As the directions were given for everyone to report to the bungalow section of the camp to secure their lodgings and roommates, Adelyn, Julie, and Courtney complied. The small cabins were cozy, and though rustic with their cement floors, cedar-shingled roofs and newly painted walls—they seemed quite adequate for the some ten nights the girls and fifty-three other "young adults" would stay in these quarters. The bathrooms were another issue, as there were two large communal facilities with toilets and showers for the "women" and two for the "men."

Neither of the girls were too thrilled with these accommodations, but on further inspection they did have permanent hair dryers, adequate mirror space, shower stalls with curtains, and what seemed like a small pyramid of stacked toilet paper rolls all hygienically wrapped in clear plastic. There was also opaque windows running along the top of the walls to ensure the girls'  privacy when showering and dressing.

As they cued up to be assigned their cabin numbers, the three were joined by another member of their Langley graduating class, Cheryl Chambers. She was ecstatic to find them, and as one of the few African-Americans to attend the camp, her hugs with the girls made her feel more secure and less exposed. They all remarked with smiles the fact that she had also courageously decided to begin her summer vacation at the camp. Cheryl also noted privately to them how most of the guests were not only strangers to them, but for the most part a little older by one to three critical years.

The camp administrators had wisely grouped the four girls from Langley High together with Julie and Cheryl in cabin #14 and Adelyn and Courtney in bungalow #15. The girls were relieved to find this close configuration, and at least one of their collective fears, had now been allayed—who they would room with.

As the morning consisted of the guests retrieving their belongings and setting up their rooms, Adelyn and Courtney,  while putting their clothes in the closets,  began gossiping about some of the other girls they had seen attending the program.

"Oh my God, Adelyn, did you see how beautiful some of these girls are here? I think they must have thought this was going to be a beauty pageant."

Adelyn just laughed. She had not been so observant of this detail, as it was Courtney's nature, however, to always size up the competition. It had just come with the territory of her being a cheerleader all four years at Langley—and certainly one of the top five or so most popular girls at the school. It was true, she had the look guys went for. But since their arrival, Adelyn was far more mindful of the guys on the premises. For it had only been in her last year of high school that she truly took such an interest in the physicality and attractiveness of males. Perhaps, she accepted, it was just her late arriving hormones which were now talking to her loud and clearly.

"Well I can't say much for the girls here Court . . . but the guys are awesome, if you ask me."

"Whoa, Adelyn!  So you've found out there's more to life than math and chemistry, I see."

It was a semi-cruel remark but Adelyn wisely took it to establish in Courtney's mind that she was way ahead of her socially, and was, no doubt, a long time judge of males. Cheerleaders everywhere had this "queen bee" mentality, Adelyn knew, which was pretty much tolerated by most other girls in their periphery, though not with out resentment and often all-out jealousy.

"Hey, come on Courtney. . . I wasn't that much  of a nerd, you know. I was pretty aware of some of the hotter guys at our school."

Both girls had almost finished emptying their suitcases into the nooks and onto the shelves of their room.

"Well, no one ever saw it, Adelyn. You must admit you were basically a loner . . .. No offense, but you just never let on that you had anything for guys."

"OK. But haven't you ever heard the saying . . . 'Still waters run deep'?"

They both smiled. "Too funny, Ads. But look. That was then and this is now. Here it's going to be a new world. You can be as aggressive or wait-and-see as you want. All the guys are kind of expecting some real action. Just understand . . . there'll be no biology tests here, OK?"

Adelyn just rolled her eyes.

"See, you just have to know how to play the game with guys," Courtney concluded confidently.

"Doesn't really seem that hard, Courtney. We both know what most of them want."

"And . . . what most of us girls  want, too. I hope you realize that comes with the territory, especially here."

"Courtney . . . You might be surprised what I understand. And what I want now."

"Well I hope so. Look. If you have any questions about how these games are played, just ask. OK? Obviously you could use the experience. Everyone at our school knew you must still be a virgin, Ads."

The remark hurt. "Well it's not a terminal condition, Courtney, OK? Things can change if you want them to. When you're ready."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, girlfriend. And like I say . . . if you need to know anything . . ."

"Aright. So for starters . . . when did you lose it?  Your V-card?"

"Wow. Like ages ago. The summer before Langley High."

"So you were like . . ."

"Fourteen . . . yeah."

"My gosh, pretty young. So was it . . ."

"Of course it hurt. But later, that same month . . . I realized it was amazing . . . With the right guy of course."

"Right."

"So really, Adelyn . . . Are you seriously planning on hooking up with someone here at camp? And doing the thing with him?"

"You never know. I could be ready for that."

"Well alright Adelyn!"

"Hey, we'll see, OK? I've gone this long without it."

Courtney was now standing before the full-length mirror in the room. She began brushing her blond hair and adjusting her top tightly across her chest to better feature her full breasts. Her shorts were much shorter than most of the girls Adelyn had seen, and she wore them tighter, as an emblem of her desirability. It was all reminiscent of how she had utilized her blue and white cheer-leading uniform back at school to establish her 'alpha' position among the females. With a slight retouch of her eyeliner and a quick application of her wet lip gloss, Courtney was ready to walk out of the room to face their new world at camp.

Adelyn could see and understood this primping and shallowness was somehow necessary there in this new environment. It would be not just a means of acceptance, but also more—to not just survive, but to thrive. Adelyn also realized, as she inadvertently looked into the mirror and puffed up her own ample breasts, that her flirtatious roommate might just be the best tutor for this course she could find in all of Brookhaven and out at its countrified summer camp.

* * *