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“No apologies! The faster kids get to camp, the faster they get to get into Camp Mode and leave the bullshit of the past few years behind.” He looked up at her, meeting June’s eyes for the first time, and she let out a giggle as she saw him realize he had sworn. June also noticed the deep brown of his eyes as they met her own. She stifled a further laugh.. “Sorry, I’m not in Director mode yet,” Colin continued, wiping a hand down his face, running a hand over the back of his neck. June picked up on his long, almost delicate, fingers as he did so. “To be honest, this past year has been hectic and I sometimes forget what role I’m in at this camp.”
“It’s fine,” June said, letting out the full laugh she had been holding in. “I tell my students all the time that Ms. Lehrer doesn’t swear, but June definitely does. It’s about time and place!” Colin chuckled at that, his lips quirking up on one side in a way that caused June’s stomach to flip in an unsettling way.
“Anyway,” Colin said, opening a manila folder and placing it on the desk. “It looks like all the financials are here and in order. I’ll radio the head counselors and check on the cabins, but we should be good to do the full greeting, sort the kiddos, and have them move in.” Colin blew a stray piece of hair that had fallen from his bun out of his eyes, a move that caused June’s stomach to flip and her attention to fall to his lips. They were a light pink color, the bottom lip bigger than the top, wrinkled from the sun, and June’s senses heightened when his tongue slipped out to wet them. Faint smile lines framed his mouth, suggesting that he laughed often.
You are being the furthest thing from professional right now,she chided herself. June shook her head and continued with her planning. “Awesome. We’ve got the rosters in our folder. Are teachers still in Cabin 9?”
“Ah, welcome to your surprise!” Colin said, looking up from the folder and his desk. June ignored the way that heat flared in her body at the prospect of him giving her a surprise, and tried to organize her face into something of a normal expression, hoping the blush didn’t rise to her pale cheeks. June had the type of face that, by virtue of her pale complexion, tended to give away any emotion through splotches of red and pink.
“Yeah?”
“We used some of the COVID relief money to refurbish an old staff house,” Colin explained, walking over to the window and motioning her to follow. She stood next to him as he opened the curtain. With the movement of his arm, she noticed a woodsy, pine scent mixed with that unmistakable masculine quality that would send her body on notice. Fuck, of course he had to smell good too, she groaned to herself.
“Okay?” She said, peering out of the window. The camp looked much as it had the last few years she had been there. Tucked into the foothills of the mountains, the cabins were built into the hill, surrounded by trees. The cabins looked over a grassy area, the small lake and archery fields at the far edge of the camp’s property. Everything surrounded a medium sized lake where kids could canoe or kayak, depending on the weather and their courage.
June’s school was in a college town, but her student body represented families of a variety of backgrounds, not just professors and the other people who lived in the nicer, wealthier area of town. In fact, June would bet that most of her students, even while living just two hours from the mountain resorts and ski resorts, had never been up into the hills, had never spent a day hiking. It was one of the reasons she loved to bring kids to camp, to have them appreciate the land around them in a new way and watch them become confident in what their bodies could do and relish in the way that nature could affect their minds and spirits.
“…and it should be a much nicer stay,” Colin was saying. June blinked quickly, shaking her out of her mindless wandering. She had noticed herself doing that more often recently, having her thoughts stray until she totally divested from the conversation or situation she was involved in. Something about wanting to be somewhere else or idealize something else. Who knows. She was reluctant to admit it to her therapist, which was confusing, as she texted her weekly and saw her once every two weeks. She still hadn’t admitted in therapy how displeased she was with her job, the regrets and fears that had snuck into her brain more and more over the past few months.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, turning towards him. “I spaced out there. Sorry, the bus ride can be really boring and it takes a while for my brain to shift back into ‘teacher mode’.”
Colin chuckled, a deep rumble emitting from his chest. June once again got the distinct impression that he laughed often and could laugh loudly when he needed to. Before the lockdown, before the last few school years, she had been the same. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed until her stomach hurt and tears squeaked from her eyes. The past few years had taken more of a toll on her than she realized, she figured.
