It was a typical mid July day at Camp Green Lake. The sweat covered delinquents dug, just like they did everyday, underneath a blazing sun. It was about seven in the morning, meaning the sun had only just finished rising. Nonetheless, it still scorched the campers.
A silver-white pickup truck drove up to the area in which they were working, a huge dirt cloud trailing behind it. It had a tank on the back of it, filled with cold water. The boys all paused from digging, picked up their canteens made out of heavy plastic and headed to the truck. D-tent was always the first group to have their canteens refilled. A young girl stepped out of the truck and slammed the door. She had dark brown hair that came just past her ribs in length and green eyes that sparkled whenever you said her name. She was wearing a red checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, dark denim jeans that were tucked neatly into her musty brown cowboy boots and a cream coloured cowboy hat on her head that was accessorised with a feather on the buckle at the front. The hat matched her father's.
Moaning and groaning, the campers lined up at the side of the truck, the one who called himself X-ray at the front. A new kid had been sent to Camp Green Lake just yesterday. He stood right at the back, behind a small half cast boy whom the others called Zero. The boys all greeted the girl simultaneously, trying their best to hide their tiredness when they spoke as to not sound disappointed.
"Good morning, Miss Ashley."
They knew not to be rude to Miss Ashley. She was a counsellor at the camp, as well as Mr. Sir's daughter. Everyone was afraid of Mr. Sir, especially since he quit smoking.
Miss Ashley said hello to each of the boys as she filled their canteens. A boy who had been nicknamed 'Squid', nodded and smiled when he took his canteen back, feeling their hands touch. Miss Ashley had smiled back. She had a sweet, honest smile, unlike her father, who merely grimaced if he even smiled at the campers at all. Eventually, the new boy's turn came to get some fresh water. Miss Ashley gently took the plastic container from him.
"You must be Stanley," she said in a friendly tone. "Nice to meet you. You can call me Miss Ashley."
"Hi, Miss Ashley," Stanley said. "Uh, I thought there were only boys at this camp?"
Miss Ashley nodded, acknowledging his assumption. She was about to answer him, but Squid explained for her: "Miss Ashley's a counsellor. You don't wanna get on her bad side. She's Mr. Sir's daughter."
Stanley sighed, having already met grumpy old Mr. Sir. "Oh."
Miss Ashley laughed. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Just because my daddy's got a bad temper, doesn't mean I have." She turned to the rest of D-tent. "I hope ya'll are helping him settle in."
They all groaned. "Yes, Miss Ashley."
"Good. I'll see ya'll later."
She got back in the truck and skidded as she drove off, leaving another dirt cloud.
"Man, she's a babe!" Squid said, watching the truck before it disappeared into the distance as he walked back to his hole. His tent mates sneered.
Some hours later back at the camp compound, Miss Ashley was sat in her father's office. It was a small cabin with a desk in the middle of the floor, as well as a small fridge, cabinets where all the campers' state files were kept and an uncomfortable wooden chair that Mr. Sir often made his daughter sit on while he enjoyed the softer, cozier one. Miss Ashley didn't have to address her father as 'Mr. Sir', of course, but she still had to obey his rules. He was strict with her, but only because he was very overprotective. To the campers he may have seemed like a cold, bossy old man, but he loved his daughter very much.
The two had came to Camp Green Lake nearly eight years ago, when Miss Ashley was only nine years old. Mr. Sir had been involved in his own crimes back then, which eventually forced him to run from the law. If he didn't have a young daughter at the time, he probably wouldn't have fled from El Paso, where they used to live. But he was all the little girl had since her mother had left them when she was just a toddler, so their only option was to go into hiding. And since Camp Green Lake was in the middle of nowhere, it was the perfect place to hide.
For the first few years that she spent at the camp, Miss Ashley wasn't allowed to interact with the actual campers. She was an innocent child and they were criminals. She used to help the older counsellors in the mess hall, scrubbing pots and pans or preparing the food for the campers when dinner time came. She slept in the counsellors' tent, tent F, with her father, but the Warden allowed her to shower and get ready in her cabin everyday, so long as she didn't touch anything. Then when she turned fourteen, she was able to call herself a counsellor and do everything the older ones did to keep the camp in order. The campers had to address her as such. Nevertheless, she was still constantly reminded that she had to be wary of her surroundings.
Mr. Sir leaned forward. He clapped his hands together.
"Had any trouble from the new boy?" he asked his daughter, who was sat with one leg up, her foot resting on top of the desk. She took her hat off and began to fan herself.
