[I think this story is ready to publish. I've really gotten to
like these kids. I know it's all a bit idealistic, but there are
a few good relationships in the world, and idealism is what
romance is all about. --GP]
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Camp Reward -- Prologue

Jeanette was one of those girls that never really stood out. She
was seventeen, a B-average student, and a middle child. She was
on the roster of the volleyball and swim teams, but with a status
tactfully referred to as "reserve". She stood 5' 4", weighed 130
pounds, and barely filled a size 34-B bra. Her looks were usually
described as "cute" or "wholesome", and her mouse-colored
brunette hair was typically tied in a ponytail as she quietly and
competently went about her work at the community center. This was
her first summer working there, and though hired as a lifeguard,
the college students who dominated the summer staff generally
bumped her to less glamorous tasks on the roster. Therefore her
duties today, as on most others, had consisted of securing
wristbands to squirming little arms, picking up discarded towels,
and cleaning the women's locker room. It was a slow evening, and
the rest of the staff had taken off right at 8:59, after
practically pushing the last clutch of middle-schoolers out the
door, to dash off to Lindsay Martin's 19th birthday party. This
was THE "Everyone will be there" event of the month, so
naturally, Jeanette was not invited or even informed.
Nevertheless, it was this event which ultimately ensured that
this evening would be a turning point for Jeanette's life.
At 9:05, Jim Walker, the center manager, arrived to oversee the
closing. He was displeased, though not surprised, to find that he
had only one employee left to supervise, but remarked that
Jeanette seemed to have everything under control, so retired to
his office to reconcile the cash drawer and check messages. A few
minutes later he poked his head out. "Jeannie?"

"Jeanette, Mr. Walker."

"Yeah...sorry, Jeanette. Listen. I just got a call from my
brother, Bob. He runs a summer camp up by St. Cloud, and he's
found himself short a couple of counselors. He especially needs
certified WSIs right now. He's got two weeks of Cub Scouts
starting this Sunday, then four weeks of church girls after that.
He's also looking for a call back tonight. Would you be
interested? It leaves me a bit short-staffed, but I guess Lindsay
and her little posse can stay late for the rest of the summer.
What do you say?"

"It sounds ok--I really don't have any other plans, but let me
call home quick and check." The call went as she expected. Her
dad answered the phone, said "Sure honey, whatever you want", and
hung up. Sometimes she wondered if it was a surprise to him to be
reminded that he had a second daughter. Her older sister Colette
was the apple of his eye, and a master manipulator. He had been
blind to her wild side, even as she was sneaking a different boy
into her room every weekend through high school. Somehow he'd
even managed to ignore the aroma of marijuana in the basement
hallway--that was until their little brother, Phillipe, stumbled
on her stash and brought it to Mom asking why Colette had a bag
of "spices" in her room. Phillipe was the "baby", as well as the
long-awaited son, and highly doted-upon. Just to complicate
things, on the night of Jeanette's 12th birthday slumber party he
came to them with a nosebleed, and was soon diagnosed with acute
leukemia. He was fortunately in full remission, but for many
months family life revolved around doctors, hospitals, and
treatments. Jeanette would often come home after school to an
empty house, make herself a can of soup for dinner, go to bed,
and leave again for school the next day without being
acknowledged by anyone. Even now, more than five years later,
when she went to Mass, or walked certain blocks in the
neighborhood, she'd be greeted by elderly well-wishers inquiring
as to how her brother was doing.

Jim returned his brother's call and let Jeanette complete a short
interview over the phone. He added his own words of
reference--"reliable", "punctual", "meets every expectation"--and
she was hired on the spot. Bob gave her directions to the camp,
with a quick rundown of her duties--swim lessons, lifeguarding,
other logistical help as needed--in return for a change in scene,
free room and board, and a somewhat higher salary. She wondered
if it would also come with a similar social heirarchy, and
whether she'd wind up mopping a locker room while others partied.


