Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. I own this plot.
Chapter 10:
Date: November 13
Location: Navajo High School
"And we have stuffing with chestnuts, and homemade mashed potatoes, and oh! The best homemade cranberry sauce you've ever tasted!" Ella monologue, her words bringing about a ravenous growling in my stomach. She'd spent the past hour or so talking about family traditions during the thanksgiving holiday. It was only a week away and she was bursting with excitement. Thanksgiving was apparently her favorite time of the year. She liked the family aspect. Iggy agreed with her; it was his favorite holiday as well, but only because he loved the food.
"What about you, Max?" Ella asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
"What?" I asked, failing to pick up on the tail end of the conversation. It was Tuesday and I'd decided to stick around the school to have lunch with the Flock. I'd been staring out the cafeteria windows at the bare trees that lined the courtyard. If I was in New York right now, there would still be the last few autumn leaves struggling to keep hold of their branches, but here in Arizona the leaves just suddenly fell off one day, there was no change in color.
I missed the seasonal transition more than I cared to admit. I also missed what came after the leaves fell.
All of this talk of thanksgiving had me depressed. Every year on thanksgiving, Nudge and I would sneak up the fire escape of an abandoned building right near Time Square. We'd settle down and watch the Macy's Day Parade. They were amazing seats.
I choked up at the idea of not sitting next to Nudge this year and hearing her ramble on and on about how she wanted to be a dancer. I'd always rolled my eyes at her and ignored her blather, but now as the time for family gatherings grew closer I missed our little family of two.
Ella rolled her eyes. "I asked what traditions you had for thanksgiving?" she reiterated.
I had exactly one memory of a thanksgiving with my parents and I decided to share it with them.
"Oh, well, my mom was a horrible cook," I said. "I remember this one year, I was about six, maybe seven, and my grandmother had died earlier that year. She usually did all of the thanksgiving cooking so my mom had no idea where to start that year but she wanted to keep things traditional. So she tried to make thanksgiving dinner. But—"I chuckled at the memory of my mother's mistake, "she didn't know you had to defrost the turkey so much in advance so she tried to cook a frozen turkey. She ended up setting the thing on fire but I remember that when we tried to cut into it after dad put the fire out, it was still frozen inside. We ordered pizza that year."
The Flock laughed around me. "I guess I know where you get your cooking skills from, Max," Iggy cackled. He'd been on my case about my horrible cooking skills since I'd attempted to make waffles for the Flock the weekend before. I'd set them on fire.
I shrugged off his comment but didn't bother to hide the smile on my face.
"But what did you do every year after that?" Ella asked.
Lived on the street, I thought but, of course, didn't say.
"Nothing much, things got bad between me and my parents after that. I haven't had a formal thanksgiving since my grandma died."
That at least, was true.
"But you've missed out on so much!" she gasped. "You must come to thanksgiving with my family this year! We've got to start setting the record straight."
"I don't know Ells," I bit my lip, "thanksgiving is a family thing."
"And you're like a sister to me so you can come." I was about to object once more when she cut me off. "And don't say you don't want to, I heard your stomach growl before, I know you'll love the food. You have no excuse!"
….
Date: November 22
Location: Carroway house
I was completely lost on any unspoken protocol of what to do when you're invited to a holiday dinner. Did you bring anything to eat or drink? Would it insult the host if I tried to bring my own contribution to the meal?
Instead of consulting Jessica, who was quickly becoming my reference to anything and all things quote un-quote 'normal', I decided to take the research into my own hands and just call Ella.
"You don't have to bring anything Max," she had said when I called her. "We invited you to dinner. We aren't expecting you to provide it."
"Well it would make me feel better if I could do something," I'd objected. "Is there anything you forgot to get from the store that I could pick up? A dessert you want? Please, let me do something," I'd begged.
She sighed. "We usually get pecan pie for dessert but the store was out when we went earlier. If you can find one that's great. If you can't then don't worry."
"Thank you!" I'd sighed in relief.
"You're too weird, Max," she'd said as she hung up.
I'd called several different stores before I found one that promised to bake one for me and keep it behind the counter until seven thirty. I'd picked up an extra shift at the Grill that day and didn't get off until seven so I'd be cutting it close—the store was across town from the Grill—but I was determined and I made it to the store with a good two minutes to spare.
So now, the morning after, I stood knocking at the Carroway's door, pie proudly in hand.
Ella answered and smirked when she saw the pie. "I'm impressed," she said. "People around here are crazy for pecan pie. I didn't think it would be possible to find one so close to the holiday."
"It was a bitch and a half to get it so you'd better enjoy it," I bantered with her as we walked to the kitchen.