"No. He seems sweet enough."
Mr. Sir chuckled. "There ain't nothing sweet about him. A criminal, that's what he is."
Miss Ashley raised her eyebrow as she glanced at her father. "Criminal is what you are," she said.
She respected her father a lot and never spoke down to him, but she seized any opportunity that arose to playfully taunt him. It was the only fun she could have in this place and she quite enjoyed it.
"Criminal or not," replied Mr. Sir. "It's my job to make sure the boys in this camp ain't disrespecting ya. No daughter of mine's gonna be disrespected. I don't care who it is."
"Thanks, daddy, I know. But I can take care of myself out here. You got nothing to worry about."
She slumped further into the chair and stretched her arms over the back of it. Mr. Sir smirked at her. He was always proud when looking at his daughter, seeing the independent and clever young woman she had become. But no matter how old she got, she was still his little girl.
Mr. Pendanski entered the office, holding up a torn white t-shirt and said, "Miss Ashley, one of the D-tent boys has gotten into some sort of brawl with a boy from B-tent. There's a nasty scratch on his back. Would you mind just going out to clean the wound and get him a new shirt? I'd do it myself, but I'm quite busy at the moment."
Miss Ashley nodded and got up, taking the ruined piece of clothing from Mr. Pendanski to put it in the trash. When she stepped outside she saw Squid waiting by the door for her. He had nothing covering his top half. She tried her best not to stare at his strongly toned stomach and muscular arms. He was clean, having not long taken a brief shower, but she secretly wished she had caught him before he had washed the dirt off himself; then maybe it would be easier for her to look away. She gestured with her hand for him to follow her and they made their way to the building which held the first aid kit and spare clothes.
Squid sat down on the bench at the back of the room, while Miss Ashley fetched some special antibacterial wipes from the green briefcase labelled "FIRST AID". Then she kneeled behind him and examined the long slit that went across his back. It had been bleeding a little.
"How d'you do that then?" she asked the boy. He winced when the wet wipe made contact with his skin.
"Oh, nothing serious," he told her. "See, the new kid got into some trouble with Lump in the wreck room, so I tried to help him out. We went back and forth, then he smacked me with the pool cue. I hit him back, so he grabbed me by my shirt, and that's when Pendanski came in."
Miss Ashley raised her eyebrows in shock. "He must've whipped you pretty hard to make a mark like this."
Squid shrugged. "It's cool."
"That was nice of you to help Stanley," Miss Ashley praised him. "But I think it's best if you let him stick up for himself from now on, okay? Wouldn't want you getting covered in scars for someone else's sake."
"Yes ma'am."
After wiping the blood from around the scratch, she gently brushed her fingers over his back. "Does it sting?" she asked.
"Nah."
She unraveled the sleeve of her flannel shirt and pressed it against his back, this time a little firmer. "How about now?"
"Nah."
She smiled, although Squid didn't see it.
"Okay then, here you go," she said, tossing him a clean new t-shirt. "It shouldn't rub when you have something over it anymore, but if it starts hurting, come to me and I'll clear up any infections or whatever."
Squid pulled the t-shirt on over his head. He flashed a cute smile and politely tipped his suncap in her direction like it was a top hat. "Thank you, ma'am."
Miss Ashley giggled. "And stop calling me ma'am. I'm only seventeen, you know."
Squid's eyes widened. "Damn, really?" he beamed, realizing that she was almost the same age as him. Not too old, not too young. He was forgetting himself, or rather, forgetting Miss Ashley's state of authority and the respectful manner in which he was obliged to speak to her. "I thought you looked young, but not that young! I asked Mom how old you were before, but he just said that a man should never ask a lady's age."
"That's right," the girl replied.
Squid grew aware of the fact that he might have offended her and so he began to apologize, but she waved her hand in front of him.
"It's fine," she said. "Now go and relax while you have the chance."
Squid went to leave, but turned on his heel when he reached the door.
"Thank you, Miss Ashley," he said again, admiring how fairly she treated him and the rest of the boys compared to the other counsellors. She nodded at him, then watched him exit.
She realized afterward that maybe she shouldn't have told one of the campers how old she really was. After all, her father had always told her that she must act older in order to gain their respect. He said if they knew she was younger than some of them, they would think they were of higher authority. "Men are like that," he had claimed. She went back to Mr. Sir's office and stayed there for the rest of the night, drinking soda from the mini fridge and tormenting him in between proper conversation until it was time to go to bed.