Lee turned right off the pavement and onto a dirt road, shifting his Jeep down a gear. It should be a few miles before he reached the Camp, he thought. As he drove, he thought a bit about the quick trip through town. It seemed nice enough, if a bit small. Lee grew up in a typical Suburban town out in the midwest, and spent the last couple years in a decent sized college town. But at least Crystal Lake had a couple restaurants and a bar, so he could get out to town on his days off over the summer if he felt like it. He wasn't too worried about getting carded at the bar, he looked old enough to pass, and he could bullshit about sports with any barkeep to keep them from asking. If he wanted to come back to civilization, it wasn't too far away. Patting the piece of paper in his shirt pocket, he definitely would be. --------------- A short while before, Lee had to stop off for gas. Shitty Jeep. It's good on roads like this camp road, and girls like it, but it goes through gas like water. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to double-check the directions with a local. After filling up, he walked into the store to see a gorgeous brunette behind the counter. She had her hair back in a pony tail, with some plain earrings, and she had on an apron that was probably the equivalent of a uniform. But she had the look of a model, if any talent scout bothered coming through a small town like this. [i]Imagine what she probably looks like when she's not running a counter.[/i] Lee thought to himself. "Hi there. I filled up outside, it said $21.43." "I know." said the girl, pointing to a matching gauge beside her. "We're not that podunk out here." "Oh, I didn't mean-" "That's okay, I was just kidding you. Thanks for being honest." She said, smiling at him as she rang up the amount. [i]My day just got better[/i]. "Just passing through?", she continued. "No, actually. I'm going to be working around here this summer." "Oh, well that's great! There's so few people our age around anymore! You know, people going to school or having to go elsewhere for work. Reagan, am I right?" "Hah, yeah, totally." Lee did not follow politics. He hoped that was the extent of her commenting on it. "So where are you working? Here in town?" "No, out at Crystal Lake. I'll be one of the councillors this summer." The colour in the girl's face practically vanished in an instant. If it weren't for the radio and Huey Lewis, the room would have been dead silent for what seemed to be an eternity. "What?" "You don't know?" The girl said, a tremble in her voice. "I heard there was a murder up here recently." "Try a dozen. Probably more." "...No way." "Yeah, it made the news for a while. Most people around here stay as far away as possible." "Oh, I don't really blame them. That's too bad, from the pictures I've seen, it's a beautiful lake." "That's true. I sometimes go up there, although usually with friends, and always during the day. And I always let my dad know. He wouldn't let me go up at night." Lee smiled "Nice, maybe you can double check my directions." He took out the map he had, and the girl confirmed that he was going the right way, the two of them leaning close together to look at it. "Go down main street through town, take the right into the woods, and continue down until you hit the lake. It's pretty hard to miss.", she said, the colour since returning to her. "Thanks. I'm Lee, by the way." "Vanessa." "Vanessa, you've been a great help. Listen, I understand if you're not comfortable going up there, but depending on if the other councillors are cool, we might have some sort of party before the kids start arriving for the summer. You know, get the craziness out of our systems before we have to be responsible adults." "Well... I don't know... My dad would kill me if he knew..." "So don't tell him. And feel free to bring as many friends as you want." "I'll think about it. Will you be around town at all?" "I'll try to be." Lee said. "And I'm sure there's a phone out there that I can use." "I'll give you my number." Vanessa said, tearing Lee's receipt from the register and scribbling on the back. [i]Still got it.[/i] Lee smiled to himself. Even if she didn't want to come to the camp, he could always come into town for her. It was about this time that another customer, an older man in a hunting jacket and cap -clearly a local- came in. "I should probably get going, they're expecting me up there. I'll give you a call if we have anything going on." "Okay! I hope you have a great summer!" ---------------- It was already chalking up to being a great summer. Lee continued along until he started to see the shape of other cars, along with the lake behind them. The pictures didn't do it justice. It was a shame that some hillbilly axe murderer had to ruin the reputation of such a beautiful area. It looked like some of the other councillors had already arrived. Lee grabbed his bags, his baseball bat tucked in the straps of his duffel bag, and headed towards the Administration office to report in.