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“I’m 35” Colin replied. “I’m 35 and I live full time at a summer camp and I recognize how ridiculous that is, but it brings me happiness and my housing is paid for, so I’m pretty content with my choices.”
“Is your house nice?” June asked, the words out of her mouth before she could think twice.
“You’ll see later,” Colin said, cryptically, and June’s body simmered at the thought. “I’ll see you at six. Dress warm!” With that, he winked at June, turned, and walked towards his office, leaving June excited, content, and too turned on for her own good.
June spent the afternoon taking a quick solo hike around the mountain to clear her thoughts. The burn in her quads and the satisfaction of physical exertion reminded June of the things she had fallen away from during this phase of the pandemic, and she made a commitment to get back to running when she came back from camp and to dust off the weights she bought at the beginning of shut downs. Coming back from her hike, she took a quick shower, just rinsing her body, but keeping her curls dry - no time to try and tackle that beast this evening, plus half of her product was down at her apartment anyway.
Dress warm, she remembered, then realized she hadn't packed much variety in her clothing, literally just grabbing the most comfortable clothes she owned in anticipation of sitting and working on applications. Okay, so she knew she would actually be doing more hiking and reading, but hope springs eternal and all.
She slid on another pair of black leggings and looked at the selection of shirts she brought. Not exactly the most attractive, she thought grimly to herself. She selected a long sleeved Herman Middle School shirt with a student’s drawing of their mascot - a small spaniel - on the back. June checked her phone for the weather, saw that it would drop in temperature a bit this evening, and threw her old, colorful fleece on over the shirt. She grabbed a white fleece headband and slid it over her ears, pushing her curls back. Again, she looked at herself in the mirror and tried to imagine what Colin saw. Shrugging, she agreed with her internal voice that it was “good enough”. June pulled a pair of hiking socks up over her leggings and slid her boots on, tying them loosely. She still didn’t know what Colin had in store for this evening, but she did want to be prepared to hike if that’s what he had in mind.
She filled up her water bottle then took a quick sip of water, the coolness bringing her back out of her daydreaming and back to the present moment. She was going on a…date? Was this a date? Did it matter? She texted Kevin a quick reminder that she would be gone all evening, to which he replied with a series of scandalous emojis that had June blushing and rolling her eyes at the same time.
Walking around the lake to Colin’s house meant that June passed groups of students who had been getting ready for their evening activities after dinner. For the most part, June heard giggles and laughter, and she tried not to have her mind snag on the swear words and complaints she heard floating through the positive energy. That was the problem this year - even when she was trying to see the little victories and small wins, it was the overwhelming avalanche of negativity that got to her. Death by a thousand cuts was the unofficial motto of the school year.
Trying to push through her glum mood, June rounded the corner of the lake and took the gravel path that Colin had texted her about earlier.
It will be to the left by a bush with berries on it. Don't eat them - they will make you feel miserable.
She swung a small gate open and was surprised to find Colin already outside of his house with a backpack on and another one in his hand, which he held out to June.
“Hey there,” he said, passing the silver pack to her. It was heavy and awkward and June’s arm twisted weirdly, not anticipating it. “Oops, sorry.” He placed a hand underneath it and helped June stabilize the backpack then slide it on to her own back.
“Y’know, TSA tells me all the time when I fly that I shouldn’t accept packages from strangers,” June quipped, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t flattered at the preparation that Colin had put into the evening. “I hope I’m not hiking up the mountain with this.”
“Nope,” Colin said, adjusting his own backpack and leaning over to brush a kiss on June’s cheek. Yep, this is a date, June confirmed to herself.
“So what’s in these?” June said, following Colin out of his front gate and back onto the path she had come from.
“Dinner,” Colin replied. “How was the rest of the day?” They chatted about simple things - where June hiked this afternoon, how the interview Colin conducted went. Within five minutes, Colin turned into another opening on the path, into a clearing that resembled the one they had kissed in this morning. June’s lips, among other parts of her body, tingled with the remembrance.
“This is where we’re eating?” June said. A small fire ring was in the middle of the clearing, just a tiny circle of rocks surrounding an ash pile, really. A stack of firewood sat to one side, and small wooden benches surrounded the fire pit.
“Yep,” Colin said, opening his backpack and pulling out two woolen blankets. “I figured a quintessential campfire dinner was exactly what you needed. Something simple and classic, away from people, where we could just talk. Or sit and eat if that’s what you want.” June was struck again by his intuition about her emotions - she would probably have clammed up in a public place, feeling like she was replicating the series of terrible dates she had tried to go on during each phase of reopening. But here - out here it was different. June looked up at the small bit of the evening sky that peeked through the tips of the aspen trees.
“Will it be light enough?”
“I am making a fire,” Colin replied, covering one of the benches with the blanket and handing the other to June.
“Oh,” she said, taking the blanket. She set her pack down and sat on the bench, not sure of what to do as Colin busied himself with organizing the pieces of wood he would be using for the fire. “Can I do anything? I feel weird just watching you do everything. Though, I will say, I certainly do not mind the view.” He was still wearing only a t-shirt - this one read Live, Laugh, Lake in a font that looked like it would be in June’s aunt’s house, purchased on sale from HomeGoods.
Colin laughed a bit. “I make fires all the time for my job, it’s really second nature at this point." He busied himself picking up a collection of small sticks and twigs and organized them into a neat pile in the middle of the campfire ring. "You can get the food out of the cooler bag,” he said to June, using his knife to point to the bag that she had carried - no wonder it had been so heavy - and then returned to making the fire. June ripped her attention away from Colin’s body and fingers and unzipped the cooler backpack at her feet. She couldn’t help but smile as she pulled out a pack of hot dogs, buns, and a small plastic bag full of assorted condiments.
“Hot dogs? Really, Colin?” June said, continuing to laugh.
“Listen,” Colin said, turning around and putting his hands on his hips, pulling a face at her. “I’ve eaten at least two dogs every week of my life since college, and that means that - well, 52 times 2 times 13ish years since college - I’ve eaten a lot of hot dogs.”
“And you’re not sick of them?”
“Nope. They’re my favorite food.” Colin grinned at her. “Plus, it’s a classic.”
“Around 13 hundred,” June said, absentmindedly.
“Huh?” Colin looked confused, a bit like a lost puppy dog.
“That’s how many hot dogs - roughly - you’ve had since you started working at camp full time.” June tried not to be too smug.
“I thought you taught English.”