The house smelt divine and when I got to the kitchen I knew why. Ella's parents were moving around the kitchen like a well oiled machine, carefully avoiding each other as they crossed the floor with heavy dishes, and having an item ready to hand to the others before they could even ask for it.
It reminded me of my parents.
Mrs. Carroway smiled when she saw me.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Max," she said cheerfully as she handed her husband a whisk. "Its good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, ma'am. Thanks for having me."
"It's no trouble. It's nice to have a friend of Ella's and Fangs over for the holiday. And you brought pecan pie! How on earth did you find one around here?"
"I could lie and say that I baked it, but if I did you wouldn't want to eat it," I joked. "I made a few phone calls," I admitted.
"Well how sweet of you! Why don't you and Ella go join Fang in the living room? He's watching the parade."
Ella bounded happily from the room while I followed, my chipper mood dampened.
I situated myself on the couch next to Ella while Fang sat off to my left in a recliner. The parade was displayed on the large screen of the television, announcers describing the atmosphere of the crowd as the big balloons and performances made their way through the streets.
It was nothing compared to actually being there. Feeling the hype of hundreds of thousands of people as they took part in a tradition that not everyone was so lucky to witness in person. Freezing your ass off but refusing to leave because the memories would outlast the discomfort.
I wondered if Nudge was there. Sitting off to the right of the image on the screen, watching the larger than life balloons. I wondered if she was thinking of me. If she'd manage to get some food in her stomach today.
Thanksgiving was a rough time of the year for us. I'd always try to treat Nudge with a special treat; I'd take on extra fights the week before the holiday and skip a few meals to make enough money to go to a small mom and pop restaurant on the corner of 37th street. The owners knew us and usually gave me a good deal on a meal.
I hoped she'd been eating enough lately.
"Are you okay, Max?" Ella asked from beside me. I hadn't realized I'd spaced out but as I came back to my senses I realized that Ella had been talking to me, probably for a while, without my realizing it.
We had Fang's attention now too. I looked at the screen and realized that, based off of the sequence of the parade, I'd probably been out of it for a good twenty minutes.
"I'm fine. Sorry," I apologized as I turned my attention to her. "What were you saying?"
She had a concerned look on her face. "Are you sure you're okay? You were pretty far gone for a while."
"I didn't get much sleep last night," I lied. "I guess I'm still tired."
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Fang shaking his head. He could apparently see right through my lies. Ella, however, bought it.
"Oh, okay. I was asking you what your favorite part of the parade was…"
….
Dinner was fantastic. It was really flattering to me that the Carroway family invited me to take part in their family gathering and they all treated me as if I was actually a member of their family. It gave me a glimpse into the life I could have had if my parents were alive, if I had siblings. The banter that went on between Ella and Fang spoke of a bond that I could only imagine. It was both disheartening and refreshing. I definitely envied them for having each other.
After dinner the entire family sat in the living room and watched Charlie Brown, something I had never watched before. When I mentioned it they had acted personally affronted and said that I had lived a deprived childhood. They didn't realize that they had hit the nail on the head with that comment. So I watched the movie with them and after that Ella started babbling about Christmas decorations and buying a tree and on and on she went.
Ella insisted I sleep over. I tried to object but she just cut me off saying that if I didn't sleep over she'd just show up at my house at three in the morning ready to go Black Friday shopping anyway. This was it saved us both some trouble. She even offered to lend me some pajamas.
"Ella you are about two sizes smaller than me," I complained from inside of the closet I was changing in. "Do you have any bigger shirts?"
"Size isn't going to change it, Max. Length is. I'm shop in the petite section. You probably shop in the fricken Amazon woman section. Seriously, how come you're so tall and I'm not?"
"Genetics," I grumbled as I came out, pulling uselessly on the hem of the shirt she'd given me. It was appropriate length on her. It was a midriff top on me.
Ella waved my complaint away. "What does it matter? You're just sleeping in it."
I shrugged away my modest feelings and decided to cope with it. I really had no other choice. Besides, I was just wasting my breath and valuable sleep time. At this point I'd only get about four hours of sleep before Ella dragged me all over Navajo and a neighboring town. We were just about to settle down when someone knocked on the door.
Ella answered it while I organized the pile of blankets she'd given me into a comfortable bed on the floor.
"Yeah, Fang?" Ella asked behind me. I'd already known it was him, their parents had gone to bed an hour ago, so I didn't pause in my attempts to make a comfortable bed.
"Are you going to give me a list of places you expect me to drive you tomorrow?" he asked.
That did make me turn around. "You're coming tomorrow?" I asked in surprise as I turned to face where he stood in the doorway.
