"Well, Brian, it's up to you. I checked with the people at Camp Wakamatchee - or, rather at Camp Sunawatchee, which is what the new owners are calling it. They said they'd be willing to honor your reservation for the season, if you really wanted to go there. They also said they'd be happy to have you as a counsellor, since the Camp Wakamatchee people had agreed to it, they said they assumed you were well-qualified."
Brian was overjoyed. Camp Wakamatchee had been the high point of his year since he was 10 years old. Now, at age 18, just as he was finally qualified to be one of the elite of the elite - the Camp Wakamatchee counsellors - they went and sold the place. He was totally bummed when he heard about it. He had a full athletic scholarship for college in the fall (he had been a star in high school as catcher for a champion baseball team), and he'd been looking forward to one last year at the camp - and even making a little spending money as a counsellor. He was so relieved that he wouldn't have to change his plans.
His mother looked over the letter she had just received. "They said they sent you a brochure and the new book of regulations - did you get a chance to look them over?"
"What? Oh, sure, sure I did." He never bothered with stuff like that. All those things were so long and boring and you could never figure out what they were getting at, anyway.
"So, they need your signature on the application form they sent - you know, that you've read them and agree to abide by them, and so on. They need that on file before they can officially accept you."
"OK, OK. I'll get it." He ran up to his room and dug the material out of his waste basket. He pulled out the form - all it took was a couple of check-off boxes and a signature. He took it down and gave it to his mother.
"Didn't it have a return envelope?" she sighed. She knew her forgetful son. If she didn't do everything for him, it'd never happen.
He dashed back up and retrieved it.
"OK, I'll get a stamp and mail this for you, but from here on, you're going to be dealing with all this on your own. When you leave, I'm going down to the shore for a couple of weeks, just to relax a little bit myself. I won't be here to bail you out, so make sure you don't forget anything. I'll put a little money in your checking account, in case there's anything you have to pay for up there."
Brian's mom was his favorite person in the world. She made life so easy for him. Not that he was irresponsible - in the areas he was interested in, he did it all on his own. It's just that she took care of all the humdrum, everyday stuff and gave him quite a lot of freedom.
"Thanks, Mom. I'll be back for dinner. Gotta go to practice." Brian took off in the direction of the Little League group he was coaching for the next couple of weeks.
Mrs. Marquette sighed - more out of habit than irritation. She thought the world of her only son. She only wished he could be a little more... reliable. She grinned as she watched him run down the street. He was so damned good looking! That perfect athletic grace of his - the strong shoulders, the sexy ass, the tight, flat belly. And the ultimate boy-next-door face - fine, strong features, wavy brown hair. She knew that as soon as he got to college, he'd hook up with some unbelievable girl who would steal him away from her without even trying.
She smiled ruefully - and that's just as it should be!
--
Two weeks later, Brian and his suitcase were on the bus to Camp Sunawatchee. He still didn't like that name, but he supposed he'd get used to it. He'd packed everything the camp director had specified in his acceptance letter, but he'd added a couple of changes of clothes for those long-anticipated privileged Saturday nights in town with the other counsellors. The camp had essentially only specified the clothes he was wearing, indicating that they'd supply everything else he might need. But then of course they wouldn't have given any instructions for what he might want for off-camp activities. Even so, his suitcase was pretty minimal. All the athletic equipment, of course, was already at the camp, so his favorite catcher's glove was his only contribution on that score.
When he arrived at the bus station in the small town nearest the camp, he was happy to see a couple of other counsellors already waiting there - obviously also newly arrived, with their suitcases in hand. They introduced themselves - he'd never seen either of them before, but they were both guys who looked to be about his own age.
He learned that neither of them had ever been to Camp Wakamatchee, but that they'd attended another camp by the people who had taken over this year. Each of them already had one year's experience at counselling, so Brian hoped they could give him some pointers, if necessary, while he was being trained. In fact, as he learned, these two guys would be training all the newbies this week. The guests wouldn't begin arriving until early next week. As before, the camp was divided into the girls' side and the boys'. There were certain activities later in the summer that they'd do jointly, but for the most part, the sexes were kept separate. The management felt it made for a more relaxed, fun atmosphere if teenagers didn't have to constantly worry about dealing with the opposite sex.
It was only a few minutes before one of the senior staff at the camp arrived in a jeep to pick the three of them up. The guy, who said to call him Don, looked about 35 or 40 - very well built and tan - was wearing just a pair of khaki shorts and moccasins. Brian was impressed - he looked like a real athlete.
Once they arrived at the camp, Don dropped them off at the temporary counsellors' dorm cabin (for the training period). Tom and Corey (the other two counsellors) volunteered to show Brian the ropes and Don left them to it, driving off toward the administration center.
In the cabin, Corey and Tom picked their bunks, and then gave him the choice of the others (there were 6 in all, so it looked like there wouldn't be more than 4 trainees). Corey showed Brian where to stow his things and told him to strip off his clothes and stow them in the drawer beside his bunk.
At this point, Brian noticed that Tom had already done the same and was completely naked as he unpacked his suitcase and started putting his belongings away. He didn't think much of it, being used to locker rooms, where he spent a lot of time around other bare-assed athletes. He decided to follow Corey's suggestion and found it sort of fun to be so casual around two other guys while they worked on getting themselves installed. He was an only child and summer camp was really the only experience he had of not having complete privacy whenever he wanted it.
