"Oh my God…"

The small group of young women who were gathered at the table all followed the gaze of the one who had spoken, and more than one did a double take when they saw the three guys walk into the dining room.

"Shawn!"

One of them got out of her chair and went over to him, hugging him tight, and Shawn grinned as he returned the hug.

"Hi, Danin."

"Are you counseling?" Danin asked him, smiling. "No one said anything about that!"

"It's a last minute thing," Shawn told her.

"Are Jack and Sam coming? Or Jacob? Gina sent me a picture; he's soooo cute."

Shawn shook his head.

"They're at home."

He turned to Ian and River, and introduced them. "Danin, this is River, and this is Ian. They're-"

"Your roommates at the Air Force academy, right?" Danin finished, smiling at River – who was quick to smile back. "Gina told me all about them."

Shawn looked at Ian and River.

"Gina and Danin are good friends."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Danin," River said, offering his hand, and another smile.

"You, too, River."

She held his hand maybe a moment longer than was necessary, and then looked at Ian, who had hung back. He wasn't all that fond of introductions in the first place, and knew that he could count of River's more boisterous nature to buffer him a little.

"From what I hear, you're the smartest guy in the world."

Ian shrugged.

"I do okay."

"Is your mom really Maggie Brooks?" Danin asked. "Gina told me that she-"

"Danin…"

As they'd been speaking, a couple of the women who had been sitting with Danin had walked over, looking River and Ian over with interest. River, of course, was just as interested in them, and it showed.

"Guys, this is Shawn Adams, and his friends, River and Ian."

"River, huh?" One of the women repeated with a smile. She held out her hand to him, and he took it. "I'm Maria."

"This is Barbara and Ann," Danin said, pointing to the others, who shook hands as well.

Both of them were older than Danin – who Shawn knew was seventeen.

"Are you guys in school?" Ann asked, curiously, looking at Ian. She preferred blondes, but the dark-haired guy was almost as attractive, and she liked the way he stayed back from the crowd. It made him seem aloof.

"We go to the Air Force Academy," River answered when Ian didn't make a response.

"Really?" Barbara smiled, and then looked at Shawn. "What about you?"

"I'm in the Air Force Academy, too."

"Really? How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Almost.

Danin smiled at the surprised expressions on her friends' faces.

"Shawn's a genius, you guys. He graduated from high school at fourteen."

"Wow."

Now the women who had dismissed him as being too young to hold their interest were watching him, and Shawn found he rather preferred they had their attention on River or Ian.

"I just got lucky," he said, lamely.

"Hey, guys…"

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Gary Hines, who was also accompanied by several others.

"Let's have a seat, can we?"

"Come sit with us, you guys," Ann offered.

Without waiting for an answer, she led them over to the table they'd been sitting at, and those who hadn't gotten up smiled a welcome when they joined them. River's smile was broad – he was clearly in his element – and he sat down between two of them, introducing himself and still managing to make it seem as if he'd known them forever. Danin took Shawn's hand – with an affection that was purely sisterly – and led him over to the table as well. Unable to figure out a way to go sit somewhere else without making it plain he didn't want to sit with them, Ian was forced to join them, sitting between Shawn and one of the older women – one that Ian noticed was wearing a wedding ring. That made her the perfect person to sit beside, as far as he was concerned.

She smiled when he sat down, and she offered him her hand.

"I'm Kelly."

"Ian."

"It's nice to meet you."

He nodded, but was saved from answering when Gary waved the rest of the people gathered into chairs around other tables.

"Welcome to the first week of summer camp," he told them, and Ian immediately assumed it was a speech he was used to giving. "For those of you who have done this before, welcome back! For those of you who haven't; don't be afraid, it doesn't hurt."

There were a few chuckles, and Hines smiled.

"This is the week that we have our youngest campers, so remember that we're going to have to be conscientious of their needs – for some of them this will be their first time away from home for any period of time."

Ian gave a purely mental groan, even while those around him nodded their agreement.

Hines held up a couple of pieces of paper, stapled together.

"The schedule is going to allow for a lot of free time – and this year, we're also going to have something new." He smiled, looking around. "I'm sure those of you who have been down to the water have noticed the new dock – and the new boat?"

There were murmurs of agreement and curiosity.

"During free time, we're going to have skiing lessons. Those of you who have kids who want to give it a try, please feel free to allow them to sign up during their free time. They will have to have passed a swimming test, however – and the younger campers will have to have one of their counselors with them. Of course, I'm sure you'll all want to give it a try, too."

Ian would rather feed his fingers to a rabid antelope, but River was nodding his agreement – as were several of the others.

"We'll worry about the schedule day by day instead of trying to adhere to it completely – which doesn't always work with this age group – and team activities will be in groups decided by cabins, as usual."

Which didn't make any sense to Ian, although there were nods around the table he was sitting at. Shawn was nodding, too, so Ian just figured he'd ask him what that meant later.

"Any questions about the schedule?"

There weren't any, and Gary smiled once more.

"Good. We have about an hour before the campers are supposed to start arriving, so why don't we get our chairs in a circle and get to know each other with some introductions?"

Ian stood with the others, grabbing his chair and moving it out to the side of the room where they were all making a large circle. Again, he made sure to sit between Shawn and Kelly, who didn't seem to mind him next to her. So far it wasn't too bad. He supposed. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad, after all…