Saturday noon found her chugging up a dusty road, scanning the
many "mom and pop" resort signs for the promised arrow directing
her to Camp Reward. Colette had agreed to drive her, since it
would give her an excuse for an afternoon tryst with an old
boyfriend in St. Cloud. She dropped hints most of the way up
about the size of his penis and the number of times she expected
to orgasm, but Jeanette tried to change the subject. It wasn't
that she wasn't curious about sex, or ignorant--being "invisible"
at home had left her a lot of time to explore online--it was more
that she wasn't sure she wanted that much information about her
sister's intimacies, and besides, she wasn't looking to emulate
what she did know about Colette's sexual behavior. Colette had
finally sensed Jeanette's irritability and clammed up, but as
they pulled up at the building marked "Camp Office" she cleared
her throat to try to get her attention. "Jeanette, I know that
you probably think I'm not a good person to be telling you this,
but I do care about you. You're a good person, a cool kid. I know
you get short-shrifted a lot at home, but sometimes I kind of
wish I could be like you--more even-tempered and unruffled, you
know. Just, um, look--just don't let other people define you.
When you walk into that camp office, no one knows you--you can be
whoever you want to be this summer, or at least try to figure it
out for yourself, OK?"

Jeanette was dumbfounded. She couldn't remember the last time
that Colette had actually acted like a "big sister" toward her.
"Umm--thanks. I'll keep that in mind. No, really--I really will."

Colette smiled uncomfortably. She really wasn't all that used to
being the Wise One, herself. "Hey listen--you uh, never know what
might happen, so like the boy scouts say--'Be Prepared'!" With
that she dug in her purse, produced a three-pack of condoms and
handed it to Jeanette.

"You've got to be kidding! What kind of camp do you think this
is, anyway?"
Colette shrugged and laughed. "Hey, look--I know you're not going
to run out and use them--yet anyway--but just take it in the
spirit of the moment, OK? A little gift to remind you of your big
sister. "

Jeanette raised an eyebrow and smiled back. "OK, but what about
your afternoon plans?"

Colette grinned. "Don't worry--there's a drug store on his
street. I'll make a stop there on my way over. Hug?"

Jeanette reached for her sister and gave her a squeeze, then a
peck on the cheek, and climbed out of the car. At the last
minute, she stuck her head back in the door, grinned back at
Colette and teased, "Have fun this afternoon! LOTS of fun!" She
then pulled her duffel from the backseat and waved with her free
hand, until she realized that she was waving goodbye with a pack
of condoms. She quickly popped them into her duffel pocket with a
furtive look around.

The camp was pretty quiet. Bob had told her that Saturday was the
counselors' day off, and there were only a couple of vehicles in
the lot. She dropped her duffel on the office porch and
tentatively opened the door. A young man was lounging behind the
desk, simultaneously reading a book and following a baseball game
on the small TV behind him. He jolted up to his feet when she
entered, and offered his hand with a wide grin. "Kurt Walker. You
must be Jeanette."

"Yes. I'm one of the new counselors."

"THE new counselor, I'm afraid. My dad filled the other
waterfront opening with my sister Jennifer, and we're going to be
herding cub scouts this week short two cabin staff. Fortunately
boys that young come with parents, but we'll be real busy."

"So--this camp is a family thing? You're a Walker, too, and
Jennifer--wait. Jen Walker? Freshman? She's only fifteen!"

"Yep--family thing. Grandpa built this camp to try to make some
money out of a bad land deal, and we've all kind of grown up
around here in the summers. So you know Jen from swim team, I
bet?"

"Yeah--how'd you know I was on the swim team?"

"Hey, I pay attention. I was also in your third period biology
class two years ago."

"Oh god, there's no way I would have remembered that. But you're
not in my year?"
"Yeah, I just had to retake bio as a senior. We were homeschooled
until I was in tenth grade, and I didn't have that credit when we
moved to town. But I remember you--always agreeing, nodding,
writing things down, never speaking up."

She blushed and tried to change the subject. "OK--it's kind of
coming together now. So you're Bob's son and my boss's nephew.
And what do you do when you're not pretending to watch the camp
while everyone's away?"

Kurt laughed. "Sophomore at St. Cloud State. Computer science.
Here I manage the office and mow the lawn, and basically do
whatever else dad says. And I watch baseball, but only if it's
played outdoors--because baseball under a roof is an abomination
to God."

