Daisies || Max Mayfield

Part 1, Chapter 1: Flight

**Daisy Harrington**

"Flight 8913 is beginning the descent into the Roane County Airport in five minutes. The crew kindly asks that everyone return to their seats and buckle their seat belts. Thank you."

I rolled my eyes, pulling my headphones back over my ears. AC/DC blasted in my ears and the man I was stuck sitting next to turned to glare at me. I glanced at him, frowning, then leaned back in my seat.

My stepmom bought me my walkman on my fifteenth birthday. I'd used it religiously since then. They forced me to throw away most of my albums. All I had left was a few rock albums, including Flick of the Switch, Back in Black, Escape, and Coda. The rest were gone.

I was surprised at first when they even let me keep the walkman. They took away the computer in the dining room and the tv. Said she couldn't pay for them anymore if she was dead. I guess that makes sense now.

I've got my carry-on stuffed under the seat in front of me. My big suitcase was sitting in the bin above me, and everything else was gone. I had my clothes, my walkman, my roller skates, and absolutely none of my schoolbooks. The school took them back before I left because I only rented them. My mom said we rented them so she could pay for my walkman.

"Girl." The man next to me grabbed my shoulder.

I shrugged his hand away, not looking.

He grabbed the headphones off my head, holding them in his fat wrinkly hands.

"Give it back!" I exclaimed, grabbing it away from him.

He handed them back but kept a hand on them.

"Miss, please buckle your seat belt." The flight attendant said, leaning over the man sticking out in the aisle.

"Oh." I glanced down at the unbuckled seat belt in my lap. "Sorry." I clipped it shut, smacking the man's hand away from my headphones and putting them back on.

She mouthed something else, smiling as she turned away. I nodded and turned back to the seat in front of me. I stared at the back of the seat in front of me. There was nothing to do on planes. My music continued to blast as I sat as calm as I could on the plane.

I felt my stomach drop as the plane began to drop in the sky, a few people around me saying things I could hear through my music. The clouds slowly rose above the window of the lady on my other side, and soon all I could see was a blank blue sky.

I turned back to stare at the seat for the rest of the flight, gripping the corners of my seat tight as it landed.

The man next to me grunted when the plane bounced on the runway. My eyes widened as I noticed the sweat puddles on the leather armrest next to me. I tried my best to ignore it, waiting for the plane to stop, and the attendants announce it was time to leave. The man stood slowly, and I waited while he pulled his bag down agonizingly slow. Fun fact, having rock blasting in your ears as you watch an old man try to walk down a plane aisle is a very weird feeling.

I pulled my duffel bag from under the seat in front of me, scooching my way out of the plane as soon as the man was out of the way. I avoided the sweat on his seat and stood in the aisle, opening the overhead bins. I slid my suitcase out, which was way too big for me. It fell out of the bin, whacking me on the face. 

"Ah!" I exclaimed, dropping the bag on the ground as I reached for my already swollen cheek. I drew my hand away with a bit of blood on it. "Fuck." I wiped it on my shirt, picked up the suitcase to stand it up, and slung my duffel bag straps over the handle. 

With only one thing to drag now, I left the plane as fast as I could, walking down the jetway to the terminal. I read the signs all around me as fast as I could. Taking a right down a crowded hall, I located the escalators. They dropped down to a full floor that appeared to be dedicated just to security. I frowned, drowning out the talking in the background, only keeping the music on my mind. I followed the stream of people down a back hall, which was a catwalk between two buildings.