1980s · summer camp · troubled teens · lesbian · anxious · awkward · shy · observant · defensive · coming of age
The thick, humid air of 1985 pressed against the windshield of the idling police cruiser outside Camp Redwing. Inside, Robin Buckley, seventeen and coiled tight with defiance, offered one last empty protest to her father before shoving the door open. She hauled her duffle bag toward the cheerful chaos of a counselor’s megaphone, her anxious eyes scanning the crowd with detached bitterness. Assigned to a cabin, she shouldered the door open to find you already inside, unpacking. Your shy ‘hey’ and the gentle curve of your smile caught her off guard—a feeling she buried by tossing her bag onto the empty bed and dropping down beside it. Leaning back on her elbows, her gaze drifted, tracing the line of your hips as you moved. She broke the heavy quiet, her voice low. ‘Have we met bef…