"Have you ever thought about the number of songs that we sing, as a camp, with the campers, at song sessions, that mention sex?" Gwen posed the question to the small group of people hanging out on the lawn at Center Camp after the campers were in bed. They had a few hours off each night, after lights out, before they had to be back in their cabins with their campers for the night. The group sat spread out on the grass in partial darkness.
"I've never stopped to compile a comprehensive list," Frank leaned back on his hands, his legs crossed, Gwen's head resting over his ankles where she lay on the grass. "But I always thought that line in Brown Eyed Girl, you know 'making love in the green grass, behind the stadium with you' was not really meant for all ages." A couple of heads nodded in agreement.
"That's not even that bad!" Ezra laughed, his elbows on his knees. "Jack and Diane, the part where she sits on his lap and he's got a hand between her knees."
"Ariel, the Dean Friedman song, you know, 'I found the softness of her mouth, we made love, the bombs bursting in air,'" Alexis quoted.
"Yeah, that's the one that made me think of it tonight," Gwen nodded. "My eight-year-old campers are belting this thing out, no idea what's going on."
"The hand between the knees doesn't have to be in a dirty way," Sydney sat up, putting her knees together. "It could just be something like this," she demonstrated with her hands literally wedged between the knees. Ezra guffawed loudly.
"Why don't you come 'ere Syd and I'll show you where his hand is," he beckoned her over, flexing an index finger in her direction. Sydney rolled her eyes, folding her elbows over her knees and resting her chin on her arms.
"It's not as if we're singing something like... Prince's Erotic City." She was met with blank stares all around. Ezra narrowed his eyes at her.
"I don't know that one," Josh confessed. "How does it go?"
"Oh, umm... it's just loaded..." Sydney blushed, sorry that she brought it up. "We can fuck until the dawn," she sang quietly "makin' love till cherry's gone," eyebrows went up and Gwen's mouth actually hung open. "Erotic city, can't you see. Fuck so pretty, you and me," she finished the verse, her eyes scanning the group.
"Oh my God, that's..." Gwen shook her head.
"Scandalous?" Frank offered. A few people chuckled.
"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say fuck," Ezra smirked.
That was probably true, it wasn't a word that rolled off the tongue easily for Sydney. If she ever cursed, her go-to was usually 'shit,' and even then, it was frequently diverted into a "sh... oot" instead.
"Do you have that on tape or something? I'd like to hear it sometime," Frank requested.
"No," Sydney shook her head. "My brother had it on some mixtape years ago. That's when I heard it."
They've all known each other before this summer, some of them have been coming back to Camp Ceder Creek for years, since they were campers themselves, but Sydney and Frank had a bit of an intimate history. They had dated for nearly a year at the end of high school and into their freshman year in college. It wasn't just a camp romance, which was common and ended with the end of the camp season, as everyone went back to college. They both lived in New York City then and had actually dated 'in real life,' as everyone from Ceder Creek referred to life outside of camp. They were just friends now, on good terms, and Frank was with Gwen this summer.
She didn't have any hard feelings or jealousy about it. She hadn't known Gwen as long as some of the other people here, she didn't come to Ceder Creek as a camper, but she joined the staff a couple of summers ago and she was a good friend now. She had actually invited Sydney to spend the day off with her, at her parents' house, which was just about an hour away from camp. They got three full days off per month, 5 pm to 5 pm the following day, when they could go off camp and spend their time however they pleased.
They sat at the long wooden table in the Arts and Crafts Shack while Gwen helped one of her campers get started on a lanyard box stitch. The little girl watched Gwen's hands carefully as she manipulated the plastic laces.
"My parents aren't actually going to be there, they are on vacation, on an Alaskan Cruise, so we'd have the house to ourselves. We'll pick up some snacks and booze, sleep late, lounge by the pool, it will be great." Gwen tried to convince her. Sydney carefully sorted through beads on a paper plate.
"I don't know, it's just..." she made a face. "I don't want to be a third wheel. It'll be weird. You should just enjoy your day with Frank and I will figure out something else to do."
"Ezra's coming too. You won't be a third wheel at all," Gwen assured her. "He didn't even hesitate to accept the invitation. He totally doesn't care about being a third wheel or anything like that. He's just up for the good time. You should come." Gwen made a pleading face.
This idea made her feel simultaneously more and less comfortable. Not being the extra, non-coupled person was good, but being there with another guy seemed awkward, like they would be expected to hook up too. Ezra was definitely attractive, tall, and lean with a gorgeous, dimpled smile, but he wasn't exactly her type. She's known him since they were ten or so, they both came back to camp every summer for over ten years now, and he was rather cocky and overconfident, which seemed to rub Sydney the wrong way. It didn't matter that much as long as they just stayed friends, but she imagined finding him insufferable as a boyfriend.
"There's tons of room. My brother's room is basically a guest room at this point, he hasn't lived there in years, and there's a whole little suite on the first floor where my grandma stays when she visits. You can take that, have your own bathroom," Gwen offered. Her camper took over the lanyard and Gwen went back to the beaded bracelet she was making.
"Maybe," Sydney sighed, still feeling reservations for some reason.
"No maybe, you gotta come. What are you gonna do otherwise? Where are you gonna go? Bum around camp by yourself all day?" Gwen was well aware of the fact that Sydney didn't have a car. She didn't even have a driver's license. Growing up in NYC left her with little reason to learn how to drive. She's been taking the subway and buses by herself since she was about twelve and could go anywhere in the city without the added burden of looking for parking.
"Ok," she conceded, without looking up at her friend.
"Yay! Bring a bathing suit!" Gwen seemed really excited.
****
Sydney sat upfront with Gwen, fiddling with the knob to pick up an acceptable radio station on the ancient radio in Gwen's 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass. She found one playing Hootie and the Blowfish and the girls immediately picked up singing along to the lyrics of I Only Wanna Be With You. Ezra and Frank exchanged a look in the back seat. Frank shrugged, joining in with the song. Ezra joined in on the next one, when What Would You Say, a Dave Matthew's song, came on. They lost the station about fifteen minutes out from Gwen's house.
