Thanks for the feedback. I was surprised of the fic alerts since nothing really happened in chapter 1. Then I got impatient and wanted to post chapter two so that at least Maura and Jane meet. Feedback and reviews welcome. The story is a slow-boil, but I've got many more chapters outlined, so stay tuned. Rizzles for sure.
Chapter 2: Welcome to Camp
Jane took her stuff and followed the wave of people heading toward the cabins. In the information the camp had sent, she knew she was in a cabin named "Pinecone." She looked at the names over the cabin doors as she passed and finally she came upon Pinecone. She walked in and saw four twin beds lined against the wall. Two already had stuff on them, with the girls unpacking their suitcases. Two beds were left to be claimed and Jane grabbed one near a window. She didn't recognize any of the girls. At least I'm not bunking with Shelly and Carolyn. She knew that Bobbi was in her cabin, too, and she wouldn't be showing up until tomorrow.
Jane made small talk with the other girls as they all unpacked. The girls were also new to camp and were excited about the job and also being away from their families. Unlike Jane and Bobbi, Gemma and Charlotte were camp counselors. Gemma and Lotti were from New York City, but their families were both camping enthusiasts, and the girls had been camping many times. They loved New York, but they also loved not being in NYC too. As counselors, they'd make sure their campers kept their cabins tidy, made it to meals and activities on time, and they'd help staff the big over-night camping trips that were built into the camp's itinerary.
They had a couple days until the campers arrived. Basically today was their "free day." Since the staff was arriving at different times throughout the day, depending on how far they were traveling, the Camp Director wasn't holding an all staff meeting until the following morning. This gave Jane some time to wander around and get the lay of the land. She also wanted to check out the softball field and see what kind of shape the equipment was in.
After unpacking, she asked Gemma and Lotti what their plans were for the afternoon. Since they were all new, everyone wanted to walk around the grounds and find out where stuff was, so they set off. The grounds had the staff cabins set off a little ways from the campers cabins, but still close enough that you could get there within a couple minutes walk. They found where the mess hall was. The mess hall was basically the big lunch room where everyone would take their meals. It would also be the site of tomorrow's staff meeting. Outside of the mess hall were some picnic tables for kids that preferred fresh air over the indoors. Off to the side were the camp offices and the first aid cabin.
"Hey guys, do you think the Camp Director is in her office? I want to grab the keys to the sports shed and check out the shape of the softball equipment." The girls headed over to the office, and Jane quickly secured the keys from the director.
On their way out, Gemma asked if they could stop by the First Aid cabin. "With my luck, one of my 6-year-olds will get poison ivy on the first day. Let's check it out."
Jane thought this was pretty sound reasoning. "Yeah, I've played softball for years and I remember that someone on the team always got an injury every few practices. Usually nothing big, but when I was younger and we were all clutzes, someone was always going to the nurse's office. I'm sure my kids will get banged up too."
They entered the First Aid cabin. There were several cots laid out and loads of medical supplies, in different states of being unpacked. No one was there, but the girls felt confident that if the set-up was any indication, the camp would be able to handle whatever the little campers might get into.
The trio sprung outside and headed toward where they assumed the softball diamond was, passing the lake on the way. The lake had a great dock and further out was a big float that one could swim out to and climb onto to sunbath or rest before heading back to shore. This place looks like a lot of fun, Jane thought, smiling to herself.
It was a sunny, though relatively mild day, and they finally made it to the softball field without breaking much of a sweat. Jane saw the sports shed and unlocked it. "Oh hell!" she shouted after a burst of hot air escaped from the all-metal shed. "You guys wait out hear. I just want to take a quick look around and see what kind of equipment Bobbi and I have to work with later this week." After about ten minutes, Jane was back out, looking very sweaty but pleased with the camp's array.
The afternoon was quickly coming to a close, so they headed back to camp for dinner and to return to their cabins and finish the last bit of unpacking. And after her sauna in the sports shed, Jane wanted to check out the showers.
