John and May sat in the Rec Hall as all the boys filtered in. Free time was their favorite part of the day. Even though only the boy campers usually came into the dim room for foosball and ping pong, both a girl and boy counselor were assigned to monitor the area. John staggered over to his seat in front of the brick fireplace. He never understood why a summer camp needed a fireplace. He rested his massive walking stick next to it as he sat.

“How’d you get stuck with rec duty this year?” May asked.

“I requested it actually. These chairs are easier on my back. My surgery makes it pretty hard to find comfy seats.” John replied.

“Oh yeah. I forgot.” She scanned the room looking for their next conversation piece. John was shy, and it’d be a pretty long couple of hours if she couldn’t find anything to talk about. “Have you met all the kids yet?”

“No, but the ones in my cabin so far are cool. A couple might be tough to handle.”

“It shouldn’t be too bad, but Donny has trouble sitting still,” she chuckled.

“Yeah.” John jingled the cup of change in his hands. “Weird how we hand out quarters so the kids can play air hockey for free.”

“Yeah, the table is secondhand from an arcade. It works though I guess.”

Donny lumbered across the room towards them. His gate was wide, almost like a waddle. Sweat dripped down his bald head.

“Ms. May, the other kids won’t let me play air hockey. They said I’m too rough.” Donny voice was raspy. He yelled constantly his first day of camp. It reduced his voice to a whisper.

“Do you want to or should I?” May asked John.

“I’ll take the next one,” he grinned as she playfully rolled her eyes.

Not that he was lazy. The cement floor was slippery and with little to no feeling in his foot it was hard to get around.

May walked over to where the boys were playing. They all stopped to listen to her. She had a feminine grace. When she walked into a room all the boys noticed. She handled them well and had established the reputation she didn’t mess around. John was jealous of how easy it was for her.

After her little “play nice” speech, she grabbed two sodas from the fridge before reclaiming her seat next to John.

“All good?” he asked.

“Yep. Little brats just need to be told. Donny plays victim, but he’s the instigator.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? He probably has issues. You should see his med list.”

“Maybe, but he’s gotta learn to reign it in. Earlier he sent two little girls to the nurse. Tag gone wrong.”

“He push them down?”

“No, bit one and hit the other.”

“Oh, wow! That’s not cool, but isn’t that why we’re here? To mentor them before they go into middle school.”

The horn rang across the campground signaling the next activity.

“Where are you off to May?”

“The pool. I’m the lifeguard. You?”

“Lake. I’m canoe supervision.”

“See you tomorrow in rec prison.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad,” he chuckled. “Have fun at the pool.”

John stumbled in late. May expected it and waited for him in the same spot in front of the fireplace. Her eyes met his. Her stare of boredom showed slight signs of a reprieve.

Scree-tuk, scree-tuk. The sound of John’s stick echoed through the room.The drafty room chilled May so she sat wrapped in an oversized hoodie that draped down to her knees. It completely covered her shorts. As John sat next to her, she removed her glasses and pretended to clean them with her sleeve. She wanted John to see her eyes without them. He barely noticed. He was already scanning the room. Everything seemed to be in order. No kids were misbehaving, so he relaxed and settled into his chair. His gaze shifted from the room to her.

“What did I miss?” he huffed, exasperated from his walk.

“Same as yesterday, but Donny’s been real quiet. You know why?”

John shook his head. He saw Donny sitting alone at the chessboard.His lazy fingers moved pieces on both sides, pretending to play.

“I wonder if he knows you need friends to play chess,” May sneered.

“I’m going to go play with him. You can be on quarter duty.”

John reached for his stick and carefully maneuvered around the tables and chairs. He sat down, but Donny barely noticed.

“Hey Donny, can I play with you?”

“That’s ok,” Donny said. His voice was still hoarse. “I know you’re just offering because it’s your job. My dad was right. I’m a difficult kid.”

“Nah man. I love chess. Did your dad teach you to play?”

“Yeah, we used to play all the time when I got home from school. He was really good. I could never beat him. I don’t think anyone else here know how to play. The board is always free.”

“Well, I know. White or black?”

“White!”

Donny grabbed his pieces and set up his side of the board. It wasn't right, but his excitement was contagious. John didn’t see a reason to correct him. They played five games and John did his best to split the wins with Donny. The horn rang mid game, so John took a picture of the board. They agreed to finish the game the tomorrow. May swept the floor while John put all the board game pieces back in their respective boxes.

