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"We're learning about fabric!" he said proudly. June grinned - getting Asher excited about anything was no easy task.
"And why are we learning about fabric?" Colin prompted.
"Tie Dye!" Henry, always the blurter, jumped in.
"How fun! How classically camp," commented June. "I bet uh - you, uh, Mr. Colin?" she didn't know how the students referred to Colin, so she flapped her hands at him, "Know a lot about that."
"I'm basically a professional tie dyer at this point," Colin bragged, and June realized she loved it when he was pretending to boast, because it was so counter to his down-to-earth personality. "Do you want to learn how?"
"I haven't done this since freshman year orientation," June said. "I also don't have any clothes to tie dye." Colin's coffee-colored eyes got a mischievous glint in them, and he leaned over to Henry and whispered something in his ear. Henry lit up like a Christmas tree and started to run away, right before Colin yelled for him to take a buddy.
"What are you doing?" June asked suspiciously.
"Absolutely nothing," Colin hummed. "Now come over here and let Corina and I help teach you how to do a spiral pattern." June leaned over his shoulder, picked up a whiff of Colin's distinctive soap and pine scent, and had to remind herself not to lean into him, not to gently chomp at his muscles.
Colin teaching children was truly a delight and it was evident that he loved being out here, and June would bet her super comfortable mattress on the fact that he took every opportunity to get out of his office and spend time with campers. He coached the students through twisting and turning their t-shirts, wrapping rubber bands to create complex shapes, then using squirt bottles full of dye to create custom color pallets for each student. Henry and his friend came sprinting back, holding something in his hand.
"What did you bring?" June asked as he ran over, out of breath.
"Mr. Colin said to go to the office and get you a shirt to dye," he said through gulps of air. "We picked our favorite design out of the box!" Henry unfurled the shirt to reveal one that said “Camp: Where the Air Smells Better Than You”.
“It’s funny because you’re always telling us to wear deodorant,” his friend added, and June shook her head, suppressing the enormous grin that threatened to explode on her face. Not only was it true - middle schoolers stunk - but Colin had gotten her a camp t-shirt. She’d have some tangible reminder of their time together, more than just the recall of their conversations and the memory of his touch on her skin.
“C’mon over, Ms. L. See if you remember what we just learned about spiral designs,” Colin said, challenging her. She mirrored the movements and twists she had seen earlier, then chose the orange, purple, yellow, and red dye bottles.
“It’s like a fire. A campfire .” June explained, hoping that Colin would pick up on the fact that this shirt would be the lasting reminder of their picnic last night. She continued to decorate, adding splashes of color here and there until she was satisfied. Finally, her patience wore thin and she looked at Colin. “Get it?”
“I get it, June,” he replied. Leaning closer to her, so his breath whispered in her ear, he added, “And you’ll be getting it later, if everything works out nicely.” Picking his voice back up and speaking to the students, he announced that the shirts would be dry and ready by Thursday for souvenirs. Students cheered and smiled, their hands multi-colored with dye.
June sizzled and imploded, Colin’s words bouncing around in her head, slipping down into her chest, resting and pounding between her legs. You’ll be getting it later. Good lord, this man. This week. This place.
Lunch was quick - cold cut sandwiches and potato chips, much to June's delight - and June was reading her book on the field while students ambled by during the beginning of their free recess time.
"You're a bitch and everyone hates you."
"Yeah, well at least my mom didn't cheat during COVID." June knew exactly who was involved. The first voice was Victoria, a girl notorious for starting shit when she was bored, and the second voice was Maria, who had been on the outs with Victoria's group of friends for a while.
"Friends, come on," June said calmly, rounding the corner to where the two girls were staring daggers at each other.
"Yeah, friend," Victoria mimicked June's phrasing. Ugh, I only say that because 'guys' is limiting, June thought, but it really wasn't the time to share her philosophy with students. "Be kind, be nice, be respectful," she taunted.
"Maria, Victoria, why are you even around each other? We told you to give each other space this week," June attempted to remain amicable, but it was hard.
June couldn’t help the frustration from crawling into her voice. “I feel like we keep giving you chances to change your behavior and you just don’t.”
“Whatever,” Victoria said, turning her body away from June.
“I don’t know why you’re acting like this,” June said without thinking.
“I don’t know why I’m acting like this either!” Victoria spat back at June. “I just am!” She folded herself into a tiny ball. “I’m just tired and I miss my mom and I have to go on a stupid hike this afternoon and the food sucks.” June tried to get a reign on her temper, tried not to let her irritation with the complaints get to her. Somewhere deep in her teacher brain, she knew that the student wasn’t mad at her but was mad at the world, was mad at being 12 and not knowing their body or mind, which were changing all the time. But that didn’t make it easier to hear the criticism.
“Do you realize how much time we spend organizing this?” June said, an icy chill in her voice. Victoria looked up at her and rolled her eyes again. “We’ve put a lot of time into making sure you all got here and we could afford it as a school.”
“So what, it’s your job? Get over it.” Maria had joined in, the girls connected now against June.
“And remember that we spend a week away from our homes and families to be here with you,” June said. She knew she should keep the edge out of her voice, knew the old adage that every time you got into an argument with a student you always lost. But she was sick of losing arguments, sick of being talked over, sick of the apathy and the eye rolls.
“So what? Not like you have anyone,” with the parting shot, Victoria got up and stomped away from June over to her group of friends.