Dinner was a simple affair of hot dogs, chips, and sodas, since everything was still being unpacked by the cooking staff. They'd have more nutritious food later in the week when the fresh food shipment came in. After dinner, Jane grabbed her bath caddie and robe and headed toward the showers that they had discovered earlier.
After entering the dormitory style locker room, Jane checked around to see if anyone else was there. It seemed she was alone, which was creeping her out a little. Things in the woods were much quieter than in Boston, and much, much quieter than her noisy house she shared with four other people. She underessed and quickly found herself engrossed in washing off the heat, sweat, and dust from the day.
As Jane was exiting her shower stall in her robe, she heard a perky "hi" not three feet away.
"Aggghh!" Jane nearly jumped out of her skin. She twirled around to face the person, trying desperately to catch her breath, her chest heaving. She swallowed. It was the girl she had seen by the busses earlier.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!" she apologized. "I just didn't want you to think you were still by yourself, and if I didn't say 'hi' then I was afraid you would think you were by yourself and then you'd be startled when you heard me unpacking my toiletries."
Jane stared at the girl, still trying to gain her self-composure. She was certainly beautiful, with light brown hair falling to her mid back and big expressive eyes. She was looking at Jane, with eyes that seemed to be speaking volumes, asking Jane not to be mad.
Jane smirked. "It's cool. I'm sorry, I totally over reacted. Gee, you'd think people never said 'hello' to me. I'm Jane, by the way." Jane held out her hand. The girl reached out to take it.
"I'm Maura. And I really didn't mean to frighten you."
"No, no, it's no biggie. I was kinda freaking myself out anyway. It's so quiet here and I'm not used to it. I'm from Boston and the city is no where near this quite. Add in the dark and a deserted locker room shower, and I was pretty certain that a serial killer was five minutes from attacking me." Maura giggled. Jane grinned. She was glad she could put this new acquaintance at ease.
"I know what you mean. I go to school in the countryside, and it gets very quite there, but when I'm with my family, we're in the city and it is much noisier. Both places are nice, but in the city, you don't feel quite so alone. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes, I definitely do. Were you on your way to take a shower? I don't want to keep you." Jane noticed that Maura was still dry and fully clothed while she was dripping in her robe.
"Oh, yes. I thought it might be nice to be clean for bed after such a big day."
"Well, I still need to get dressed. Would you like me to wait for you? Then we can head back to our cabins together." Jane hoped that Maura would be okay with this idea. She would personally prefer not to be alone in the dark in the woods her first night at this still-very-new camp. And she knew she tended to have a rather active imagination. She knew she'd be jumpy walking back to her cabin, thinking of the serial-killer stalker she had concocted ten minutes ago in the shower.
Maura smiled slowly, shyly. "That would be lovely. Are you sure you don't mind? I don't want to inconvenience you if you'd rather go ahead." She finished her statement a little sadly, hoping Jane wouldn't take back her invitation.
"You'd be saving me from my imagination, which in this case is a very good thing. Go ahead and shower. Take your time. I'll be here in my pajamas when you get out." Maura agreed and left to start her shower.
Jane dressed in a pair of old cotton shorts and a Boston High Softball t-shirt and waited for Maura to return. After about fifteen minutes, she heard the shower cut off and Maura reemerged dressed in a light blue satiny shorts/tank-top pajama outfit with a matching robe and walking slippers.
Jane swallowed, feeling a surge of attraction, but tamping down on it. It's just because I just met her. I like meeting new people, and she seems really nice. "Um, ready to go?"
Maura nodded, happy that this tall dark-haired girl had actually waited. "I hope I wasn't too long. I'm…I'm not used to people waiting around for me."
Something about this statement struck Jane as odd. "You weren't long, and I didn't mind waiting for you. I'm new to this camp, and honestly it would be nice to know another person here." Jane nudged Maura slightly as they started walking back to the cabins. "What about you? Are you one of 'the legacy girls'?" Jane asked, using air quotes.
