Three knocks pound against the door before it opens. "Good morning sweetheart! It's time for school! Get your butt out of bed before I unleash Otis and Marvin upon you!"

"Okay, Okay! I'm up, I'm coming…" Magnus yells down to his mother as he turns over in bed, shoving his face into his pillow. After another good five minutes of just lying there he hears his mother yell again, threatening to send up the dogs, and he's up. He runs a hand through his blonde hair as he searches the contents of his closet for a clean t-shirt. Opting for a plain white tee he pulls it on over his shoulders and grabs a dark pair of jeans up off the floor, tugging them up his legs. Magnus quickly brushes his teeth, tugs on a pair of socks and his black converse, and storms down the stairs to the kitchen as his mom hands him a bowl of granola.

"It's about time Magnus, hurry up your gonna be late" his mom says as she places a kiss on his check, and walks across the hall into her office. Magnus shoves the food in his mouth as fast as he can. He wants to spend as much time as he can with his friends on their last day of school. He runs to the living room and grabs his backpack off the couch and rushes out the door.

"Love you mom! I'll see you later!" Magnus yells before slamming the door and running out to his black jeep wrangler. He quickly jumps into his car, puts on his seatbelt, and pulls out of his driveway, heading for the school.

As Magnus drives into the schools parking lot, he sees his group of friends gathered around Halfborn's motorcycle and pulls into the spot next to the bike. Since there are no doors on his car because its summer, he jumps right out of the vehicle to greet his friends.

"Magnus!" yells Sam Al Abbas, his best friend, who promptly jumps Magnus and suffocates him with a hug. "Can you believe it!? This is our last day of school!" she shouts in his ear.

"Sam, I can't breathe, and I think I just lost the hearing in my left ear" Magnus chuckles. Sam blushes and abruptly lets go of him, going to stand by her boyfriend Amir Fadlan, another friend of Magnus.

"Hey Magnus"

"Hey Amir! Keep her away from me will ya, I don't think I can afford to go deaf in both ears!" Jokes Magnus.

"Haha, will do man" Amir laughs earning him a punch from a red faced Sam.

"Chase"

"Gunderson" Magnus and Halfborn greet each other with their elaborate "bro-handshake".

"If you two are done sharing your bromance with the world, can we go to class now? I want to have time before class to give all my teachers their farewell "thank you for teaching me" gifts!" Sam proclaims with an eye roll. The boys just laugh at her.

"You would buy all your teachers gifts Al Abbas" chokes out Gunderson between his laughter. The jab making Magnus keel over in a fit of giggles and Amir finally let go of the laughs he was holding back in fear of getting hit by Sam again.

"Ughhh you boys are impossible!" a redfaced Sam growls as she marches into the school alone, leaving the laughing boys behind.

"Sam! Wait up honey! It was just a joke!" Amir calls out to the retreating Sam as he regains his composure. "I better go after her, I'll see you guys later!"

Magnus and Halfborn wave bye to Amir and finally calm down.

"Well buddy, shall we embark into these hallowed halls one last time?" Halfborn asks, with a hand up for a high five.

"That we shall" Magnus says as he high fives his friend. They make their way into their high school for the last time.

※

The group of friends is gathered at Amir's father's restaurant that they hang out at after school. The four of them sit at their favorite booth; reminiscing on the time they have spent together these last few years, as Magnus shoves falafel down his throat.

"Well guys, this is it, the last time that we will ever be sitting in this booth after a long ass school day.." Halfborn sighs as he attempts to steal a falafel from Magnus, only to be kicked in the shins under the table by said boy for even getting close to the sacred food.

"Yea but we still have all summer to meet up here… it's not like we won't be seeing each other after today" Sam says, stirring her soda with her straw.

"That's the thing though," Magnus says with a mouthful of food. He swallows the rest before continuing. "Besides you two love birds who are off to the same college, who's to say that we will all keep in touch once we go our separate ways? I mean we are all really close right now, what's going to happen when we are all at three different schools? I say, we should spend every day together this summer! That way, no matter what happens in the future, we can look back on this summer and remember all the good times we spent with one another" Magnus proclaims with a wide smile across his face. His friends stare blankly back at him.

"Wow Magnus… I think that may just be the most inspirational thing you have ever said" Amir says with a serious look on his face.

"Who are you and what have you done with my sarcastic asshole of a friend?" Halfborn says, as he holds up the falafel he stole from Magnus while he was giving his speech, and promptly shoves it into his own mouth. Magnus lunges for Halfborn while Amir laughs at the two boys antics and Sam just sits there deep in thought.