“It’s fine,” he waved away her apology, friendship bracelets shifting along his forearm. “I kind of think of this week as a small break for teachers. While I haven’t been in the classroom over the past years, I’m close enough to schools to know that it’s been a…,” Colin paused, searching for the right words. “Well, excuse my French, but it’s been a shit show, yeah?”
It was June’s turn to let out a chuckle. “That’s the most generous assessment of what we’ve been going through, yeah.”
Colin smiled down at her and June felt warmth flood through her chest. She gave a wry smile and nodded in confirmation.
“Exactly. Let my staff take care of things. You’ll hang out with kids during the day, take time to yourself when you need - you’ve been here before, you know the camp property is yours for the week - and in the evening, you’re good to kick back around a fire and have a few beers or drinks or whatever.” June grinned, excited that the camp’s rules on teachers drinking or going off-camp to the one bar in the town hadn’t changed.
“We plan on doing a bit of that,” she admitted.
“And, as I said before, but you weren’t listening…” Colin’s tone was teasing, prodding her to roll her eyes and lift the side of her mouth in a smirk, “We’ve refurbished an old staff house into a teacher’s cabin for the week. While you’re still sleeping on camp mattresses, you’ll at least have a living room with a fireplace, a small kitchen, and separate bedrooms. Still bunk beds, but at least you’ll be able to close the door if someone snores.” June grimaced internally - she was the snorer that everyone dreaded sleeping in the same room with.
“Well, I, for one am excited you’re our director,” June said, ignoring the flush that she was sure was spreading across her face at that moment.
“It’s so nice to have schools back at camp,” Colin replied. “I hope to spend time connecting with teachers this week, too. You’ll see me around, mostly at meals - there’s a lot of preparations for summer camp going on behind the scenes.”
“Are you back to full capacity?” June asked, wondering aloud. Her students had struggled with attendance issues and she was curious about how kids would be during the summer or if families would take a chance on an outbreak. Already this year, they had around 20% of their students staying back, either because they thought it “sounded boring” or their families wouldn’t allow them to spend that much time in contact with people.
“Almost,” Colin said, but June could tell he was fibbing a bit. She knew someone who was trying to make the best out of a bad situation - it was her default state.
“Great!” she said awkwardly, not quite knowing how to end the conversation. “I’ll go help everyone get organized into cabin groups.” She began to back out of the office, again not sure how to leave.
“See you around, June,” Colin said, smiling at her again, and again, she felt the prickle of attraction sizzle through her body. Pushing down those feelings, she smiled back, waved, and escaped.
“Alright, campers - say goodbye to your teachers!” The lead counselor called to the group of teachers gathered near their suitcases. She clapped to get their attention, then began to lead the group of kids in a “repeat after me” song. June was pleasantly surprised at how many of her students joined in, a nice break from their cynical attitude she had struggled with in her classroom and dealt with on the drive up.
After a few more songs, students peeled off into their cabin groups, and June watched her kids scramble to find their duffle bags and ensured they all arrived in their cabins. She then turned to Kevin, who was busy getting his backpacking bag wrestled on his back.
“You do know that, like, we don’t actually camp here,” she joked. She had been making the same joke for the past five years they worked together, even continuing it throughout their time in distance learning. One time they set up Kevin’s tent in her backyard and drank a six pack of beer each to re-create the teacher experience at camp.
“I’m aware, thank you,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Where are we staying this year?”
“They have a new camp house for the teachers,” June explained, walking towards the smaller A Frame building that Colin had pointed out to her through the window earlier.
“How’s the new director?” Kevin said, opening the door to find a warm, open living room with a large hearth and fireplace. June noted there was also a large pile of dry wood - she loved campfires, but hated being cold, so an indoor campfire was her ideal evening. Preferably with a glass of whiskey or a beer. And a warm body. June’s thoughts strayed to how it felt to have Colin’s body close to hers at the window, how his vintage camp t-shirt pulled against the muscles of his arms and shoulders.