"One of the what's?" Maura asked, looking confused.
"You know, one of the girls that used to go to camp here but now is working here. I call them legacy girls. There's a couple girls from my high school that fit that description."
"Oh! No, I am not a legacy girl. This is my first time at this camp too." Maura and Jane smiled at each other. "Looks like we have something in common."
"Looks like it. So what's your gig here?"
"I work in the First Aid cabin. I've had EMT training and I hope to one day be a doctor, though I'm not sure what I want to specialize in just yet. I'm thinking about becoming a medical examiner or a neurological researcher."
Jane raised her eyebrows. "Not a fan of working with living patients, eh? Or do you just prefer to do more research than be a practitioner?"
"Well, I'm not sure yet. I'm just not convinced I have a great bedside manner and I'd prefer to pursue a field where my strengths can be fully utilized."
Jane smirked. "Sounds smart. Well, this is my cabin. Where's your place?" Maura pointed to a cabin a few doors down. "Do you want me to walk you there? Make sure you get in okay?" Maura was touched by Jane's consideration. I just met her and she seems so thoughtful.
"No, that's okay, though that is very kind of you. I…I really enjoyed walking with you. Thank you for waiting for me. I hope I see you again soon." Maura turned to leave.
"Well, you're in First Aid. I'm sure I'll be seeing you a lot." Jane winked, and then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, I'll come grab you for breakfast, okay? The staff meeting is right after it, so we can grab seats together."
Maura agreed, thrilled that she might actually be making a real friend. "That would be lovely, Jane," she said demurely. With that, she headed up to her cabin.
Jane entered her already darkened cabin. Gemma and Lotti were already sound asleep. Jane lay awake thinking about the girl she had just met. Jane couldn't help feeling like she was special, but also like she had to protect her a little bit. She seemed much more well-mannered than Jane, and certainly seemed to have more money, if her pajama attire was anything to go by. But she couldn't shake that Maura seemed genuinely moved by Jane waiting for her and asking her to sit with her at breakfast. These didn't seem like amazing gestures to Jane, just friendly ways to get to know someone, but Maura's reaction made them seem like more. She made Jane feel special, and she felt a nervous thrill well up inside of her as she continued thinking about the girl.
The next day, Jane got up and dressed in record time. Gemma and Lotti were heading toward the showers, and Jane told them she'd catch up with them at the staff meeting. She headed over to Maura's cabin. Maura was already dressed and reading what looked like a medical journal. "A little light reading, Maur?" Jane teased, entering her cabin.
Maura looked up, smiling. Her new friend seemed so easy-going and comfortable. Maura envied the way she could walk into a room as if she owned it, even Maura's cabin, which Maura felt was barely hers since she'd only occupied the space for less than 24 hours. She thought about Jane's question. "Well, I suspect this medical journal weighs less than half a pound versus some of my text books or, depending on the binding of some hard-back novels and the number of pages, those could weigh a couple pounds."
Jane stared at her, bewildered. "What?"
"You asked if what I was reading was light. It is." Jane chuckled, and attempted to clarify.
"I was teasing you. I wasn't referring to how heavy your magazine was. It looked like something that involved a lot of thought. I didn't exactly catch you reading Entertainment Weekly, ya know?"
Now it was Maura's turn to look confused. "I've never read that publication. Is it good? Would you recommend it?"
Jane was dumbfounded, but quickly recovered. "Uh, maybe that one isn't for you. I'll let you know, though. Shall we get to breakfast?" Maura nodded, returning the medical journal to her nightstand.
Over breakfast they spoke about how they had ended up at Camp Pinecrest. It turns out that Maura had to beg her parents to let her come, but for a very different reason than Jane's. They didn't understand why she would want to work during the summer when she could study or travel or accompany them on multiple conferences they were attending. Though Maura didn't flaunt it, Jane was able to piece together that her family was very well off, to the point that Maura really didn't have to work at all, ever.
