Flight Path
Summary:
What if the School never existed? What if the Flock were just normal
kids? If you want to know, read on…
Fandom:
Maximum Ride
Pairings:
None as of yet - I'm working on it. I'm still unsure if I should
take the slashy path…
Warnings:
Bad language, underage drinking and smoking, sex drugs and rock 'n'
roll
Disclaimer:
See that word back there? It says 'disclaimer. If I owned these
characters, it would not be a disclaimer. Do we see the connection
here, dear readers?
Chapter 2 – Dumb
I'm
not like them
But
I can pretend
The
sun is gone
But
I have a light
The
day is done
But
I'm having fun
I
think I'm dumb
Or
maybe just happy
Think
I'm just happy
from Dumb by Nirvana
XxXxXxX
Jessica Morgan looked blearily around the girls' locker room. It was just too damn early. Gym first thing on a Monday morning – what sadistic person came up with that one?
Tying her shoelaces had cruelly and unexpectedly become an extremely complicated task, but she managed it eventually. Her friends Olivia and Michelle were having similar problems – the three of them had been messaging each other well into the early hours of the morning. Sometimes Jessica thought that she hadn't had a proper night's sleep since she got the internet in her bedroom. After a certain amount of trial and error, they managed to make it to the playing fields behind the school.
Jessica was tying her long blonde hair up, eyes fixed listlessly on the grass, so she didn't immediately notice the source of the excited murmur that ran through the girls. Something prodded her in the ribs, and she looked up sharply into Olivia's blue eyes and freckled face.
"What?"
"Look,
Jessie!"
Jessie looked, and realised why the other girls were whispering and giggling. The boys had just come out of their locker room onto the fields. She, along with all the others, eyed them appreciatively. The school – like every other school – had its share of the fat, the geeky, and the just plain ugly. But there was enough hotness overall to make up for it…Jessie suddenly felt much more awake.
"So,
who do you like?" Olivia asked.
"Ooh,
who's that one?" Michelle said, red curls flying as she bounced
on her heels; "The dark haired one with the tan."
"That's
Andrew Green," Jessie replied, then blushed as she realised she'd
answered a little too fast. Olivia shot her a knowing look, and she
blushed even more deeply. She had a boyfriend - she shouldn't be
thinking about other boys.
"I
like his friend too, though," Michelle added thoughtfully,
apparently oblivious to Jessie's embarrassment; "Jamie
something…the tall one. I always liked that sort of reddy-blonde
hair."
"Yeah,"
Olivia agreed; "Sadly, we've got no chance with either of them…"
"Why
not?" Jessie and Michelle asked at the same time, looking
disappointed.
"Well,
look at them – they're clearly only interested in each
other."
"Yeah,
right," Jessie said, rolling her eyes; "You're just
trying to depress us."
"She
is?" Michelle brightened up, "Oh good."
"Okay,
but can't you just see them together?" Olivia said, her gaze
becoming distant as a dreamy smile passed over her face; "All hot
and p-"
"Shut
up, you pervert!" Jessie cut her off a little too loudly. She
turned bright red as the entire class turned to stare at her. Olivia
and Michelle cracked up with helpless laughter. Jessie didn't pay
any attention to them.
Instead she looked around. The school was twenty-five years old and already falling apart. The flat roofs leaked, the paint was peeling, and the fences had rusted. The playing fields were behind the school buildings, backing onto a train line. A train would roar past every so often, and flocks of birds would explode from the bushes with a rustling of wings, whistling and squawking indignantly. A chill wind blew across the unkempt and overgrown grass, stirring up abandoned wrappers and bottles, and bands of light and shadow chased each other across the ground as clouds were blown in front of the sun. The girls huddled closer together, shivering.
"Don't you poor girls look cold," the predictably butch Coach Talbot said with false sympathy; "Well, twenty laps should sort that out." The assembled girls moaned in protest, but threats of detention sent them running off.
Jessie didn't particularly mind – she was on the school's athletics team, and went running after school most days. But Michelle, being short and rather unfit, was already falling behind. Olivia was right beside her, apparently having decided to walk the entire twenty laps. Jessie happened to know that Olivia could easily have kept up with the pack – she swam twenty lengths every morning before school. But she also hated Coach Talbot with a vengeance, and did everything she could to make the woman's life difficult.
At least they were faring better than the boys: Jessie winced in sympathy at the cry of 'drop and give me fifty' from the far end of the field. Coach Kolodiej – who bore an uncanny resemblance to a gorilla – took a sadistic delight in tormenting the boys. As she drew closer to where they were struggling with the press-ups, she slowed to get a better view. Poor overweight Michael Walker was already close to collapse, where as that idiot Trent Parker was showing off – doing one-handed press-ups. Jamie Griffiths was lying flat on the grass, staring into space with a bored expression – he only even pretended to be trying when Coach Kolodiej looked in his direction. Some of the boys – the ones who were actually trying – had taken their shirts off despite the cold wind. This, Jessie thought appreciatively, was a very convenient arrangement. The ones who were trying hard enough the need to cool down were invariably the fittest ones. She slowed a little more, grinning contently at the occasional flash of six-pack.
"Morgan! Pick up the pace!" Jessie shook her head to clear it, and sped up. Nineteen more laps to go.
XxXxXxX
Communal showers, Jessie decided, were possibly the most humiliating thing ever invented. Would it really be too much to ask that they have separate shower stalls? Was that really such a crazy idea?
Michelle was hiding in a corner, washing at top speed to get it over with as quickly as possible. Olivia, on the other hand, was staring into space, apparently unaware of the fact that she was naked and there were thirty other people in the showers. Shameless was the word most people would use. But on the other hand, Jessie thought with a touch of jealousy, she had nothing to be ashamed of. That was what twenty lengths a day did for you. Jessie did the same thing of most of the others – kept her eyes fixed on the cracked tiles and pretended she was alone.
"So,
you two want to go out tonight?" Olivia asked.
"Um…sure,"
Michelle said. Jessie bit her lip.
"I'd
love to, but I can't. Sorry."
"Why
not?"
"I'm
supposed to be babysitting for the Millers tonight."
Olivia
looked surprised; "Those weird scientists? I didn't think they
had kids."
"They've
got two," Jessie said; "Gary and Angela. They pay pretty well, so
I'm not about to blow them off."
"Fair
enough."
Jessie sighed as her gaze returned to the grubby floor-tiles. She would have liked to spend the night with her friends. Did she really need the money that much?
TO BE CONTINUED
Olivia
reminds me of me - shameless slash fan-girl. But not the twenty
lengths bit…I'm lazy.
Next
chapter's another Fang and Iggy, but expect some more Max and
possibly a bit of Nudge