Jeanette giggled at the unprovoked dogma. "OK--well, I don't know
baseball, but I do think that playing outdoors is a good thing.
As long as you put on an SPF of at least 30."

"So noted. I will make sure that the guard shack at the
waterfront is adequately stocked to your needs. Here, let me get
your info in the computer so Bob can print off the personnel
forms for you tomorrow." He pulled up a database window and
entered "Brown, Jeanette", then paused.

"Got a middle name?"

"Marie".

"Hmm. Jeanette Marie. Is your mom french?"

"Quebecois."

"Ahh--well with a sister Colette, and brother Phillipe..."

"Hey! How do you know so much about me?"

"I just pay attention to people. Your sister was a year above me,
and she...oh well, let's just say that she was somewhat legendary
in her own way." Jeanette's face clouded. Kurt, true to his
words, noticed. "Shit--sorry. Hey listen, I wasn't one of her
conquests, if that helps."

Jeanette sighed. "Yeah, well. I'm not going to be defined by her
either." Maybe this is what Colette had meant in her parting
words. But Kurt was almost scary in how closely he was pegging
her. They were small things--swim team, biology, the not speaking
up, her sister--but maybe she was so used to not being noticed
that that was enough to be frightening. Didn't she need to change
radically to be noticed? Or was there a way to be herself and be
worthy of someone's attention?

Kurt finished taking her information and escorted her to her
cabin. He re-introduced her to Jennifer, who had decided it would
be more fun to live with the other counselors than with her
family up the road, and offered to show her the rest of camp.
Jeanette declined, stating that she thought she might like to
wander about herself a bit first, and Kurt bowed and backed out
the door. Jennifer grinned at Jeanette and rolled her eyes at her
brother, then flopped back down on her bunk with the latest
People magazine. Jeanette put a couple of things away and
realized that she knew nothing about the routine. "So Jen--are
there any meals for us or anything today? Anything on the
schedule?"

"Oh well, no. The cooks leave sandwich stuff out for the
counselors who stay in camp, and we'll probably need to meet with
my cousin Jimmy tomorrow--he's in charge of the waterfront. If
you want to come up to the house this evening, I'm sure mom will
feed you, if you want more than sandwiches."

"Thanks--I'll let you know."

In the end, Jeanette found the sandwiches left out in the dining
hall kitchen more than adequate. She'd wandered around and gotten
the layout, paying special attention to the waterfront area where
she'd be working. On the way back she met Barb, her other
cabinmate, and was relieved to learn that she had no relation to
the Walker family, though she'd worked for them last summer and
had good things to say about the experience. They chatted
aimlessly about everything, and Jeanette realized that Barb was
listening to her, taking her seriously, and was seeming to like
her just as she was. She relaxed into her bunk with a easy
contentment that night.

Sunday morning was a flurry of preparation. Barb warned her to
eat up at breakfast, as scouts would start arriving at noon, and
lunch would be on the run, if there was time for any at all.
Breakfast was hearty, though. There were twenty or so other
counselors, most of whom were paired as cabin leaders and had
various duties with arts and crafts or nature studies. Jen, Barb,
Jeanette, and Jimmy made up the waterfront staff, and Kurt filled
in as jack-of-all-trades. His dad, Bob, offered a short
devotional in lieu of a formal Sunday service, and led them in
prayer for a safe week. Jeanette crossed herself automatically as
he closed, and blushed sheepishly as she realized that no one
else had done so.

As they filed out of the dining hall, Jimmy beckoned the three
young women into a huddle. "You know that our area is one of the
main reasons these kids come to camp, and the one with the most
at stake if something goes wrong. We've never worked together
before, and today we've got eighty-plus 8-, 9-, and 10-year olds
showing up with every intent to run down to the lake and drown
themselves. Today we've got to test their swimming skills,
schedule them for lessons for the week, and drill into their
heads that we are in charge and that they shouldn't take a step
onto the beach unless they're committed fully to water safety. So
you ready for this?"

They nodded solemnly, and Jen added, "You got it, cuz. We're a
team."

