The competition arrived

The bus pulled into camp just before dinner. It looked like a parade had arrived. The doors folded open. Then they kept coming. Counselors. One after another. Duffel bags. Backpacks. Laughter. Hugs. Young, attractive and ready for fun in Vacationland,

Within minutes the quiet camp I’d known for a few days transformed into something alive.

I stood beside the dining hall watching the flood of strangers. “…There are so many of them.”

Brooke walked past carrying two bags. “Oh, this is nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“You should see check-in day. The campers turn up the volume to 1,000.”

I watched another model caliber counselor step off the bus. Then another. Then another. some point a ridiculous thought crossed my mind.

“Did the application require a headshot?”

Emma appeared beside me. “What?”

“Everyone here looks…” I searched for the right word. “…professionally attractive.”

She laughed. “I’ve wondered that myself.” She looked toward the bus. “You fit right in.”

“I don’t think so.”

I certainly didn’t fit in. The men climbing off the bus looked like they’d walked out of a fitness magazine. Broad shoulders. Confident smiles. Perfect hair. Several wore college fraternity shirts. They greeted one another with loud backslaps and inside jokes. They moved through camp like they’d owned it for years.

One of them—tall, athletic, effortlessly charismatic—was immediately surrounded by a circle of laughing counselors. He wasn’t doing anything remarkable. People simply gravitated toward him.

I watched him for a moment. Then looked down at myself. Grass stains. Work boots. An old camp T-shirt they gave me on my first day. I suddenly felt exactly what I was: a small-town kid who had wandered into a world that seemed much bigger than the one he’d left behind.

“Feeling intimidated?”

I turned.

Sierra.

She’d somehow appeared beside me without my noticing. Her always present smile comforting me.

“Maybe.”

She followed my gaze. “Oh.” She laughed softly. “The frat bros.”

“I’ve never met anyone like them.”

“They’re just people.”

“They don’t look like just people.”

She smiled. “Get to know them. You look at me and see a ditzy California surfer chick, but you know that I’m more. So are they. Some of them have thoughts.”

“I doubt it.”

She reached up and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t worry, babe.”

I blinked.

She smiled wider. “You can have me anytime you want. Preferably on a mattress, my back is scratched up from the bank.”

Then she wandered off toward the cabins, leaving me standing there with a warm face and absolutely no idea what to think. A few minutes later Maggie stepped off the bus. She looked exhausted.

Beside her walked a towering counselor carrying two of her bags as if they weighed nothing. He said something that made her laugh. She nudged him with her shoulder. He draped an arm casually across her shoulders as they walked.

I looked away.

Funny. A week ago I’d been convinced Maggie was the girl I wanted to know. Now, seeing her laughing with someone else, I mostly felt…Happy for her. Maybe a little relieved. Maybe Amanda had been right. Camp had a way of speeding everything up.

Deb clapped loudly. “Everybody gather around!”

The conversations settled.

Sal climbed onto the dining hall steps. “Welcome, everyone.”

Cheers answered him.

He grinned. “Tomorrow we’ll start orientation…” He ran through schedules. Morning meetings. Activity assignments. Cabin responsibilities. Emergency procedures. The day off before campers arrived.

Lynn stood nearby with a clipboard, occasionally correcting a detail or reminding Sal about something he’d skipped. Watching the two of them work together was oddly entertaining. Sal led with instinct. Lynn led with organization. Somehow it balanced. There sex life was probably Sal tested something new, and Lynn directing him to something she knew worked.

By the time dinner ended, camp finally felt full. Noisy. Chaotic. Ready. Long gone was the ghost town of my first evening.

⸻

I changed into the cleanest clothes I owned. Which, admittedly, still weren’t particularly impressive.

When I reached the parking lot, Tessa was already waiting. She’d traded her camp clothes for a flowing sundress and a face full of makeup. She looked irresistible.

She smiled when she saw me. “Ready?”

“You look…” I stopped.

She tilted her head.

“What?”

“…Really nice.”

She laughed. “I’ll take that.”

I glanced down at myself. “I suddenly feel underdressed.”

“Nonsense.”

Before I could answer, headlights swept across the gravel. The white BMW rolled to a stop.

Amanda climbed out. Flannel shirt. Tight jeans. Tall brown boots dusted with gravel. Her hair was down for once, begging for goner to comb through it. She looked like she’d stepped out of a catalog advertising autumn. Or Maine.

She caught me staring. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re drooling.”

“I was just…”

She folded her arms patiently.

“…thinking flannel suits you.”

A faint smile crossed her face. “I’ll accept the compliment, but it’s rude to compliment another woman while out on a date.”

She unlocked the car. Then frowned. “I’ve just remembered something.”

“What?”

“This is a coupe.”

I looked inside.Two seats in front.

Very little room behind.

Tessa laughed. “Well… this is awkward.”

Amanda looked at both of us. Always problem solving.

“There is one solution..”

A few moments later I found myself sitting on Tessa’s lap in the passenger seat. According to Amanda, she looked sturdier.

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered.

“It is,” Amanda agreed as she started the engine. “But it’s only a short drive.”

Tessa laughed the entire way out of camp. Her strong arms hugging me close.

Amanda shook her head. “I cannot believe I’m chauffeuring someone’s first date.”

“It’s memorable,” Tessa said.

Amanda caught my eyes. “You seem awfully quiet.”

“I’m thinking.”

“Dangerous.”

“I’ve been told.”

She smiled.

Outside, the last light of day faded behind the pines. The BMW rev’d up the hill. Toward music. Toward the little bar Tessa had dreamed about visiting.

I glanced at Tessa behind me. She looked genuinely excited. Then, without meaning to, my eyes drifted to the driver side.

Amanda rested one hand lightly on the steering wheel, focused on the winding road ahead. She looked completely at ease. I caught myself staring. She noticed. Her eyes met mine briefly. One dark eyebrow lifted.

I looked quickly out the window.

The trees blurred past in the twilight.

For reasons I couldn’t explain, this date had suddenly become much more complicated than I’d imagined.