The teens

The air was still cool that morning, the summer heat on the horizon but not there yet. As they shuffled down the stairs, the cracked asphalt gave way to the dirt and gravel path leading to the cabins. It wasnt long before the chatter began.

******

"Sooo?" Jill saddled up along side her friend Ahiri.

"So...what?" she said back, struggling with her rolling suitcase on the gravel. She blew a lock of her hair out of her face and looked at her red headed companion. Jill's short bobbed cut hair framed her shiny green eyes. Every part of her just seemed ready to explode.

"Sooo....Decide who you're gonna give it up to?"

"Jesus! Shut up!" Ahiri hissed through her teeth.

"What?" she asked, breaking out into a big grin. "You said this trip was it. And all these guys are pretty cute."

Ahiri sighed. "I said 'Maybe' and 'I hope it happens.' It's not a mission."

Jill glanced over her shoulder. "Sometimes you gots ta help things along. I don't think I'd say 'No' to any of them. Even the quiet kid."

"Who?"

"The brown haired guy in jeans and green t-shirt. With the camera."

"Oh. Yeah, he's cute," Ahiri answered, looking the opposite direction. Jill followed her gaze.

"No way! The cowboy?!" Ahiri's snapped around to look back at Jill, eyes wide. The unmistakable command to "Shut it!" went unspoken, but was conveyed. Jill laughed out loud. Putting an arm around her friend on many years, she whispered, "If you want to climb a mountain, you may want to start smaller than Mt. Everest."

"God! Why am I friends with you?"

"Cause you luvs meee!" Jill yelled, giving her a squeeze.

*****

Steve hung back a moment, grabbing a few shots of everyone walking down the path. He was quietly reviewing them in the display when the dark haired guy who got yelled at, came up next to him.

"Hey, not bad." he said.

"Hmm? Oh thanks. Just a hobby." He turned an held out his hand. "Steve. And that Duke impression was awesome."

The other boy took his hand and shook it. "Ah-nuld," he said in a Terminator voice. He cleared his throat. "Heh, also a hobby."

"Dude. I thought you were gonna shit yourself when Coach charged you."

"Who says I didn't?"

Steve looked at him and busted up. "Dude. You are hilarious. This gig is gonna be a hell of a lot easier with you around."

"I aims to please. But I don't know if you'll have time to hear my routines. Looks like you're already being scoped out."

"What?"

Arnold just pointed at Steve's camera. He peered into the display. Everyone was just chatting, like them. He didn't notice anything, until Arnold pointed at it again.

There, on the edge, were the 2 girls ahead of them. Except the red head was looking directly into the camera and smiling.

*****

Toni was lost in thought when the voice next to her made her jump. "That was brave."

She looked up and was greeted by the bright metallic blue waves of hair. There were some deep purple streaks along the bangs and down one side. An orbital piercing was above the girl's left eye. "Ummm. What was brave?"

"Piping up with a question right after Big Frank gave that speech to shut up."

Toni laughed. "Well, I like to be prepared. Need someway to the outside world if there's no cell coverage."

"Color me impressed. Not many would have spoken up after that speech. "

"It looks like someone beat me to it."

The other girl guffawed. "Ha! Yeah, this was done yesterday on a whim. Felt like standing out a bit."

"I think it's actually pretty. I don't know if I would have the guts to do it. But it looks really good."

"Why thank you!" she said, flipping her azure locks. "I'm Stacy."

"Toni."

"Let's be BFF's!" Stacy said in a high falsetto. "We can braid each other's hair, and swap smores, and..."

Toni laughed. "And tell scary stories, and talk about boy bands we want to marry!"

They both broke down and giggled as they wandered down the gravel path.

*****

Bobby and Cindi walked in relative silence. They saw the others looking around and starting conversations. Suddenly, Bobby muttered under his breath, "This is going to fucking suck."

"What? Why?" she asked, looking across to her older brother.

"Why? Because we're here for 8 weeks, there's no internet, I'm not going to get anything done for my app, and I doubt anyone's on my level." he grumbled, kicking at a grasshopper on the path.

"Excuse me?" she said in that voice that made Bobby think to himself, "Oh shit."

"We have been here an hour. In that time, you haven't said anything to anyone or even made an attempt to introduce yourself. I stuck with you because I thought you were nervous."

Bobby snorted. "Nervous? Around these idiots? Forget it."

"No, you forget it. I came here to have fun. If you want to stay on your laptop and not talk to anyone, fine. But I won't hold your hand. Bad enough we have the same names as the Brady kids, but I know you're not even to this "level" you think you are."

"Dammit, Sis.." he started. But she had already moved forward and started talking to the blond and blue haired girl.

Yep. This is going to fucking suck, he thought to himself.

*****

Chris looked at his feet, stewing over that quip by "Coach." He obviously knew about Chris' predicament more than he let on. He would have to be careful. Looking up, he saw several of the others chatting. Maybe this won't be too bad, he thought.

The girls all looked good, except for the short...Asian?...Mexican? He wasn't sure but she looked too young to be a counselor. No tits. He wouldn't mind having a romp with the red head. She looked energetic enough to be fun in the sack. The blond looked way to serious. Maybe the sexy librarian-type, where you had to crack through the veneer. Easy enough. The punk chick had some huge knockers he'd love to motorboat. The black chick had beautiful gams that would look lovely around his neck. He'd always been a leg man. And her ass was a perfect cap to that.

The guys didn't look like much competition. The pudgy black kid, Peter Parker over there talking to the voices guy. Yep, if he was careful, he could probably have a lot of fun during his prison sentence. However... he swung his gaze to the cowboy.

The other guy was just an inch or two taller than him, but the cowboy hat made him look taller. Really, he was a walking cliche. Dusty jeans, dingy shirt and boots. All he needed was spurs and a six-shooter and he'd look like ride off into the sunset. He...he could be competition. Better to get his measure now, he thought, picking up his pace.

"Hey, I'm Chris," he said, walking up next to the other guy and sticking out his hand.

The other boy looked at him then his hand, before taking it and giving it a shake. "Alan."

"Soo...looks like you've been here before, the way the Coach gave you the keys like that. "

"Mm-hmm, last year," Alan said.

"What brought you back?"

"It was fun. But the main reason was I need more extra curriculars on my college applications." He stated.

"What college?" Chris said, playing along, acting interested.

"Dunno. MIT might have me."

Chris knew the hick was fucking with him. "Really?" he said, sounding as droll as possible.

"Yep."

"So," Chris said, signalling the subject change, "How fun was it, really?"

Alan looked at him blankly. "A...lot?"

"I mean how wild do things get? Lots of cute girls here. Was it like that last year?"

Alan stopped dead for a moment, his face darkened for just the tiniest of seconds. "Chris, why are you here?"

"Um, what?"

"You made it clear you don't want to be here. I'm sure there are better places to go to get laid. Why are you here?"

"For the kids?"

Alan snorted and chuckled. "Ok, none of my business. Hope you can keep up."

Chris didn't like the ominous tone to that.

*****

When they reached the fork in the path, Alan spoke up again. "Ladies to the right, guys to the left. Get your stuff unloaded and see what you might need for cleaning supplies. Then meet back here in 10. We'll get supplies and bunks."