â€œThe bag isnâ€™t too big! Iâ€™ll keep it on my lap!â€ Maia insisted unhappily. She held her olive green Army pack to her chest. It had been given to her by her Nonna on her tenth birthday. It was an old German paratrooperâ€™s pack that one of the boys who lived near Nonna had given her. She refused to leave it at home, and equally refused to put it in the cargo.<br/><br/>After what seemed like an eternity of begging, the man let Maia through. Before boarding, she stared at the plane for a long time, fear choking her and making it hard to speak. She had never flown before, she had always taken trains wherever she need go. Taking a deep breath, she told herself everything would be fine, nothing would happen to the plane, and she would make it to Poland with no problems. She believed it. She took her last glance around before she was ushered into the little tunnel that lead to the plane. The city was just visible beyond the airfield.<span style="font-style: italic">Good bye, London. See you later...</span>The flight was long and rather unpleasant. She ended up sitting beside a rather chatty old woman who felt the need to tell Maia all about her extensive list of siblings and how much she loved beets.<br/><br/>It was like a chorus of angels came over the speaker and told everyone of their impending descent. Maia bounced in her seat waiting for them to let everyone off. She was the first out of her seat, and one of the first few to leave the plane.<br/><br/>She wandered for a bit, her flight having landed earlier than expected. With her huge army bag over her shoulders, she wondered if she was supposed to fetch her duffel bag and violin from the luggage carousel. A glance at her instructions told her that it wouldnâ€™t be necessary, and someone else would be picking it up for her. She anxiously bit her thumb nail. Her father would kill her if something happened to that violin. Fretting, she sought out the worker that would be picking her up with the others.<br/><br/>By the time she found the man with the sign, there was already a small crowd gathered. Maiaâ€™s shoulders crept up toward her shoulders and she tried to make herself as small as possible. It was kind of a formidable group. Several of the boys in the group didnâ€™t look friendly at all, and she looked like the youngest girl there. She self consciously fiddled with a honey-tinted curl of her hair as she joined the group.<br/><br/>As she eyed each one of them, she felt more and more anxious. They all looked so self assured, so confident. Like they were all so sure of themselves. She felt extremely out of place. Her shoulders crept up further.<br/><br/>Their escort was an interesting one, with long black hair and a no-nonsense demeanor. When he instructed the others to follow, she hung back, getting into the limo last. Sidling in next to a girl with black and red hair, she shrunk back against her seat with her army bag on her lap, her arms clasping it to her chest.<br/><br/>She watched each person with a sort of wary anxiety. She noticed one girl who hadnâ€™t met with them in the airport. Had she arrived before them? Or perhaps was she within driving distance? She knew she should be polite and strike up conversation like her parents had taught her to, but she knew from experience that they really hadnâ€™t meant it. She was meant to be seen upon occasion, but never heard, and otherwise scarce.<br/><br/>As some of them chatted idly about where they had come from, she shrunk into her spot and stared out the window opposite her. Between two heads of her soon-to-be...classmates? Roommates? It wasnâ€™t likely they would become her friends, at least not for long. But there was a strip of Polish countryside out the window, all dark green with grand, pretty houses in the distance. It was all very foreign to her, who was very used to being enclosed by towering structures all around her. But that wasnâ€™t true. Her parents owned a summer manor in the country near a lake.<br/><br/>A smile touched her lips as she recalled the weeks she had spent there. It was the few times her Nonna had been able to come to visit. Nonna would point out all the wonderful things she knew the names of. The trees, the fish, the birds and butterflies. She could remember them even now. White ash, post oak, sassafras; blue gill, striped bass; cardinals, blue jays, and chickadees. And monarch butterflies! Those were her favorites. She had a sticker on her violin case of a monarch butterfly.<br/><br/>Maia glanced again at the faces around her, curious about them, but too shy to talk. So she sat and waited until they would reach their destination.