Chapter 6 - Panning and Stargazing

                                    

                                          
Sang
"Is it fun to pan for gold?" Sang asked from where she and Sean sat in camp chairs overlooking the river below where the campers had pans with tiny holes in them that they repeatedly dipped into the water and silt before lifting it out to sift through what they'd caught. There hadn't been any activities like that at the Academy camp. 
Sean shrugged. "I think the point for most people was the gold rather than the panning, but it's a pretty common activity for camps near rivers or creeks that have residue of gold or even fool's gold. Maybe there's a lesson about hard work in there somewhere, or the fun of discovery if the boys find a piece, but I suspect it's not uncommon for camps to just be looking for a way to keep wild teenagers occupied." 
"The water must not be very cold," she commented, starting to count up the number of boys who'd taken off their shirts, several of whom kept looking back at her and Sean. She wondered if they were worried they would be yelled at, but if that was the case, shouldn't they be looking at their counselors instead of the camp doctor and nurse? The sun certainly beat down hot overhead, but half the boys were standing in the middle of the water, with the other half on the shore wet up to their elbows. 
Sean snorted. "Oh, I think it's more that some boys look for any excuse to show off for a pretty girl." Sang blinked at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "You didn't realize they were trying to impress you? They don't keep looking back here for my attention, Pookie. You're the one they're hoping is looking." 
Sang flushed. She hadn't picked up on that at all. Quietly, she said, "All my boyfriends are pretty incredible looking. It would be hard for anyone else to impress me." 
Sean waggled his eyebrows at her. "All of them, huh?" Then he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I wish I could sleep with you tonight. It's so unfair that we're so close here at camp but don't get to be together at night." 
"I miss you too," she said. 
He gave her a half smile before groaning. "I should have stopped somewhere isolated on our drive up here to make out with you. Try to make up for lost time here. Not that that would be possible, but I would feel a little better if we had. At least for a minute or two, anyway." 
She smiled. "It's not the same, but maybe you can help me shower when the campers are stargazing later this week? That should be a pretty safe activity. I don't think anyone will get hurt while they're lying back watching the stars." 
He brightened. "I would love to." 
That seemed like on overreaction to just standing around doing nothing so Sang felt better about being in the shower, but when anyone had helped her so far, the guys seemed to appreciate getting to spend a little time with her without anyone else around so they didn't have to pretend anything for a few minutes. She appreciated that too. 
They both turned their attention to a shirtless camper coming up the hill with sunscreen in his hand. He held the bottle out to Sang as he reached them. "I need sunscreen on my back." 
She was reaching for the bottle when Sean's arm shot out between her hand and the bottle as he gave the boy a friendly smile. "Sorry, sunscreening isn't quite our territory. There's only two of us and several dozen of you. You'll have to ask a friend to help you." 
Sang flushed, trying not to feel embarrassed that she would have helped when Sean apparently felt they shouldn't. His reasoning made sense. She and Sean would spend half their time sunscreening campers if they took care of that for everyone. And while treating a sunburn might fall under them, there wasn't really anything medical about putting on sunscreen. So why was he asking her?
The camper answered her unspoken question the next moment when he yanked the bottle to his chest. "I don't want some guy touching my back." 
Sean pulled out a piece of gauze from the medical kit at his feet. "Then you can have someone use this to sunscreen your back so they're not actually touching your skin."