"Hey man! I can't believe you would steal my falafel! You will pay for this!" Magnus death glares Halfborn from across the table, already plotting his revenge for the stolen falafel.

"Sam, are you alright over there?" Amir asks as he pokes his girlfriend in the shoulder from across the table. Magnus turns in his seat to face her.

"What? Oh, yea I'm fine! I was just thinking… maybe we should go away for the summer? Like the whole summer, just the four of us." Sam looks at each of the boys to gage their reaction. Magnus and Halfborn just smile excitedly while Amir actually thinks about what she said.

"YES! ONE HUNDRED PERCENT YES! I AM IN!" Halfborn yells as an equally ecstatic Magnus high fives him from across the table. Sam pushes herself closer to the wall as to get as far away from the bouncing Magnus sitting beside her.

"I think that sounds like a great idea Sam. Only problem is, where are we going to go without our parents, and speaking of parents, who's to say they'll even let us go on a trip for the whole summer by ourselves?" Amir asks his girlfriend. Halfborn and Magnus's smiles drop and they look to Sam for an answer. Sam smirks.

"Alright I never told you guys this… Buuuttt my Grandfather kind of sort of owns this hotel that's on an island, that lies between nine other islands, and it's like this huge resort where only teenagers to twenty five year olds are allowed to go, and I can totally get us a whole floor reserved for the four of us" Sam blurts, sucking in a large breath of air after she's done. The boys look at her in awe.

"Wow wow wow!" Halfborn holds up his hands. "Are you talking about Hotel Valhala!?" "Your Grandfather is THE Odin?!" "What the hell Sam!" Halfborn asks with wide eyes.

"Ummmm, yes?" Sam says meekly, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"I think what Halfborn is trying to say…" "Is that he is really excited and thinks it's a great idea!" Magnus says, rolling his eyes at Halfborn and smiling kindly at Sam.

"Yeah now all we have to do is get our parents permission…" Amir reminds everyone. Their faces drop and they sit in silence.

"How about this, I'll send all of you an email, containing all the information a parent would ever want to know about the island, and you can all show it to your parents to convince them to let you go?" Sam asks.

"Well, I guess it's worth a shot, the worst they could say is no. So we might as well…" Says Halfborn.

"Yeah! Worst comes to worst we will just spend our summer here like we always do." Magnus pipes in.

"Alright it's settled then! I'll contact my Grandfather to see if he can get us a floor, and if he can I'll email everyone the information so you guys can show it to your parents, and then as soon as they give you an answer, text it in the group chat so we know. Sound Good?" Sam says while typing the plan into the notes on her phone so she will remember.

"Sounds good to me!" Amir smiles proudly at his girlfriend and Magnus and Halfborn just nod in response.

"We should head out then, set the plan in motion. Don't forget to text if you can go!" Sam says and with that the four friends leave the restaurant.

※

AMIR: I can't believe my dad said yes...

SAM: LOL! TBH he probably wouldn't have if I wasn't there with you when you asked.

HALFBORN: YAY! TWO DOWN TWO TO GO! :D

Magnus is reading his friends texts when he hears the downstairs door open and close.

"Hey Natalie" Magnus hears his dad say from downstairs.

"Frey! You're home early!" His mom replies. Magnus smiles and looks back down at his phone.

MAGNUS: My dad came home early, here goes nothing…

HALFBORN: GOOD LUCK MAN!

Magnus puts his phone in his back pocket, grabs his laptop containing the email off his desk, and walks downstairs to greet his parents.

"Hey son! How was your last day of school?" Frey asks, Magnus sets down his laptop on the coffee table and goes to give his dad a hug.

"It was awesome! Well, I mean, It was also really sad too… overall it was a bittersweet day, like in a good way though!" Magnus says with a smile.

"I'm glad! How are your friends? You guys got anything planned for the summer yet?" his dad inquires as he sits down on the living room couch, his mom taking the seat next to his dad. Magnus sits in the chair next to the couch and takes a deep breath.

"Yep! I mean, well, we have a really cool idea! But I have to get your permission first, Sam and Amir's parents already said they can go so now it's just me and Halfborn's" Magnus's phone beeps and he halts his speech to look at it.

HALFBORN: MY PARENTS SAID YES! VALHALLA HERE I COME!

"Strike that- Sam, Amir, AND Halfborn's parents all gave them permission to go so now its just you guys…."

Magnus finishes. His parents start laughing.

