Wings: A Maximum Ride Fanfiction

I hadn't thought that I would feel fresh air like this again. Hope didn't-couldn't-drown out the fact that I was a toy to Itex, a creature that they could play with to their hearts content. But here I was, my wings stretched out luxuriously as I followed the flock through the night without knowing where we were headed.

But anxiety still churned in my belly, at the thought of leaving the erasers who had saved my life behind. And the thought of not finding my mother. And the thought of having just seen somebody die. My heart thumped in my chest and a nauseating feeling weighed me down, despite the strength of my wings. All I wanted to do was find my mom and curl up next to her and whisper "I don't want to do this anymore."

But that couldn't be done. And the knowledge of that made everything worse. My throat burned and ached as I tried to hold back tears. It wasn't so much that I was homesick. In fact, I didn't miss the city at all. I had always felt too cramped up and trapped, even at home. I didn't miss the bus rides, most of the people, and the smelly streets. I didn't miss school, either.

The only things I really missed at this point was my mom and my friends. And both those things were not strictly at home. I would be just as happy if they were with me in the middle of nowhere. But the separation anxiety felt like knives were sticking through my ribs to my heart, and like the tormenting feeling that is longing had settled into the wounds like a makeshift home.

My throat ached with the strain of not crying, and I swallowed repetitively in the attempt to soothe it. I had to focus on what I did have, not what I didn't.

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I blinked in the sunlight, sitting up gently and looking around. We had stopped for the night in a forest, gentle sun beams dappling the floor which was soft with fallen leaves that warned us of the cold to come. Birds chirped softly above me and I breathed in the fresh air, something that was the complete opposite of the chemical smell inside Itex.

"You're up," Iggy noted from where he sat up against a tree, probably keeping watch. He seemed to do that a lot, despite of his blindness. But I had complete and utter faith in him.

"I am," I respond, watching him tilt his head towards me.

"Are you okay?" He scooted towards me, lowering his voice so that we wouldn't wake the rest of the flock.

"I guess," I sigh, leaning against the same tree. I couldn't tell if we were too close for comfort. I was most certainly blushing to a tomato-red, but I can say that I didn't enjoy it. I thought back to my friends in New York City, and what they would think of this all. And then, with a panicking feeling, I realized that I didn't know where my phone was.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." I choke out, scrambling up and running my hands over my pocket.

"Sage? What is it?" Iggy got up with me, looking confused.

"My phone. I can't find my phone. Itex took my phone." I sob, sinking back down to my knees. Sam didn't know where I was. She didn't know if I was alive or not. All I wanted to do was hear her voice and that couldn't even happen.

"Oh, Sage." Iggy reaches towards me, pulling me into a hug. The think was, I had no doubt that Iggy and the rest of the flock had felt something like what I was feeling. But the difference was, even despite having been given up as babies, they had each other. And the flock was a family to each other. I could hardly form thoughts, and I barely made sense even to myself, but it will made me cry harder. I tried to stifle it enough that I wouldn't wake the others, but I still found myself using Iggy's shirt to block out sound.

"We can find you a pay phone, alright? You can call her and tell her that you're okay, okay?" He said, sounding surprisingly concerned.

I nodded, calming down a little bit, but I stayed leaning against him for a while, relishing this feeling of security. His strawberry blonde hair moved slightly with a cool breeze that rustled the leaves above us and I couldn't help but stare at his almost delicate beauty, my stomach still in anxious knots.  His light blue eyes flicker around, despite being sightless, and I wonder if they had always been that beautify shade, something similar to the sky. And I wonder how a mother could let go of a baby with such beautiful eyes.

"Are you feeling a little better?" He asks, looking down at me. Suddenly embarrassed, I sit up.

"I-uh-yeah. I'm okay. I just..." I trail off, not knowing what to say. "I'll be okay."

Iggy nodded in understanding and we continued to just sit in silence, my cheeks still burning, until the rest of the flock woke up and we pretended that nothing at all had happened.

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•end of chapter•
Hi all. I was honestly about to give up on this story and then BAM I was reading some comments and everyone was being supportive and it made me so happy and so I wrote this and I hope you enjoyed it. I'd make it longer but I'm in a car and I'm feeling carsick.