"Team!" Barb and Jeanette spontaneously shouted, throwing their
arms around the others.

"And we're looking out for each other, OK?" urged Barb.

"That's what I like to hear," smiled Jimmy, "let's get to work."

The waterfront was in pretty good shape after last week's
relatively small session with a church group, so the girls
spruced up the beach and grounds with some quick raking as Kurt
mowed the boat landing. About an hour later, Kurt showed up again
pulling a trailer of canoes that needed to be unloaded. After
they had all been placed onto the lakeside racks, he reached into
the pickup cab and pulled out a bag, tossing one of the contents
to Jeanette. "SPF 36, per your request Miss Brown! And one for
each of you, too!" as he passed the tubes around like baseballs.
"I don't want to see any sunburn on you lovely young ladies this
week. Nor you, dear sister."

Jen rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. "I hope you
picked up one for yourself, too."

"That's right, Lawn Boy," chided Jeanette. "And if I see you out
without a shirt, you'd better be slathered in it!"
"Of course! And if I fail your inspection, I would even allow you
to apply it personally anywhere you wished!"
"You'd better watch yourself, Kurt, you don't know what you're
getting yourself in for, messing with Team Waterfront here,"
warned Jimmy. "I'm already a little scared about being
outnumbered."
"I consider myself warned. You know, Jimmy, I think I'll see if
Dad thinks this fence and guard shack needs a new coat of paint.
That way I can be around a bit more to help you keep an eye on
them. Quell any potential mutinies."

