"I've come to conclusion that the best punishment is for you to go work with Uncle Gaius this summer."
Mom's words hit me like a train. Uncle Gaius is the manager for this five star resort about an hour from LA. Working with him would mean cleaning rooms or waiting tables, caddying or groundskeeping. It was probably the least appealing punishment of all time, especially considering what I did.
"Mom, I made it rain glitter, I didn't graffiti the school," I point out.
"Merlin, you could've been caught. You could've been found out. Do you know what would happen if that happened?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'd be a lab rat for the rest of my life." I've heard this speech a thousand times, and I know I'll hear it a thousand more times.
"You are going to Camelot, and that's final. Now go pack. Your plane leaves in the morning."
I grumble and go back upstairs. When she told me to make no plans for this summer, this is really not what I thought she meant. I stare at the pile of clean laundry on my desk chair. With my mind, I pick up the pile, pull out ten of my favorite shirts, and put them neatly in my bag. As I crack open a novel, several pairs of shorts and dress pants fly from my closet to my bag along with socks and underwear. I was fully packed for my trip in less than five minutes. Yet another perk of being telekinetic. Mentally tired from both the packing and the reading, I fall asleep easily about an hour later.
Mom wakes me up at six the next morning. I was really expecting to sleep in on my first day of summer. I sit up and tell her I'm getting up, but the moment she leaves, I lay back down and go back to sleep. Seconds later, a bucket of freezing cold water gets me up and out of bed in less than a fraction of a second. Well played, Mom. After I dry myself off, I get dressed and mentally prepare myself for my four hour flight. I grab my duffel bag and my backpack and head for the car.
On the way to the airport, Mom lectures me on what she expects me to gain from working at the Resort for the summer. She tells me that she'll miss me and that she expects to hear from me once a week. I basically ignore her the whole time. When she drops me off at airport, I'm thankful for the silence. Well, near silence. The sounds of people rushing around, announcements, and machinery are all comforting compared to her chewing me out all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom more than anything, but sometimes she just gets on my nerves.
Security takes forever. They stop me, x-ray me, pat me down, AND bomb check me. I guess all pale, loner teenagers look like terrorists? Whatever. TSA logic. After an excruciatingly long time, I finally get to the gate. My flight doesn't board for another half hour, so I make myself comfortable and read my book. My cell phone sits in my backpack, pinging and pinging, but I ignore it. I don't have the patience or energy to deal with anyone this early. After what feels like five minutes, the boarding announcement comes. I shove my book back into my back and get on the plane. After the flight attendants' speech about safety and technology, the pilot announces that he's having some technical difficulties, which makes me feel SO much better about flying. Instead of wasting my energy worrying, I settle in and quickly fall asleep.
The plane is empty when I awake, except for the flight attendant gently shaking my shoulder. "Sir, we've landed. It's time for you to disembark."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Late night."
"I understand, sir," she's much too proper and friendly. It makes me uncomfortable. I get out of there as quickly as possible and make it to baggage claim right as they're taking my luggage off the carousel. Finally able to catch my breath for the first time since waking up, I look around for someone the hotel sent for me, but there's no one. Well, there is, but there's no one for me. I take a cab to the Pendragon and charge it to the emergency card Mom gave me.
The resort is beautiful. It's several stories tall with balconies looking out over the ocean and a few villas off to the side for VIP guests. When my cab pulls up, a bellhop and porter rush to open the door for me, but when they see I'm nobody important, they lose much of their enthusiasm but are still helpful and polite. "May I take your bags, sir? Do you know what room you'll be in?"
I hesitate. It's nice for someone to be polite instead of critical and mean for a change. "I'm the manager's nephew. I'll be working here for the summer."
The porter's smile falls. "I see. Well, come along." He leads me through the lobby to Uncle Gaius's office.
Gaius is sitting at his desk, his phone to his ear, typing on his computer. "...thank you, sir. I appreciate it. See you soon." Then hanging up: "Merlin! Look how you've grown up!"
"Hey, Uncle Gaius," I greet him. As he stands up, he knocks his glass of water off the desk. With my telekinesis, I catch it before it hits the floor and reverse the spill. Not a drop of water is anywhere but the glass. He gapes at me. "I guess Mom didn't mention it to you. I'm telekinetic. I can move things with my mind."
He stops and furrows his brow in thought. "Don't advertise that."
I nod. "I won't."
He leads me out of his office and down a nearby flight of stairs to the basement. "Here's the laundry...one of the kitchens...storage...etc...and here," he comes to a stop outside a regular hotel room door, "is where you'll be staying." Gaius unlocks the door and gives me the key. "There's a staff meeting at three. You will be there."
I nod again. "Of course. Is that all?"
Gaius looks down at his list for a moment. "Yeah, that's it. See you at three." He walks away, leaving me to my room.
I push the door open and realize that whatever I was expecting the room to be like, I was completely wrong. The room was a pretty good size. It had a bed, dresser, TV, closet, nightstand, an awkward abstract painting on the wall, typical weirdly patterned motel wallpaper. The bathroom was surprisingly nice. It's isn't difficult for me to decide that living here for the whole summer and working and get paid is going to be very manageable.