Hotel 63

Chapter 3: Hotel 63

I woke up Tuesday morning to a text from Riley asking if I wanted to take a tour of the town. I wasn't particularly ecstatic about being woken up at 8:00 AM during summer vacation to get a tour of a town I hated, but I guessed that Riley did know a lot about Cambridge.Maybe she could help me find a job. I had wanted to save up for a car. Not that I'd really need one anymore. Everything in Cambridge was within walking distance, but a job would give me something to do. Plus, mom didn't believe in giving us spending money. She said if we wanted spending money, we'd have to earn it. As I began to text Riley back, My mom called me from downstairs, "Alex, Riley's here to see you!" Here to see me? I haven't even texted her back yet, for heaven's sake. What have I gotten myself into? "Coming," I called. I came downstairs to find Riley standing in my doorway, red curls bouncing as she talked to my mom in that same animated tone she'd used last night. My mom didn't care though. I could tell she was more than happy that I was actually leaving the house.

One thing you should know about Riley is that she is just as energetic in the morning as she is in the evening. As soon as we stepped out the front door she started talking. "What do you wanna do? Where do you wanna go? What's you're favorite animal? What's New York like? What do you think about Obama?" she paused momentarily and looked at me to respond. One look at my face and she burst out laughing. "You're not a morning person, are you?" she asked. I shook my head. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I can get a little carried away," she said wiping her eyes. I laughed. Riley was annoying, sure, but there was something undeniably endearing about her. I was beginning to realize she was one of those people you just had to love. "How about we start with some coffee?" I asked.

Riley led me to a little cafe in the middle of town, which I had admittedly missed when exploring on my own. We got our coffee and took a seat in the corner booth.

"So..What do you wanna do today?" Riley asked.

"Well I was hoping you could show me around a bit more. I was also wondering if you knew anywhere I could get a job?"

"Sounds good," She replied.

Riley and I stayed at the cafe for about an hour. She told me about her family and how she has to take care of her brothers a lot because her mom owns the local grocery store. I told her about New York, my friends, my family (leaving out Cara, of course). By the time we left, I could tell Riley and I would be good friends. We were complete opposites, but I was grateful I had at least met someone in this town. I didn't realize how much I had missed having a friend since I moved to Cambridge.

Riley showed me all her favorite places in Cambridge. We visited all the stores. She introduced me to all the people I hadn't met. Everyone seemed to love her. After lunch, Riley and I spent some time at the ocean, but it was scorching hot that day. We only stayed a couple hours.

"You know," Riley said. "I'm pretty surprised no one has offered you a job yet. Everyone seems to really like you and everyone's so nice here, I kind of figured you'd get one by the end of today."

I shrugged."I guess they don't need any help."

Suddenly Riley popped up out of her seat. "I know a place!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me up with her. "Mr. Hunt probably needs some help! I can't believe I didn't think of him before! Oh, Alex, you'll love him! He's like the coolest old person I know!"

"What?" I asked, a little bit overwhelmed by her sudden outburst.

"Mr. Hunt. He owns the little hotel at the end of town. He'd probably give you a job."

"I didn't even know a town this small had a hotel," I stated.

"Believe it or not Cambridge does get some tourists here on vacation during the summer," she replied. "The guys in our grade love it. Well some of them, at least . They like to hook up with girls here on vacation," she rolled her eyes.

"Sounds like guys in Cambridge, aren't that different from the ones in New York," I laughed.

"See Cambridge and New York aren't that different," she said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. " Don't worry, they aren't all like that." Then after a few seconds she started to talk again. "Anyways, this is the hotel's busiest time. I'm sure Mr. Hunt could use some help."

We arrived at the hotel a few minutes later. It was a cute place that backed up to the beach. I could see how people wanted to come here for vacation. Cambridge is a nice, quiet place to relax. Riley skipped inside(yes, actually skipped. The girl sure knew how to draw attention.) with me trailing behind her. "Mr.H," She yelled at the middle aged man behind the front desk."Riley," He smiled."To what do I owe the pleasure?" I saw a boy about our age, folding towels off to the side, sigh and roll his eyes at Riley's yelling. He clearly found Riley annoying, but by the small smirk that tugged at the corners of his mouth, I could tell that he didn't dislike her.

The boy came around to the front desk.

"Hey, Cam," Riley called out to the boy.

"Hey, Ri," He replied sounding significantly less enthusiastic.

"I wanted to introduce you guys to Alex," she said, motioning towards me. "She just moved in across from Ms. Canton. Riley this is Mr. Hunt and his son Cameron."

"Hi," I said shaking Mr. Hunt's hand. "Nice to meet you."

I then turned to his son, extending my hand to shake. "Hi," I said.

He just stared at my hand until his dad cleared his throat, daring him not to shake my hand. Finally, Cameron took my hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, sarcasm evident in his voice. I was a bit taken aback by his lack of hospitality. "I'm Alex."

"I know. Riley literally just said that," He said in a condescending tone.

I didn't know what this kid's problem was or why he seemed to already hate me, but he had managed to piss me off within three seconds of meeting him and I was about to tell him, but, Riley, almost as if she had sensed I was about to say something I would regret, jumped in the conversation, looking at Mr. H.

"Alex is looking for a job," she blurted.

"She is?" Mr. H asked.

"Yea. I know you guys are a little bit more busy in the summer with tourists and all, so i thought that maybe you might need some help," she sputtered out.

Mr. Hunt nodded as if he was thinking. oh, god. This is a Disaster.

"You don't have to," I rushed. "I'm sure I could find a job somewhere."

"Actually," He said. "Cam and I could use some help."

"I think we've got it under control, dad," Cameron interjected.

"You're hired!" Mr. H exclaimed.

What? Your son clearly hates me.

"Thank you so much," I exclaimed.

"You start tomorrow," he said. "Be here at 8."

And that is how I got a job at Hotel 63. And this is where my story starts. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the start of a whirlwind summer. One I'll never forget.