The Long Way Home
deludedfreak
Chapter Twenty: Impossible
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Maximum Ride… But I own Jeanine/Cree.
"I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
'Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?'
He just grinned and shook my hand, and 'No!', was all he said.
Catch a Cannonball, now, t'take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time.
To get back to Miss Annie, you know she's the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone."
-- The Band, "The Weight"
I wander aimlessly about the kitchen, peeking into dusty cabinets, just to look for something. The flock hovers behind me, waiting for me to say something. Jeanine is waiting in the living room, on the couch. Once we had gotten back onto the cliff, she had taken great care to stay as far as she could away from me. What was wrong with her?
More importantly, what was wrong with me?
I could feel five pairs of eyes boring into the back of my head. Wincing at the moldy mess our last loaf of bread had turned into over the years, I close the cupboard, my back still to them.
"Don't we have anything to eat?" I ask, frustrated. My stomach's been growling like a bear for a few hours now.
"Oh. So that's what you were doing."
I glare over my shoulder at Iggy, but he doesn't notice (for obvious reasons).
Grabbing a backpack off the counter, he zips it open and brings out a can of tuna, tossing it to me. The can glances off of my outstretched hands and onto the floor. Everyone stares at it expectantly.
Sighing, I turn away from them.
"Fine. Explanations first, food later. But if I faint from starvation, I'm blaming it all on you people."
Someone snickers behind me, and I smirk in satisfaction.
Taking a seat against the wall, I watch as Jeanine winces as I splay my legs out in front of me. I cautiously ease them back, so my knees are pressed against my chest and my chin is perched on my forearms. I look back up at her to see her eyes following my movements. I raise an eyebrow, and she looks away again, that strange, hard look in her eyes again. Her fists clench in her ratty t-shirt, and her jaw sets rigidly.
Puzzled, I tear my gaze away from her to the rest of the flock, who have found themselves positions all over the room, ready to hear me out.
"Well, um…" My voice wavers.
Yeah. Public speaking. Really not my kind of thing.
Breathe, Max.
Doing as told, I nod to myself, looking back at my waiting audience.
"For some reason, I really don't think my story is half as important as that of Jeanine's, but…" Biting my lip, I look away from them, to my knees. "…But I'll tell it anyway."
"It is… Probably going to be very boring, because the past five years have just been that. I've been a normal kid, exactly what we always wished for. Except, I didn't have any family, and no friends besides Ella and Dr. Martinez. Being a loner suited me, and it was easier that way."
"I left you guys, or, actually, Fang," Stealing a glance in his direction, I continue, "Because… Well, not because I was scared. Or because I was being selfish. There were a million reasons why I didn't want to leave, and a million reasons why I had to. I didn't want to leave because leaving behind old friends is the most painful thing in the world. Especially when…" Deciding I really don't want to elaborate on the Fight, I skirt the subject. "I left because it wasn't right for me to stick around like the homeless aunt with nowhere to go. I thought I was plenty independent, and I wanted to show myself that I was. I didn't want to be intruding on your perfect lives."
My words are met with silence, and the flock's faces are emotionless and stony.
"I admit I was a little jealous of you. But I swallowed that jealousy for about a year. That's when I began to notice how unfair it was that I didn't have anyone anymore, unlike my peers, and I felt alone. I closed myself off, I didn't do anything outside of school besides chores, and I didn't even know what was happening in the world."
Sighing, I set my jaw and stare straight ahead. "I was depressed."
Someone gasps. I don't look to see who it is.
"I don't want to elaborate. It was… pretty painful, and I don't think I've ever felt more like crap than then. Of course, I got out of the funk once I realized what was happening in Dr. Martinez's love life. She was back in the dating scene- It hadn't occurred to me that she was a candidate for marriage. I never asked about Mr. Martinez, and it never came up in any conversations."
"I made the choice to leave. Again. By this time, I was old enough to drive and take care of myself. I found a nice place to live in Lonepine. My landlady was nice enough, and she didn't question me when I showed up alone on her doorstep."
"By the time the second semester of my senior year rolled around, I realized that I didn't have anywhere to go after I graduated. I couldn't stay in Lonepine. It was a nice enough town, but I had to keep moving. Being sedentary didn't suit me. After two years, I knew I had to leave. But, I didn't know where. So, I came to UCLA. Surprisingly, the admissions offices let me in, although I was an unknown and my grades weren't usually the best in school. A lot of my classmates envied me for that- it's a tough school to get into. But I did it."
Grinning, I fiddle with my fingers. "Doing the impossible- That's what I'm known for."
My story over, I avoid eye contact with everyone but Jeanine. "Your turn."
A/N: Yeah, I know I promised explaining. The next chapter will have it- If I try to fit everything into this single chapter, it'll end up giving me a migraine. And probably you. So. Next chapter, is Jeanine's side of the story.
I've got work to do anyway.
PLEASE REVIEW.
P.S. I forgot to mention it last time, but I edited the scene in which Max and Fang fight. In my opinion, it is WAY better than before. I think it's in chapter four. Yeah, it's there. Go check it out.
I'm not exactly pleased with this chapter.