As the caravan of six colorful canoes drifted down the river, Adelyn and Courtney manned their paddles bravely. Sitting in a straight line with Dan behind them, they listened to his commands while he navigated to keep their craft in the middle of the group of campers. The two other counselors, in separate canoes, could also be heard giving directions to the efforts of the some twenty enthusiasts engaged in the adventure.

"You're doing great! Courtney, Adelyn and Michael," Dan said for encouragement. And as the little boats passed along the scenic banks of the waterway, the environment became more wild looking and pristine. Adelyn could only imagine what opportunistic things were going through her friend's mind to attract the attention of Dan during their day. And it began early with Courtney's comments.

"Wow, Dan. So where did you learn to be so good at this canoeing thing," she said while slightly out of breath paddling.

"I pretty much grew up on rivers," he answered softly. "Canada has so much wilderness, You learn early to appreciate its beauty . . . but also how to enjoy its resources."

"Well, we're pretty lucky to have you in our boat," she said in her overly feminine and flirtatious voice. It was a sound which Adelyn hated. For some reason guys always fell for it and Adelyn had been witness to more than a couple of hook-ups for Courtney, just by employing the same seductive voice she now was pouring on Dan.

What kept entering Adelyn's mind was what Dan was thinking of her still, and by now Courtney. She kept dwelling on the misfortune of sharing the adventure with her, and how it all would play out between herself and Dan with this annoying new interference. Michael, the young man directly in front of her was at least a cute, fit, perhaps twenty or twenty-one year old. He seemed to take the journey seriously and manned his paddle with skill and strength. If only Courtney could see his strong arms and shoulders, Adelyn thought, hear his earthy breath as he worked hard to keep the canoe moving robustly in the water. Perhaps, she surmised, Courtney might be distracted by Michael and get off the track of Dan.

At one point, when Courtney spoke up again and Dan returned no comment, Adelyn smiled to herself. She could only imagine what Courtney would say and think if she only knew how Adelyn had already received an intimate and promising kiss by Dan under the moonlight only the night  before. And all in the presence of his own private and hidden residence. The uncertainty of her future liaisons with him, as promised, however, was now troubling her. That Dan would hopefully not be distracted now by this blond and shapely siren, who always seemed to win each challenge she had ever set out for when conquering males.

At another juncture in the canoe journey, Michael stopped paddling and turned around to face Adelyn. She tried not to notice his cute smile and his attempt to interact with her.

"Adelyn . . . if you see me collapse and fall overboard today . . . it's up to you to save me, OK?" It was Michael's official overture to her. He obviously wanted to become more connected.

"Alright." She responded flatly and curtly, purposely not enthused. She knew he expected more conversation, and it would have been an excellent opportunity to do so with him, had she been s looking for that kind of companionship. But Adelyn had already found the target of her desires in Dan. It also entered her mind that if she was to become too chummy with Michael on this water expedition, and later on the mountain, it would only give Courtney a freer rein. More license  to go on further, directly charming Dan. Any pairing off in this way as couples, was a growing fear to her as the morning wore on.

The unfortunate and semi-rejected Michael tried on several more occasions to make the bridge between himself and Adelyn active, but to no avail, as she made a concerted effort to not lead him there. At one point in his obviously failed attempts, Courtney leaned forward, placing her mouth right behind Adelyn's ear.

"Don't be so cold to him!" she whispered emphatically. "Be sweet. He really likes you!"

To his, Adelyn just shook her head, purposely foiling Courtney's more ulterior plans of laying a future claim to Dan.

As the lead canoe entered into a small cove along the riverbank with soft grasses on the shoreline, Dan took out the battery-powered megaphone and made the announcement to the other canoers that at this point they would beach the crafts, and disembark together.

"Please make sure you stow your paddles in the bottom of the canoe," he advised. "And take your water bottles with you as we begin the hike." His voice was metallic and detached.