"Hmmph", interjected Barb. "Your 'government' rules at the
consent of the governed here. We'll have both of you set adrift
in a canoe without a paddle the minute you try anything. Right
girls?"
Jen and Jeanette gleefully exclaimed their solidarity, and Jimmy
shrugged and called for a truce. It was just in time, as Mrs.
Walker drove up in the electric cart with sandwiches, fruit, and
a cooler of drinks to deliver the warning that the first pack of
cubs had arrived and would be at the waterfront as soon as they
finished their site orientation. The rest of the afternoon was
spent repeating the same stern safety warnings each half-hour to
a different clutch of fidgety boys. They then had to pass a
fifty-yard swim test and float for a minute to earn the privilege
of swimming out to the raft anchored 20 yards off the dock. It
seemed each group had at least one youngster who overestimated
his skills and had to be pulled out prematurely, with assurances
that they could try again in lessons later in the week. After it
was all done, they secured the area and trudged up the hill to
the dining hall, now buzzing with excited scouts. After a brief
program introducing all the staff, the packs went back to their
cabins and tent sites, and the girls were free to retire to their
cabin for hot showers and an early bedtime.
The rest of the week went by pretty much in the same way. The
girls would get up and eat together, then give lessons at the
waterfront until lunch time. Afternoons would be for open swim
and lifeguarding, all of which fortunately proceeded without
incident. Kurt did show up to paint, and did, as promised, seem
to spend much of his time "observing" them. He would also join
them for meals and assist them making slushies and selling candy
at evening commissary duty. Jeanette was enjoying his casual
banter, but was most impressed with the close relationship he
seemed to have with his younger sister. Both were quick to tease
and jibe each other, but she recognized an honest warmth and
caring between them as well. On Friday evening, the three of them
had closed the store after the last scouts left for home and were
enjoying a small campfire in the Walker's backyard. Barb and two
of her friends who worked as cabin staff had left early to spend
the night back in Minneapolis, where they apparently all had
boyfriends, but Jeanette had made no plans. She was enjoying
hanging with Jen, even under the watchful eye of Kurt, and
accepted an invitation to eat with the family that night. This
was a new experience in many ways. Kurt, Jimmy, and Jen gathered
with Mr. and Mrs. Walker and helped with the final meal
preparation. They all sat down together to talk together more
like close friends would. Bob had them join hands as he said a
prayer, and as they said "amen" together, Jen and Kurt, on either
side, squeezed her hands.
"So Jeanette," said Mrs. Walker, "Jen tells me you're going to be
a senior next year. Any plans after that?"
"Well, I'm thinking about education--probably social studies,
maybe combined with PE or coaching. But I really like history the
most."
"No kidding?" responded Bob. "I was a history major--medieval and
renaissance Europe, mostly. Got interested in the Protestant
Reformation. What part of history do you like?"
"Well, actually, more modern stuff--I'd like to learn more about
social movements--Civil Rights, Women's Suffrage, how societies
change from the bottom up with grassroots movements. I suppose
the Reformation was like that too. I ummm, don't know much about
it--I guess my family was on the wrong side in that one," she
added sheepishly.
Bob laughed heartily. "Kurt told me he thought you were Catholic.
But as far as I'm concerned we're still both on the Right Side,
you know. My dad was a High Church Anglican, married a Norwegian
Lutheran, and Jim and I turned out alright..." Jeanette turned to
face Kurt with a quizzical, vaguely dangerous look. Now it was
his turn to blush. Bob ended his monologue, perhaps perceiving
that he'd lost his audience.
"I don't believe we've discussed religion this week. Tell me,
Bob, is it from you or from your wife that Kurt inherited his
astounding perceptual skills? Are there any other personal
details of my life that Kurt would like to tell us about
tonight?"
Jen stifled a giggle, and Jimmy quickly requested that someone
pass him the butter. Kurt started to speak, but then raised his
hand in surrender. "I'm sorry, Jeanette. I made an assumption,
and didn't talk about it with you personally. I shouldn't be
talking about you behind your back."
"Well let's talk about this face to face, OK? But maybe in
private. Deal?"
"Deal."
"You're forgiven then. By Grace through Faith, or through
Priestly Absolution, you have your choice."
Kurt grinned and Bob guffawed yet again. Jen punched Jeanette's
shoulder and got a high-five in turn.
Later as the three of them relaxed by the fire, Jeanette raised
the issue again. "Kurt--ever since I got here, I've felt like
you're reading my mind. It's like--scary. That's why I got p.o.'d
at dinner. What is it with you?"
"Sorry--I don't mean any harm. It's not like supernatural or
anything. I just noticed that you cross yourself at grace, and
later with Dad the topic came up, so I stated my conclusion, I
guess. Same with Jen and swim team, and knowing your family. I
just watch people, make connections, that kind of thing. I was
wrong about a couple of things though."
"Like what?"
"Well I thought I had you pegged as a quiet type, not one to
stand up for yourself. Definitely wrong about that! You just
needed an opportunity, I guess."
"Is that OK with you?"
"What? That I was wrong, or that you stand up for yourself?"
"Well--both. I like a man who can admit that he's wrong, but does
it offend you that I stand up for myself?"
"Well, as far as the former goes, I get plenty of practice. And
as far as the latter, well it's like the bumper sticker says:
'Well-behaved women seldom make history'. Keep speaking up, and I
think you're going to go places, Jeanette Marie Brown."
She was glad that the firelight camoflagued her blushing. No one
in her memory had ever expressed that kind of confidence in her.
They may have seen her as reliable, dependable, and
competent--but never as "going places". She felt flustered and a
bit numb, a little confused. She fell silent.
"You OK?" asked Jen.
"Yeah. Just tired I guess. We should probably head back to the
cabin pretty soon." She turned to Kurt. "What kind of places do
you see me going?"
"Hey, I'm just an observer--not a fortune teller. But if you
decide what you want, and act on it--look out world! I'll never
bet against you getting it."
In that instant, Jeanette made a decision and acted on it, though
hardly one Kurt expected. She rose from her chair, stepped over
to him, placed a hand under his chin, and leaned down to kiss
him. Hard. On the mouth. Stunned into silence, he stared into her
smiling face, and then did the best thing he could do, given the
circumstances. He pulled her head back down to his face and
kissed her back. The heat from the fire was against her back, but
still Jeanette shivered from head to toe.
"Ok then." They both said simultaneously.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow", replied Jeanette. "G'night Kurt. Shall we go Jen?"
The equally stunned younger girl just nodded, open-mouthed, and
rose to join her, leaving the young man to sit by the fire and
try to work out for himself what had just happened to him.
