Max
A growl resonated in Max's throat, unheard by most. People did, however, notice her tense posture, as her nails dug into the seat's armrest. As well as the occasional biting remark when a flight attendant came up to her, asking she she was 'alright'. Really, did she look alright?
Who in their right mind was okay with riding in a tin can with wings? It wasn't natural! A thirty six ton scrap of metal should not be over a thousand feet in the air! There was a reason penguins and chickens did not fly. There was a reason birds had hollow bones. Planes simply defied logic, and at some point some greater power would realize this, and right the error that had been overlooked. And she did not want to be in said plan when such an occurrence came into play.
"Max," Her mother tried to soothe her nerves, which were at this point royally shot. "Calm down, sweety. Twelve more minutes and we'll be landing." Key word: 'tried'. Twelve minuets or twelve seconds, a second longer was too much, she wanted off immediately. The winged girl bit back a nasty retort, knowing her mother was sincerely trying to help. But next time, she grumbled to herself, try letting her fly herself to some distant home. Max swore, no one would ever trick her onto one of these metal death traps again. Ever.
The brown eyed girl glanced to her right, where Ella lay in her chair. Sleeping, of all things. She could not even begin to comprehend how the girl managed it. Max knew better than to even try. The moment she shut her eyes, her treacherous mind would conjure every possible malfunction or error, and a scene would play out, one after another. She had no desire to watch herself die a dozen times over. So instead she sat tensely in her seat, waiting and praying for the two hour fight to end quickly. Or at least for the blasted flight attendants to leave her alone.
Nine grueling minutes passed before a voice came overhead, the pilot, announcing they would be landing shortly. Three minutes later Max was shoving and elbowing her way through those dumb enough to try standing up before she'd cleared the aisle. Throwing open the door, she hardly waited for the exit ramp to completely connect with the plane, jumping the small distance and sighing with relief. Finally on solid ground, the madness was over.
A few minutes passed before her mother and sister, each wearing their own look of disapproval or amusement, stepped off the plane. Her mother handed Max her duffel bag, which in her haste had been left abandoned in the compartment above her seat. She gave a sheepish grin, thanking the woman before the three made their way toward the baggage claim, her mother speaking as they went.
"Really Max, I know how much you dislike planes. But would it really hurt to at least wait on the other people, do you have any idea how many people I apologized to on the way out?" The girl in question scratched the back of her head, not allowing her mother to send her into a guilt trip. Not this time.
"I told you flying was a bad idea, mom." The larger woman sighed, shaking her head.
"I suppose you did. I'll never understand you, though."
"No kidding," Ella giggled, looking at her sister, entertained by her latest stunt. "You'd think someone with wings would be totally fine on a plane. But you just spazz out."
"Ella!" Max whisper-shouted. "Ix-nay with the wing-ay." What was she thinking? Talking about her wings in an overcrowded airport terminal? She glared at the passerbys who had turned in their direction, curiosity piqued. No way she was ending up locked away in some freaky science lab all the way out in Death Valley, being poked and prodded by a bunch of whitecoats. Where had that come from? She glared now at her sister, who grinned sheepishly, apologizing in response.
By the time they'd reach their car – a rental that had been dropped off at the airport apparently – Max was so worn out the short car ride home was enough to lull her to sleep. Impressive, considering even on a good day she hated cars as well. She could stand it much better than a plane, though, at least cars had four wheels and were firmly planted on the ground. Unless she was driving of course.
The town they were moving to was not all that big; it was an hour and a half drive from the nearest airport. So by the time they'd reached the new house, Max was well rested and prepared for the oncoming hours of unpacking. Grabbing two boxes from the trunk while her mother and sister started with the lighter things, Max totted the stuff through the door, setting them in the kitchen before deciding to take a quick tour of the house.
It was nice. A lot bigger than her previous house, with a master bedroom and bath on the first floor (yes, there was a second floor) along with the living room, kitchen, pantry, laundry room, and a second bathroom. On the second floor, she quickly realized, there were a whooping five bedrooms. Obviously the room on the first floor would belong to her mom and her new husband, and Max wasted no time claiming her room, a sizable one overlooking the forest at the back end of the house. Noticeably having its own bathroom, although the bathroom connected her room to another, but more than likely it would simply be used for storage, considering its fairly small size.
All was well, and three hours later the Martinez had successfully moved into their new home.