Getting out of the canoes and pushing them up safely onto the grass bank, Courtney made it her dogged objective to be as close to Dan as possible. At one point during the group effort, Adelyn observed Courtney purposely putting her shapely derriere, showcased tightly in her too-short shorts, right in front of Dan' face. This naturally angered her, as it was nothing less than a bold and cheap female tactic to attract him to her body. And we call guys animals sometimes! she quietly thought to herself.

Adelyn was nevertheless pleased with Dan, and impressed that his eyes did not seem to fall upon Courtney, nor did it linger on her buttocks, as it most certainly would have with most the guys Adelyn had known in high school. But still concerning to her, however, was how Dan had not given to Adelyn one glance, or smile that morning. Not any sign which could have confirmed his previously stated interest in her. Certainly not the promise of them being together intimately again. Courtney, by now feeling a coolness to her usually most effective method of enticement, began to double-down in her efforts to connect with Dan before the day was over.

This included more close-up attempts by her to initiate conversations with him. Those trials became even more pronounced as the group began its trek up the trail to the top of Thompson Peak. At one point in the hike, Courtney made her flirting very public as she walked up to Dan while the group was resting and drinking water.

"Did you ever notice how these Canadian guys are built?" she asked the campers, walking up to Dan as he reclined on a log. "It's no wonder why we're all tired now and he's not."

She then surprisingly reached out and squeezed his thigh with her hand to the amazement of those in attendance.

"Solid muscle . . . I can tell you!" she reported enthusiastically.

Several of the other girls whooped in fun and camaraderie.

"Alright! Dan the man!" Diana the counselor exclaimed, fully amused at her fellow colleague's shyness and embarrassment from this female attention. It was clear to the group that the attractive Dan was modest about his looks as well as accomplishments.

A few of the other male campers then made suggestive comments about Courtney's legs, in response to her bold move, making pointed reference to their shapely attractiveness.

"That's from four years of cheer-leading, guys," Courtney announced, as if on cue. And she then twirled on one leg and jumped up kicking her legs into a scissors movement. She then extended a victorious fist toward the sky.

Adelyn was embarrassed at this display of Courtney's brashness and self-aggrandizement.

* * *

And so the day went, of hiking and chatting, with Courtney never missing the opportunity to try and connect more personally with the young counselor from Canada. When the group finally reached the lofty summit of Thompson's Peak, all the campers, though exhausted, celebrated the event with hugs and whoops. Adelyn's friend and roommate made it a special mission to then bound up to Dan and throw her arms around him in some false gesture of remarkable accomplishment. It was obvious to Adelyn that this climax of the trip's objective was paralleled with some sense of terminal bonding which seemed to have been foremost on Courtney's agenda all day.

Dan fortunately only smiled, and gave her an obligatory squeeze and a pat on the back, much to Adelyn's relief. Michael, too expressed his own weaker intentions of hooking up with Adelyn, through his own false hug was met with her former dispassion and his disappointment.

When the group finally returned to the canoes off the mountain and re-embarked for their homeward journey, Adelyn had serious doubts that Dan could possibly feel the same about her. She was now obviously just a high school friend of this flirtatious and immature attention-grabber, Courtney. Would he ever now want to see her on those more intimate terms they had discussed and more less agreed to? The word "fraternizing" and its taboo perception came hauntingly back to Adelyn as the canoes came floating back to the dock after the long day. She looked over and could see Dan's cute and half-hidden apartment.

And just as all seemed the end of a rigorous but romantically anticlimactic trip for both herself and Courtney, Dan passed by her closely, while he coiled the bowline of their canoe.

"Come by tonight," he whispered into her ear inconspicuously.

Adelyn's eyes brightened.

He then braced himself near the bow of the boat by touching her arm in a subtle gesture of tenderness, meant for no one else to see. Courtney was for the moment looking away at a group of guys moving back to the camp when Dan leaned his face even closer to Adelyn's.

"Because I really want to see you," he expressed.

In a millisecond the message was sent and received as Dan moved away. Walking back to camp with Courtney, and having revitalized energy of hope in her steps, Adelyn realized she had just heard the prelude to far more sensual music to come.

* * *