Wandering Fireflies

Chapter 11: Food For Thought

Song: I Took A Pill In Ibiza (original) by Mike Posner

With the sudden change of plans to go home a day early, packing took a while and once we were finally hit the road, it was after six. Kennedy was keeping Benji company up front while everyone else was playing an intense game of Slap Jack. Exhausted, I just sat by myself in the other booth.

"Too tired to play even one round?" asked Vance, sliding into the seat across from me.

"Yep. But if at any point you guys decide to play Slap Vance, let me know." I glared at him. At this point, I was just seriously pissed off. Vance sighed at looked at me.

"Listen Zaavan, Kennedy's right. We've been together since we were niners, she means a lot to me."

"Then how come she doesn't even know about aunt Lucy?" A wave of panic washed over his face as he looked around, making sure that no one heard us.

"I can't believe you're still bringing that up!"

"Then why won't you tell her? She says she loves you but she doesn't even really know  you."

"Who I am? And who exactly am I? A weak and vulnerable victim whose body's only use is to please aunt Lucy? In case you didn't know, that's not who I want to be. She doesn't have a say in who the hell I am. Kennedy doesn't know about that because that's not who I am. That's just a screwed up part of my life that I wish never existed." Wow, he was really mad.

"So I'm sorry if I don't want to announce to the world that I'm being..." Vance hesitated. He couldn't even bring himself to say those horrifying words. "If I'm being used by someone else against my will."

I was shocked, but I guess he did have a point."Okay, I'll stop." He sighed in relief. "But still. You have to admit - Slap Vance? That was a pretty good one." I laughed at my own joke while Vance shook his head. I'm so funny.

"Yeah, okay, I guess I kind of deserved that." He then got up and sat down right beside me. We were so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. My heart started pounding in my chest so loudly that I was praying he couldn't hear it. He leaned in closer towards me and I noticed that the air around us was so thick that I had trouble breathing. My mind was spinning with unanswered questions. Did Vance notice it too? What's even happening right now? It was as if every thing was moving in slow motion. Vance kept leaning in until he was just millimeters away from my ear.

"Thanks for not telling anyone about the other night," he whispered. "It really means a lot to me." He pulled back and I saw the serious expression on his face.

"Uh, sure. No problem, anytime," I said casually, trying to sound normal. I quickly scanned the RV. Did anyone else notice what just happened? It was then that I realized why Vance came so close to tell me that. Everyone was dead silent. Some fight (let's be honest, probably started by Kolton) broke off the game and everyone was back to doing their own thing. Wow, for a minute there I actually thought that Vance was about to...shit. I shook my head. What was I thinking?! More importantly, why was I thinking that...never mind.

"Man, I'm tired. Wake me up when we get back, I'm gonna try to get some sleep."

"Good luck with that. There aren't any beds around here..." It didn't matter though because Vance was already asleep. I smiled. He looked so peaceful. I looked down at his lips. They seemed so soft and smooth...

"Hey Zaavan!" Startled, I jumped a little. I looked up to see a smiling Katja sitting across from me. I pulled the hood of my jacket down a bit to hide my face. Was I...blushing? No way. Wait, why was I even looking at Vance like that? I groaned internally. Whatever was wrong with me, I had to fix it fast. I couldn't keep pulling shit like this.