Note: I had to change the name of this serial. The other was a camp in the Diocese of Savannah, and since they plan to reopen the camp again someday they asked me not to use the camp name in the title and story.
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The Texas sun beat down persistently. Temperatures were around 100 degrees. The air was sticky due to the high humidity. There was very little wind that day. Very slim chance of rain had been predicted on that day, and none was expected for much of the summer.

It'd be a miracle if there was any water in the lake especially as hot as it was. But then again, Texas was well known for doing it bigger and better than any other state -- and that included being cursed with the muggy, hot weather.

Even with the air conditioner in her car turned on high, there was still no relief from the overbearing heat, and Tanya Smith felt like she was melting into a milk chocolate puddle as they continued their journey to Camp Lone Star on Lake Worth. She knew her best friend and college dorm mate, Lathal Harvey, who was a white girl from Wisconsin, must be sweltering in the summer heat too.

Camp Lone Star, a summer camp open to children in first through sixth grades of any religious denomination, had been in existence since the 1960s. The camp was operated by local rabbis, priests, ministers and other religious. Mid-way through the spring semester, they'd placed an advertisement in the North Central Texas University's paper, The Review, saying they were looking for college students or Scouts who were at least 16 years old wanting to earn leadership badges or special awards to work at the camp. The camp had two six-week sessions that ran from early June to mid-August.

Neither of them should be outdoors in such scorching heat, which was the more intolerable aspects of Texas summers. Don't get her wrong, Tanya preferred the warm, sunny summers in Texas compared to the hurricanes and rainy deluges that frequently dominated North Carolina, where she grew up, during the summer. But she didn't like getting fried like an egg in a frying pan!

She must have been nuts to take this job, especially with the heat. Yes, she must have been nuts.

Tanya was a dance major, who planned to open her own dance studio someday. She should be performing aboard a cruise ship or in one of the local production or working as an entertainer at Disney Land or Six Flags, but no, she was at a summer camp taking care of hundreds of elementary school children.

And Lathal, who was studying journalism, could get much more valuable work experience by working at The Review. But for reasons Tanya couldn't quite understand or comprehend, her friend had insisted that they work at Camp Lone Star that summer.

Tanya shook her head. "Girl, how did I let you talk me into doing this?"

She smiled, "How bad can it be?"

Tanya loved Lathal, whom she knew in high school before Lathal's father was stationed in Germany, but she thought her friend had lost her mind. Either that or her friend's reasoning had been warped by the oppressive summer heat.

Tanya frowned, "Running behind and cleaning up after a bunch of snot nosed children all summer isn't my idea of a vacation, Lathal."

"We're not on vacation," she reminded her. "We're here to work."

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Oh, I forgot you follow a hard working ethic."

A perplexed expression crossed her face. A glimmer of hurt flickered in her bluish green eyes. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Tanya assured her giving her friend's arm friendly pats.

"I suppose you'd rather be on the beach or lazying around all summer doing nothing," she said pointedly.

"Yeah," Tanya said honestly even though she admired her friend's ambition. "But there's no place I rather be than spending the summer with my best friend."

If that was a line, she wasn't biting. She knew her friend would rather spend time with her boyfriend, Bryant Johnson, than her. She shot her friend a doubtful sideways glance. "Yeah, right."

"OK you caught me," Tanya smiled at her friend. "I like to spend time with Bryant too, but I'm always be your best friend, Girl."

She appreciated that. And she felt the same. She'd always be there for Tanya. She'd give her life for her friend's. Nothing would come between them. Ever.

She looked out the window into the countryside. Small dust clouds being kicked up beneath the wheels of her friend's car as Tanya drove down the unpaved road that lead to Camp Lone Star. They past long rows of brick cabins to the main administration building. The flag pole stood out front of the administration building. The stars and stripes shined in the glorious brightness of the summer sun. The Texas flag, drooping in the dry, breezeless summer air, flew a few feet below the U.S. flag.

Tanya parked her hatchback in the parking lot by the cabins near the administration building. As the friends walked up to join the other counselors collecting their assignments from the camp's administrative staff, clouds of dust kicked up by an approaching car caught her attention.

The vehicle seemed familiar to her, but Tanya wasn't able to distinguish it until Billy Markham parked it alongside the other cars in the parking lot. The red convertible belonged to Malan Hamel.

Billy and Malan, both majoring in theater, were in North Central Texas University's ROTC program. They had been friends since high school.

The two friends exited the convertible before grabbing their duffel bags out of the trunk. As they made their way to the administration building, Malan slapped on his shades.

