Nobody's Hero | ✓

~Black Panther~

~Black Panther~

The morning was a blur, from the time I opened my eyes to when I was stepping out the door. We'd spent it buzzing around and packing everything back into the van, throwing out old food, folding our clothes back into our bags; it was over.

I was actually glad we were so busy; it was less awkward between Wilbur and me. We hadn't talked since...last night. I cleared my head of it all and tried to focus on how good it would be to be home again. Tomorrow I could wake up with my family and go to school.

"Are we keeping these?" Wilbur shouted at us while we sat in the van, he waved around an open bag of chips.

Nikki was busy painting her nails and I decided to take authority.

"How stale are they?" I asked bluntly. He took one out and placed it in his mouth. His expression went sour and he made grotesque faces.

"Very." We both laughed as he tossed it in the trash bin. I knew that if Nikki had been listening she'd laugh too. I sighed, wondering when we'd start to drive.

Wilbur walked over to the table where we sat and slumped awkwardly down beside me. I sifted nervously, but let him sit.

"So, Nikki, when are we going to get this show on the road?" He asked. Nikki looked up confused from her lime-green nails and orange nails.

"Hmm.." She thought "Now."

She climbed into the front and patted the passenger seat for me to sit.

"I'm okay here." I reassured her. She shrugged and began to drive.

A slight breeze wafted in through the window, I let it hit the back of my neck as we sped out of the parking lot. My mind began to write, like a pad of paper, and so, I knew exactly how to write my essay.

Nikki had turned up her annoying country music so loud and was singing like a dying animal, that she probably couldn't hear anything. We ripped down the road and passed things I thought I remembered from before.

I calculated everything in my head and concluded that it would take maybe four hours without stopping to get home, but obviously we'd probably stop and eat. So, we might not be home until around eight or nine. But, I was completely okay with that.

"Irma, can we talk?" Wilbur said suddenly. I swallowed slowly as my eyes began to sting. I knew I wanted to do whatever was best, but I couldn't decide what exactly that was.

"Okay." I answered, expecting him to just start talking. Instead he grabbed my wrist and led me to the small airplane-like bathroom. He closed the door behind us and I knew, Nikki wouldn't even notice.

"I'm sorry that I did that last night...it was wrong...but I.." He looked away "It felt…real. I've never had that with a girl before."

My heart picked up again, lurching my stomach and making me almost want to puke. The happiness that filled me was almost overthrown by the amount of pain. How could he say things like that to me right after I'd found out he was gay? Had he even known how much I'd liked him, for years?