"Wow there Magnus you gotta slow down" Natalie giggles. "You haven't even told us what you need our permission for yet" Magnus slaps his forehead.

"Oh! Yea! Sorry…" Magnus grabs his laptop off of the table and opens the email Sam sent him, before presenting it to his parents. "Here you go"

His mom and Dad carefully read over the information in the email. Their faces showing no sign of how they are going to respond. Magnus is biting his bottom lip and tapping both of his feet on the ground in anticipation of their answer. Finally his parents look up from the screen.

"Honey can you give us a moment to discuss this?" His mom asks with a smile. Magnus jumps out of his seat.

"Yep! Sure! Of Course! I'll just uhhhhh… I'll just go wait in the kitchen while you two ummm discuss… yea.." Magnus mumbles out as he quickly backs into the kitchen. His parents laugh at his nervous antics.

Magnus anxiously waits for his parents' response at the kitchen table. He pulls out his phone to play the game "Flow," to distract himself while he waits. After a good, long, twenty agonizing minutes his parents finally come to join him at the kitchen table. Their faces still showing no sign of what they are going to say.

"Well Magnus, after much thought we have decided…" Frey looks to Natalie before they both let big smiles break through. "That you have our permission to spend the summer at this hotel with your friends"

Magnus just stares at them with wide eyes, taking a moment to register what his dad just said.

"Magnus sweetie… are you in there?" His mom pokes Magnus in the forehead and he promptly blinks.

"You said yes… OH MY GODS YOU SAID YES! WOOOOOOO!" Magnus throws both arms into the air as he jumps out of his seat. "THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM AND DAD YOU WON"T REGRET THIS DECISION! I'M GONNA GO TELL MY FRIENDS THE GOOD NEWS! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Magnus runs around the table to both of his parents and pulls them into a bone-crushing hug. They laugh at his reaction to their news and Magnus quickly pulls out his phone to text his friends.

MAGNUS: I'M IN! THEY SAID YES! I'M IN! THIS SUMMER IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!

※

Magnus, Halfborn, and Amir are sitting at the airport waiting to board, while Sam went off to find somewhere quiet because she got a call. It has been two weeks since their parents said they could go to Hotel Valhalla for the summer. They waited to leave until all of the graduation parties were over, and so they could have a week to spend with their own families and to prepare for the trip. Now they are finally on their way to the hotel and they can barely contain their excitement. Magnus downloaded "The Game of Life" app to his phone, and the three boys are now playing it as they wait to board. They would have asked Sam to play too but she still hasn't returned from her phone call.

"Haha Magnus! You just gave me money because I had a kid!" says Halfborn with a smug grin on his face.

"Dude, you do know that the odds of Magnus's avatar also having a kid is very high, so you will just have to pay him back when it happens…" Amir retorts.

"Yea Halfborn!" Magnus sticks his tongue out at him, just as Sam returns from her phone call.

"That must have been a really important phone call… you were gone for like thirty minutes" Amir asks his girlfriend with a worried look on his face. Sam just laughs.

"No, not really. It was just my step-sibling Alex. Apparently my grandfather informed her that we would be spending the summer at the hotel and he asked Alex if she wanted to do the same. She was just asking me if it was okay if her and her two friends intruded on our party because my grandfather wants to give us floor nineteen. It's like the biggest floor of the whole hotel, and it's for eight people. One of which is our resident staff memeber that gives us information on all the activities available to us on the islands. Anyway I told her that it would be fine and I'm really excited to see her again." Sam informs the boys.

"Sam… how many secret relatives do you have exactly?" asks Magnus. Sam blushes.

"Alex is the last one I promise! It's just I never really talk about my dad… and I live with my mothers parents… I rarely ever see Alex… I don't know I guess I never thought to bring it up…" Sam says as she adjusts her headscarf.

"It's cool Sam, we are all really grateful that you did this for us!" Amir says while wrapping his arms around his girlfriend from behind.

"Yea! I for one am excited to meet your step-sibling! I bet she's just as cool as you are!" exclaims Magnus.

"Hahaha yea Alex is great! But fair warning… Alex is…. kind of excitable... I think that's the word... well, you'll see" Sam says with a grin. Just as they were all about to sit back down, the attendant announces that the flight to Hotel Valhalla will be boarding now. So they gather all their belongings and head to the line to get on the plane.

"HOTEL VALHALLA HERE WE COME!" Halfborn shouts. Immediately, loud claps and cheers erupt from the line of young adults waiting to board the plane.