Jane was amazed by the very different world that Maura seemed to come from. She also found out that the "countryside" where Maura went to school was in France and "the city" that she had referred to the night before was Paris. Not exactly Boston, Jane thought.
Jane shared how she convinced her best friend to come work at Camp Pinecrest with her. Once they had both landed jobs, they broke the news to their parents. Jane explained that since the camp was paying for her room and board, she could put every paycheck into her savings account for college. Her folks didn't have a lot, but Jane was hoping that between grants, scholarships, and working, she'd be able to make ends meet without having to take out a lot of student loans. Maura was impressed with her new friend's ability to think so logically about money and the future. Jane also explained that she and Bobbi had gotten jobs as the camp's softball coaches. "That's what I meant last night about probably seeing you again in a professional capacity. Though we'll try to be careful with the kids, inevitably someone always gets hurt in sports. So it's good to know someone on the inside," Jane winked at Maura. Maura felt butterflies in her stomach, but smiled shyly.
Jane switched back to talking about Bobbi. "I think you'll really like her Maura. She should be arriving sometime this afternoon." Maura felt the tendrils of fear creep around her heart. She felt that it was a bit of a fluke that Jane seemed to like her so much, and didn't think she'd be able to fall into a second bit of luck that Jane's friend Bobbi would like her too. But she just nodded and continued listening to Jane.
Breakfast was wrapping up and the girls cleaned up their plates and dumped them at the kitchen before heading back to get seats in the middle of the room for the staff meeting. The room quickly filled up and the noise of the kitchen began to die down.
The Beverly Buchanan was back and took center stage. Gemma and Lotti had joined Jane and Maura moments earlier and Jane introduced Maura around, including everyone's job at camp. The Director cleared her throat, tested the microphone, and then started in on her agenda.
"I'm very pleased to welcome so many new employees this year. Since Camp Pinecrest opened in 1942, we have grown year after year and I'm proud to report that this year is the biggest turnout we've had so far." Jane tried to pay attention, but could quickly see that this could be a long, boring meeting under the guise of a "welcome." She shifted restlessly in her seat. Maura shot her a sideways glance and Jane tried to still herself. The Director continued.
"In addition to welcoming several new camp counselors, we have added many new camp coaches, dedicated to the art of teaching our girls about a variety of sports and other activities. As many of you know, we've had swimming, hiking, lacrosse, soccer, and trail biking for years. Over the past few years we've added softball, trail running, water polo, and horseback riding. As you get to know each other, I think you'll find that you all have a lot in common. In addition to sports, of course we've brought back arts and crafts, woodworking, bird and animal watching and tracking, and camp cooking.
"This year is the first year that we've embraced young staff at nearly all levels of the camp, including the First Aid tent. As some of you who were with us previous summers will recall, we've always had registered nurses staff the First Aid tent. However, with the growing number of young women interested in the medical field, it only made sense to start adding high school and college level employees here too. The young women that have been selected to work at the First Aid tent are all registered EMTs and have actually gone through training with local fire and EMS staff. Additionally, they have worked with their high schools and universities that they can serve as EMTs while still attending academic courses. Though we will continue to have one RN on staff, we are excited to give these bright new girls such a rich experience. Will our new First Aid employees please stand up and be recognized?"
Jane watched as Maura and two other girls stood in the auditorium. It was clear that Maura was the youngest of the First Aid staffers by at least four years. Maura seemed a little embarrassed by the attention and was relieved when she got to sit back down. Jane leaned over to her and whispered, "Did she add all the high school stuff because you're the only one in high school working in the First Aid cabin?" Maura nodded mutely, unable to meet Jane's eyes. Jane could feel Maura's discomfort and nudged her gently. "That's really cool, Maur." Relieved, Maura glanced at Jane and smiled her relief that her friend didn't think she was an oddball.