“He’s not a bad kid you know.”

“What?” May replied startled by his comment.

“Donny. He’s not a bad kid. He has a lot of energy and has a hard time making friends.”

“I know. He just doesn’t understand he’s a lot bigger than them. He’s going to hurt someone.”

“But what about the people hurting him? I’m sure he’s been told that a lot. That’s why he was sulking at the chess board. I just feel for him. I bet you had an easy time making friends at this age, but not everyone does.”

May blushed. She let her hair fall from behind her ear so he wouldn’t see. She looked up from her sweeping to watch him organize cards and dice. Everyone else put all the game pieces together in the closest bin, but John insisted on sorting them. He really cared about giving the kids the best camp experience possible. She admired that about him.

The grass sloshed beneath John’s feet. He had difficulty walking down the hill towards the pool, but he made it. He prepared to knock on the vinyl fence gate, but hesitated. He wasn’t sure if girls were in the pool. Swim time was segregated by gender. Men weren't allowed in. He was, however, sent by the camp director to deliver a message to May.

“Hey May! Are you free to talk for a second?”

John couldn’t see her face light up, but he did hear how quickly she scurried off of her guard tower. The small pool enabled her to see all the kids from anywhere inside the fence anyway. She eased the gate open while still keeping an eye on her swimmers.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“The director wanted me to tell you there’s a big storm coming up. If you have to clear the pool you can just send them to their cabins.”

“He sent you all this way, down the hill, and across the ball field just to tell me that?”

“Well… I maybe volunteered. Anyway I’ll see you later.”

“Bye John.” May smiled as she walked back to her guard tower. She hoped no one had noticed how excited she had been to see John. She couldn’t keep her heart from racing. Nevertheless, she straightened her visor and tried to put on her best “back to business” face.

May watched the pool as the boys frolicked in the water. They were more active than the girls so she had to be extra vigilant. Nothing she couldn’t handle though. Behind her stand she could hear boys laughing at Donny as they waved his hat in the air. May rose from her seated position to tell them to stop. She turned in time to watch a small blonde-haired boy throw the hat into the pool. Donny tried to grab it from the air, but his footing slipped and he tumbled into the shallow water head first.

“Donny, be careful!” May gasped, a split second too late. She looked on in horror as blood colored the water where he landed. May blew her whistle as hard as she could and commanded everyone to clear the water. “I’m going to need help,” she yelled to the other counselors present. Her slender body gently descended into the water without so much as a flutter atop the pool’s water. Quickly but calmly she reached Donny and performed an arm over head splint to stabilize his neck.

“All right you two, submerge the spine board straight down on the side of the pool!”

The counselors nodded in terrified agreement. Donny was trying to say something, but his coughing made it illegible. Once they placed the board, May aligned it with Donny’s body and both took one of his hands. They leveled the board and pulled him out of the water.

“Miss May, am I going to be all right?” Donny asked, his voice whining.

Trembling, she looked over his body for injuries. The cut wasn’t too bad, but she couldn’t be sure about his neck. “You’re going to be all right.” She leaned over to whisper for a counselor to call 9-1-1. “You’re hurt Donny. I need you to lie perfectly still for me. Ok?”

“Is my hand ok Miss May?”

Puzzled she looked them over. “They seem fine. Why do they hurt?”

“No, I’m just really scared. When I’m scared my Mom usually holds my hand. Will you hold my hand Miss May?”

A tear streamed down her cheek as she clutched the boy’s hand until E.M.S. arrived.

May walked through the ball field clutching her flip-flops. Putting them on didn’t seem all that important. She looked up to see John coming down the hill. She was shaking.

“Everyone’s talking about what happened. Are you ok?” he asked. She shook her head and let his arms envelop her

The week of camp concluded without any undue excitement. Word was that Donny was going to be just fine. The staff dispersed for the weekend and reunited as the next week began. A fresh group of campers arrived excited. May and John sat in their usual spots at the back of the rec hall. The faces change, but all the kids were there once again. John’s eye caught a timid boy with glasses bigger than his face sat all alone at the board game table.

“Looks like we have a first timer.” He started to rise from his chair, but was stopped by May’s arm across his chest.

“I think I’ll take this one,” she said.

He smirked as he watched her race over to the table. The boy looked startled, but quickly warmed up to May. John did his best to supervise the rest of the room, but his eyes were solely on May. They were both full of excitement at what the rest of the summer might hold.