lot to me. Not a lot of people are willing—"

I cut him off before he could finish the sentence. "It's nothing." I could feel tears swelling behind my eyes when I looked into his sad puppy eyes, and I held them back stubbornly and managed a smile. "That's what friends are for, right?"

He smiled back. "Yeah. That's what friends are for. So… see you later."

 "Yeah, later." I turned around and started walking down the street.

And when I heard the door clicked shut, I cried. For Mulder and Samantha.

***

Oh crap… my mind still isn't working the right way. I hope this didn't suck. I was working on another story but had to stop in the middle because my mind refused to cooperate. And it takes work to write a story that involves high school during summer.

Anyway, if you enjoyed the November chapter, REVIEW! If you didn't, well then… flame away. They will be appreciated and used to burn down all Regents review books.

See you guys in the reviews… bye now! Got to catch some more sleep…