He's taking it a lot harder than expected, Tanya thought to herself. Malan seemed OK on the exterior but he hid how he was really feeling thanks to his reserved personality. But she knew the truth -- he'd had a tough time since he'd broken up with Cassandra LaBrie almost four months ago.

Part of his difficulty wasn't Malan's fault. Cassandra, who was a cheerleader, homecoming queen, Omega Phi sorority sister and Miss Popularity on campus, wanted to date Malan because of the popularity he had as an actor in North Central Texas University theater department. Cassandra had spread nasty rumors that Malan was a "seasoned" player after their breakup.

Of course, the rumors weren't true, but Cassandra had told everyone on campus the lies just to be ugly. Personally Tanya thought Cassandra was a pampered, stuck up, spoiled rich girl. Cassandra treated college, which was paid for by her rich daddy, like a sexual playground, screwing every eligible bachelor who piqued her interest until she found one suitable for marriage.

Cassandra had a sexual conquest list longer than Santa's naughty and nice Christmas list; she wanted to include Malan on that list. But despite what Cassandra had said, Tanya knew that it wasn't true.

Still, Malan was partly to blame for his own troubles. He'd made a mistake by going out with Cassandra. He hadn't been even interested in Cassandra -- he'd been in love with Lathal since they'd met. He'd been overwhelmed that a popular, gorgeous, volumptous woman like Cassandra wanting to be his girlfriend, and he'd foolishly fallen hook, line and sinker into a mess.

Tanya wasn't the only one who'd noticed Malan. Lathal stared at him perplexed. What was he doing here? She hadn't expected him to see him there. After everything that had happened between them in the past, she wasn't sure she wanted to have to put up with him all summer long.

Lathal tettered uncertainly, debating whether to stay or go. She couldn't really go -- she'd taken this job and she didn't like to back out on her commitments.

"Lathal, are you OK?" Tanya asked her with concern.

Lathal shrugged off her private thoughts. "Sure."

Pulling her friend off to the side, Tanya lowered her voice. "It's Malan, isn't it?"

Her friend assumed too much. Lathal laughed, "I don't care about Malan Hamel. So what if he's here?"

"OK," Tanya said knowing her friend was lying to herself.

"Ladies," Billy greeted warmly with suave sophistication and a twinkle in his eyes.

There were aspects of Billy's personality that rang true every time. He had a talent when it came to exaggerating, and he was blatantly obvious. It was no secret that he was a ladies man because he flaunted it.

Billy was certainly a rouge ... but a good rouge, and women went for scoundrels like him. Compared to his friend, Malan was the farthest from being a scoundrel and sometimes she found it hard to believe she was seriously interested in him. She shook her head and smiled wryly.

"Hi, Billy," Tanya returned his friendly greeting. "What's up?"

Billy grinned, "Not much, except for I'm surprised to see you two ladies here."

"Well, you know us we're just two working girls," Tanya smiled.

Billy nodded as Malan joined them. He'd taken off his shades, hanging them from his right jean's pocket. His black back pack was casually slung over his right shoulder.

Malan and Lathal stared at each other for a long moment. The tension could be cut with a knife.

Finally breaking the silence of the emotionally super charged moment, she said casually, "Malan."

"Lathal," he replied casually.

With pleasantries exchanged, she said, "I thought you two would be doing summer stock."

"We wanted to," Billy's eyes twinkled mischievously, "But Capt. Dominquez suggested we do this instead. He said community service would look good on our military records."

Lathal nodded, and Malan looked at her with interest. "What about you? I thought you'd be working at The Review this summer."

"She *should* be," Tanya contributed, her hands rested sternly on her hips, as she leaned close to her friend.

"Never mind that," she waved her hand dismissively. "After a semester that seemed to last longer than usual working with Patterson Dane at The Review, I needed to get away."

There was more to her being there than taking a break from Patterson Dane, the editor of The Review, who he'd heard was a real jerk, he suspected. He sensed there was something she wasn't saying but before he had a chance to ask her about it buses filled with children pulled up in front of the administration building.

Children filed out of the buses in masses. They collected their bags or small suitcases stored at the bottom of the buses. The children displayed a mixture of emotions from unphased, exited, bored or had tears in their eyes.

One girl, dressed in the popular fashions of girls her age, emerged from the last bus surrounded by a click of girls. She didn't hesitate to strut her stuff. She flipped back a strand of her long brown hair with sass.

Tanya shook her head in dismay. "Cassandra wanna be."

The unamused look she tossed Tanya showed she agreed with her friend's assessment. She hoped she didn't end up having this girl in her cabin but with her luck she probably would.

Just what I need. What have I gotten myself into? She sighed. It was going to be a long summer.