Flight

Chapter 21

When they arrived at the terminal, they met up at the baggage claim. It didn't take them long to get through security, mainly because they had no bags. Walking through the area went smooth. Except for that one security officer that looked at Kallisto weird, courtesy of her wings.

They looked at their tickets to see which flight they would be going on. Fortunately, they were all going on the same flight. Unfortunately, they weren't seated together. Blake sat near the front, Allison sat near the back, and Kallisto and Marcus sat right in the middle. Kallisto sat in the window seat, while Marcus sat between her and a man that slightly resembled a bear.

"Hey, um, Kallisto?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, what's up?" Kallisto replied, facing him.

"You wouldn't mind switching seats, would you?" Marcus asked.

"Ooh, sorry, can't," Kallisto said grimacing, "I kinda like the window seat."

The man sat down and jolted the entire row when he did so. Marcus just sat there, not knowing what to do. What do I do now? Marcus desperately thought, this guy is all up in my personal space.

***~~***

Half an hour had gone by. The man was asleep and drooping over to one side. Unfortunately, that was the side that Marcus was on. Kallisto felt bad for him, so she gave him a small kiss on the cheek and laced her fingers through his. That made Marcus feel a little bit better.

He was a little worried about Kallisto and what her dad was going to do when she got home. For Marcus it was easy. His mom didn't care. Kallisto, however, was an only child and was her dad's last link to her mom. She would definitely have it hard when they got back. He was nervous for her. Kallisto didn't seem bothered by the thought, though. He wondered if she was even thinking about it.

He looked at Kallisto's hand in his. He noticed that it was a little sweaty and it was slightly shaking. He assumed that it was from her thoughts about the future. He poked her shoulder.

"Yes?" Kallisto said, peeling her face away from the window.

"Are you okay?" Marcus asked. "You seem kind of...nervous."

Kallisto took a deep breath. "What am I going to tell my dad? I lied, ran away out of state, I drove a car without permission or a license, and I ran from the police."

Marcus grimaced. "Yeah, you're screwed."

"Good support, much wow." Kallisto said sarcastically. She could have sworn the bear man had chortled in his sleep.

The ride was going smoothly so far. No turbulence or drag could be felt. Kallisto looked out over the clouds. She could almost feel the wind in her wings and the thin air in her lungs. Speaking of which, her wings needed to be stretched. They had been closed since early morning when she landed at the breakfast diner. Her left wing was already falling asleep.

The way Kallisto thought of it was that her wings were like her legs. They were used to frequent exercise. So when cooped up for long hours, like on a plane ride, they got stiff and sometimes fell asleep. It was like they were craving flight. She wished the plane would go faster.

Well, she couldn't really complain too much. Watching Marcus panic under the bear man's drool was really quite entertaining. After a little while, she decided to take a nap.

***~~***

The light turned on for seat belts to be buckled. Marcus was having a conversation with Theo, the man who he had thought of as "bear man". Turns out that the poor man had diabetes and he hadn't had a chance to shave that morning. Marcus kind of felt bad for thinking of him as bear man.

They had been chatting for almost two hours. Finally, the L.A. skyline was visible. They were rapidly descending over the airport. After a few minutes went by, he felt the jolt of the plane hitting solid ground. This woke up Kallisto.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," He said to her, kissing her on the forehead.

"Say wha," Kallisto said sleepily. She looked outside of her window and saw that the plane had stopped. She yawned. "Oh, that's what."

Kallisto turned around and saw Marcus and the bear man shake hands. Then the bear man left, walking sideways to avoid getting stuck.

"Who was that?" Kallisto asked, quietly.

"That was Theo," Marcus said. "He's kind of like... my plane buddy."

"Was that the guy that was sitting next to you?"

"Yes he was. He's a cool dude." Marcus turned around and looked down the aisle. He saw Allison attempt to get out. Then she was pushed back into her seat by a non-courteous businessman who looked like he'd had it. Kallisto looked forward and craned her neck to see as far forward as possible. She didn't see Blake up there, so she assumed that he was out of the plane already. After almost everyone was out of the plane, Allison made her way out, only stopping to wait for Kallisto and Marcus. Kallisto walked ahead of both of them, holding Marcus by the hand.

She felt a tingly feeling in her left wing. She hoped that she could hold her wing closed long enough for her to get out of the plane.  As she walked through the tunnel that connected the plane's exit with the airport, a thought grasped her mind.

How angry was her dad going to be?

Would he just take away her electronics and call it good? Or would he ban her from flying? All of the thoughts and questions started rushing back, making her head throb. It hurt so badly that she leaned against the wall of the tunnel to regain control of herself.

Marcus wrapped an arm around her and let her lean on him. Tears wanted to rush out because of the pressure in her head.

But when she saw her dad at the tunnel's exit with a face angrier than the Hulk's, she completely lost it.