Different (Maximum Ride Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Acting

It didn't take me long to get find the town near Lake Mead in Arizona, and now the only problem was that I need to find Dr. Martinez's house. That's going to be a problem. How am I going to find a house of someone I don't even know? Should I look for the Flock members? Well, all I really got was descriptions of what they look like and not their pictures. So, all I really can do is imagine what they look like, which won't help me very much.

Sighing, I looked through a window to see my reflection. I put on a jacket I had stolen from someone almost the same size as me, and I turned my self sideways a little to see my back. This should help hide my eagle-like wings. I started making my way down the sidewalk with my hands shoved in the jacket pockets, and my eyes darted around, trying to look for people that has the same description as the Flock.

This has to be the worst time of my life. I mean, who enjoys searching for someone they utterly hate? Who enjoys searching for someone who doesn't even know the searcher exists? There's absolutely no fun in that. For me, searching for someone I despise is worse than laughing while taking a drink and choking on whatever I was drinking. 

I walked by a park with a playground, and without really thinking about it, I slowed to a stop. I turned towards the playground and stared at the children all laughing and playing on it. Their parents, older siblings, or grandparents were all standing off to the side, watching them play around without a care in the world.

I clenched my jaw out of anger. Look at them, all having normal lives. They don't need to worry about getting punished brutally for not doing what they're supposed to do. They don't need to go through painful and harsh experiments. They don't have to live with Whitecoats or Erasers always watching them. They all live happy and fun lives while I have to go through a harsh and painful life.

Sure, I get more freedom than most people getting experimented on in the School, but I'm still a bird inside a cage. I'm still being watched constantly by someone, either a Whitecoat or an Eraser. And this bird is still waiting to be set free into the wild. But does this bird even know how to survive in the wild? Will it ever learn? Maybe. Maybe not.

Once I find the Flock, what should I do? Should I stay with them and pretend that I did just break out of the School? Should I keep the fact that I actually worked for the School for a while and simply live a life with them? No, I refuse to do something like that. The thought of living with someone I hate makes me want to vomit. I'll bring them back to the School like Jeb told me to. I'm going to bring the Flock to the School, and Jeb will be happy with me.

Then I turned my head to the side to see a mother and her daughter walking down the sidewalk, coming towards me. The daughter was talking to the mother with excitement filling her expression, but I didn't care about the daughter. The mother, I feel like I should know her from somewhere. But I don't know where I should know her. I've never seen her before in my life. Why do I feel like I should know her?

When the two were close enough to hear what they were saying, the daughter said, "And we should all go see a movie tonight to celebrate their arrival. I mean, why shouldn't we do that? It'll be really, really fun, Mom!"

"That's a great idea, Ella," the woman said. "But we'll have to run it through Max and the rest to see if it's okay with them."

Max. Maximum Ride. Why did I make this sudden connection? I'm sure there are lots of Max's in this town, and I'm sure there are some Max's that arrived home from somewhere. 

I turned my body towards Ella and her mother and asked, "Do you know someone that goes by the name Maximum Ride, by any chance?" Maybe Max is just a shortened version of Maximum Ride. There's always a possibility.

The mother frowned slightly and glanced down at Ella. "Who are you? Why would you need to see Max?"

Yep, Max is Maximum Ride. Thank you, Dr. Martinez.

"I need her help," I said, and I forced myself to sound sorrowful. I've been practicing my acting skills for years just in case something like this ever happened in my life. I forced tears to form in my eyes. "It's my sister. She's...please. I need her help to get my sister back. I just escaped from the School, but my sister wasn't able to get out. I know that Maximum can help me. I've heard...I've heard a lot about her and how she was able to escape from the School. Maybe...she can help get my sister from it." Hopefully, Maximum Ride told her very own mother about the School and everything.

"Don't you worry!" Ella said. "Max can help you!" She grabbed my hand, and a sudden feeling of disgust washed over me. I hated being touched weird little girls. "Let's go." She started pulling me in the direction she was walking with Dr. Martinez. "Hurry up, Mom! We have serious business to attend to!"