The meeting continued and finally wrapped up with instructions on where to find things, expectations of all the staff and mention of the couple camping trips that all the campers would be attending, including many of the staff. Jane was relieved that she wasn't a counselor. They were required to go on the camping trips, though she suspected that non-counselor staff would also be selected to provide additional staffing and supervision. The first camping trips weren't for a few weeks, so she'd cross that bridge when it came.
After the staff meeting, the audience broke up and had some free time again to get to know each other, continue unpacking, or begin planning their activities for their campers. Jane glanced at her watch. Bobbi wasn't due until later that afternoon and lunch was still a good few hours off. Gemma and Lotti and excused themselves to go check on the state of the cabins that would be their responsibilities.
This left Maura and Jane sitting there as the room cleared out. "So," Jane turned to Maura, "what's on your agenda now?"
Maura thought about this. "Well, I thought I'd go to the First Aid cabin and see what I have to work with. I think there's still some supplies that need unpacking. What about you?" Jane shrugged. Until Bobbi arrived, there wasn't much she could do. She wanted both of them to plan out the drills for the week and decide how to work with the girls. "I could help you, if you wanted a hand. Otherwise, I'll probably just walk around camp some more, maybe go for a swim."
Maura loved the idea of Jane helping her in the First Aid cabin. It would give them more time to get to know each other and Maura would feel better once the cabin was in proper order. They headed over there and spent the rest of the time before lunch unpacking and putting things away. Maura gave Jane the instructions and Jane followed them, with a little light teasing thrown in for good measure. After lunch, Maura and Jane were leaving the mess hall when Jane heard someone shouting her name.
"Hey Rizzoli, you gonna help an old pal, or what?" Jane turned around hearing Bobbi's voice not far away.
"Bobbi!" Jane shouted, running toward her friend. Bobbi was laden down with her large duffle bag, a backpack, and a couple boxes.
"Help a gal out, would ya?" Jane happily took the boxes from Bobbi. "So, what'd I miss?" Bobbi asked, looking at Jane.
"Not that much. The all staff meeting that seemed to last days instead of a couple hours. Oh, and I wanted you to meet someone." Jane turned around, looking for Maura, who she saw making her way to them and was still a few feet away. In Jane's sprint to Bobbi, she had left Maura in the dust. "Maura, come here for a sec. I want to introduce you." Maura jogged over to them.
"Bobbi, this is Maura. We met last night. She's also new to camp. Maura is the youngest person to work in the First Aid tent, by like, several years. They only started letting non-nurse people work in the First Aid tent this year. Maura, this is my pal Bobbi that I was telling you about." Bobbi could hear the pride in Jane's voice, and knew that not many people received such a stellar introduction, and certainly not someone Jane had only known for less than a day.
Bobbi extended her hand. "Pleasure to meet you Maura." Maura shook Bobbi's hand, quickly finding Bobbi a warm and welcoming individual.
"The pleasure's mine," Maura replied politely. "May I help you with any of your bags? Which cabin are you heading to?" Bobbi declined the offer of help with her bags, but Maura took one of the boxes from Jane. The three headed off to Bobbi's cabin to drop her stuff off. Jane and Maura filled Bobbi in about the rest of the staff meeting and the two of them gave her a tour of the campgrounds. When they got to the baseball diamond, Bobbi and Jane took another inventory of the sports shed with the equipment.
"We should really start working on what we're gonna do with the girls when they arrive. Do you want to start mapping some stuff out after dinner?" Jane asked. Bobbi agreed. Since it was nearly dinner time by then, the three tramped back to the mess hall for the final meal of the day. Afterward, Maura took her leave of them so that Bobbi and Jane could plan out their week's activities.
Maura was a bit sad to leave her new and only friend, but she reflected that the day with Jane had flown by. Bobbi also seemed like a lot of fun. She was certainly more relaxed than Jane, but she could easily see why they were such good friends. They seemed to compliment each other. Maura sighed as she opened up the door to her cabin to pick back up on the article she had been reading that morning before breakfast.