"Well yeah," Ella said before he could open his mouth. "I can't drive."
"I figured we were taking a bus," I admitted, blushing lightly. I didn't mind Fang coming with us, I suppose. I just hadn't thought about it. There's no reason for you to get all excited about him coming, a small part of my mind hissed at me as my heart rate sped up a bit. I'd been fighting this reaction all day. The increase in heart rate, the weird feeling in my stomach. It'd been happening ever since he'd come over the other day and called me out on my reaction towards the article in the newspaper. Ever since I realized he understood me so well. I hated it. Absolutely despised it. It made me feel weak and out of control. And I was almost positive that everyone within ten yards of me could tell that I was having the reaction, not just Fang, no matter how hard I fought it.
"The bus? Are you kidding me?" Ella demanded, hands on her hips. "We'd have to carry all of our bags and there is no way I'm doing that. Nope, I need a car to put them in."
"Why? Afraid I'll see my Christmas present early?" Fang asked me, a smirk playing on the corner of his lips.
I felt my stomach clench tightly as his eyes caught mine.
"No," I scoffed and ducked back towards my nest of blankets, needing to break the eye contact. "I'm not buying anything anyway. Just going along for the ride, you know, new experiences, winning Ella over, all that stuff. I've never gone Black Friday shopping. Why would I? I hate shopping. But I have to admit, Ella won me over with the prospect of fighting off some crazy soccer moms." I was babbling, I realized. But as I trailed off I realized something else, nobody was interrupting me. Neither Ella nor Fang had interjected a word or made a noise.
"Guys?" I asked as I turned back around. Both Ella and Fang were frozen in the doorway, staring at me. "What? So I babbled a little?" I said self consciously, feeling the need to defend myself. "It happens on occasion. Except to you, Fang. I'm sure you've never said more than ten words in one conversation."
They were still staring at me. Not my face though, my abdomen.
I felt my eyes widen as realization hit me. I tugged harshly on the hem of my borrowed night shirt, trying uselessly to cover up the scar I kept hidden from the world.
And this was why I wanted a bigger shirt, I growled to myself as I blushed and avoided the stares of my friends. Nobody needs to see that ugly thing.
I didn't know what to say and neither, apparently, did they.
"Max," Ella choked out at last, "what—"
"It's nothing," I said quickly, cutting her off.
"That's not nothing,"she said, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "It looks like someone cut you up with a knife!"
That was exactly what happened. A dull rusty knife that hurt like a son of a bitch. "Don't be silly. It was a childhood accident," I said, brushing her off lightly as I headed towards the closet where I had left my discarded clothes from earlier. I ducked inside and swiftly changed back in to my shirt, determined to sleep in that instead. And I tried my hardest not to cry. I hadn't wanted them to see that. I hadn't wanted anyone to see that. Nobody but the bastard who'd did it to me and the doctors who sewed me up had ever seen it. Not even Nudge knew I had it.
"That's not an accident Max," Fang said monotonously as I came back out. His eyes were anything but monotone. He looked livid.
"How would you know?" I demanded. "I was a clumsy kid and I fell off the playground one day. Accidents happen."
So do sadistic sore losers.
"Max—"
"What does it matter?" I demanded harshly as I settled myself down into my blankets. "It happened a long time ago and its none of your business. Now just get whatever you need for shopping tomorrow and go to sleep." I burrowed deep within the blankets and pulled them over my head so I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.
Of course Max has to have some marks after her rough life. How many of you remember her telling Jessica that she had some scars? Do you think the scar will be a big deal in the future? Who knows, maybe I just threw it in there as both a physical reminder of her past and to throw a wrench into the happy situation. I could be that cruel. We won't know until I finish this story!
Question:
Are you gonna keep updating 2-3 times a week even in your late chapters? Yes. As long as I have the time to finish editing my chapters I will post them. I will not, however, post unedited chapters. I'd rather spend another day or two polishing them up then posting even more grammatically incorrect chapters then I already do. I take pride in my work and want it to reflect my hard work, not look like I just threw a bunch of badly worded ideas onto a document and uploaded it.
Also, I've recently realized that I made a pretty big mistake in numbering future chapters. Its nothing that affects what you guys have read so far but I wanted to clear something up. As it turns out this story wont be 36 chapters, but about 42. I'm dislexic and I accidentally labeled chapter 20 as 15 and it shifted everything off for future chapter ideas. Soooooooo more chapters for you guys to read! Yay! I thought it felt like too little chapters for what I was planning...
All of that being said I'll try and update again soon...maybe even by Wednesday if you guys review!
Peace!