We Say Summer

"Good morning counselors!" an average height woman, who kept her hair tied in a fishtail, spoke into a megaphone. "It's nice to see some of you again. And to those of you I don't know yet, welcome to Oak Hill! My name is Jean Corbett and I look forward to getting to know all of you!" She sounded cheery enough, but something about her struck me as hard-ass-boss-lady; someone whose bad side you did not want to get on.

She cleared her throat and continued. "There are a few things I'd like to cover today, starting with this." She turned off the megaphone, holding it down at her side, and looked straight on at the crowd of teenagers and twenty-something year olds before her. "We have three big rules here." Her voice resonated loud and clear throughout the room, making me wonder why she'd needed the megaphone in the first place.

"One. All campers are to be in bed, lights out by ten o'clock every night. Counselors by eleven."

"Two. There are to be no girls in boys' cabins or vice versa after 9 P.M."

"And Three. Absolutely no alcohol or any illegal substances on camp grounds." At this, one guy wearing a purple t-shirt raised his hand. "No smoking either," Jean said sternly and his hand went right back down. Groans and disgruntled whispers broke out all around me. "Any questions?" Jean asked, her voice once again ringing in my ears.

Yes, I wanted to say. How soon till I can go home?

The rest of the group was quiet, so Jean moved on to the next topic. Once orientation was over, everyone filed outside. The campers wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow morning, so we could do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. People were breaking into groups, heading toward their campsites.

It was easy to pick out the newcomers, like myself, from the rest. We all looked lost and confused, clinging to our map of the grounds as if we were going to be quizzed on it. I didn't want to look as out of place as I felt, so I folded up my map and stuck it in my back pocket.

"You sure you don't need that?"

I turned around and saw some guy with longish brown hair and brown eyes walking toward me. He looked like he was around my age and had on a pair of khaki shorts with a navy blue Oak Hill Staff t-shirt.

"What?" I asked caught off guard by how good-looking he was. It took me a moment to realize he was referring to the map I'd just folded up. "Oh, yeah I'm fine," I said. He didn't seem too convinced.

"Usually new people travel in big groups. Why are you all by yourself?"

"What makes you think I'm new?" I folded my arms.

"Well for starters, I've worked here for five years and I've never seen you before," he said.

"It's a pretty big camp," I countered.

"I would've remembered seeing you," he replied with a confident smile. I blinked a couple times, my face turning a slight shade of pink. Was he trying to flirt with me? "I'm Alex," he said when I didn't answer. "I can help you find your cabin if you want."

"Sure," I heard myself say. "Redwood 4B?"

"I'm in Redwood too," he grinned. The way he was looking at me was making my stomach twist in knots. For a moment I just stared at him. Then, finally snapping myself out of it, I started walking forward.

"You taking me there or not?" I glanced back at him.

He raised his brows, surprised. "Yes ma'am."


"So, what do you think of the place?" Alex turned to me as we continued down the gravel road. All buildings were gone now, replaced with trees, moss, and dirt.

"I don't know. It's hot and there's lots of bugs," I shrugged, my voice monotone.

"That's the spirit," he laughed.

"Camping's not really my thing," I confessed. Even when I was a little Brownie Scout, I never enjoyed the community overnight trips. You never truly valued indoor plumbing until you had to do your business in a smelly little box in the middle of the forest.

"Camp counselor…wise choice," Alex teased, stealing a glance my way. I mustered a smile. It wasn't my choice that was for sure. After everything that happened with my brother, my parents thought it would be good for me to get away for a while.

A change of pace, my dad had said.

They’d come across an ad for Oak Hill in some magazine and saw that they were hiring for the summer. After weeks of not so subtle hinting, I finally agreed to apply.

"Yeah well, I don't mind a challenge," I said, looking straight ahead. We had only been walking for a few minutes, but I could already feel the sweat forming on my upper lip. Alex seemed to sense that I was no longer in the mood to talk, so we continued on in silence. When we approached the first campsite, he stopped abruptly.

"Is this it?" I asked, confused. It obviously wasn't or he would have started walking down the hill to the cabins. I stood next to him, trying to figure out what he was looking at. All I saw were four big log cabins spread out on the field. There was a swarm of guys and girls, toting suitcases and pillows. I looked at Alex again. His face was tight, like he was trying to hold something in.

"This is where the lifeguards stay," was all he said. I mouthed an Oh and we continued down the road. Now Alex was the one who looked like he didn't want to talk. Two campsites and a run-in with a passing chipmunk later, we finally reached Redwood.

"And now for the main event!" the smile returned to Alex's face. I humored him and giggled as he led me down the hill, toward the first cabin on our left. "Here's 4B."

"Um, Thanks," I mumbled, tucking my hair behind my ear. A couple guys walked by, saying hi to Alex as they passed. He waved to them before turning back to me.

"Anytime newbie."

"I prefer to go by Jamie actually."

"Okay, Jamie. I'll see you around," he smirked, holding my gaze for a moment before turning to leave.