If We Were Perfect (herophine)

Chapter Three: Anything You Needed

HERO

I dreaded driving away from her. I missed her and she left a few minutes ago. The drive back to my house is short, but feels like hours.

I pull into the driveway and kill the engine of the car. Sliding my keys into my pocket, I climb out of my car and head up the stairs to the front door. I jiggle the door bob, trying to get it open, but then remember that I had locked it before I left. I pull out my keys and push the metal door open, shutting it as I walk into the house.

I kick off my Vans and go into the kitchen. Mom and Dad are on opposite sides of the kitchen, Dad brewing a pot of coffee and Mom making breakfast. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun and Dad was close to being completely bald. Hadley and I looked like our Dad, but got our Mom's green/blue eyes.

I hug Mom and she jumps, startled, "Hero. Why are you already dressed?" She ask, scanning my outfit as I pull myself up onto counter, letting my slender legs dangle.

"I went to see Jo before she left." I reply, then jump down, going to the fridge and pulling open the door. I grab out a Powerade and unscrew the lid.

I take a swig, then put the cap back into the bottle, "Where's Hadley?"

"Still sleeping, but can you please wake her up?" Mom ask and I nod, heading upstairs to Hadley's room. I push open the door as quietly as I can. Her rotating fan was pointed at her bed, her covers messed up and her face buried into the side of her pillow. I approach the side of her bed and tap her shoulder a few times. She flinches, but doesn't wake.

"Stop, Mom." She groans and rolls over. I chuckle and tap her once more, "It's not Mom, it's your favorite brother."

Immediately, she wakes up, sitting up quickly and pushing me away, "Get the hell out Hero!"

I stand up, laughing at Hadley's reaction. I turn on the light, wanting to get a reaction out of my sister, then go back downstairs.

Dad is helping himself to the eggs and bacon, leaving the pancakes on the counter. Only Hadley and I ate pancakes. Mom never liked the taste and Dad usually only eats eggs and whatever meat we're having. I'll eat meat for lunch and dinner, but never for breakfast. I don't like starting my day off eating meats and I'm not even sure why.

Hadley stumbles down the stairs a few minutes later her hair was a mess and heavy, purple bags hung under her eyes.

"Why the hell did you have to wake me up at 7:00 A.M. on our extended weekend. I need to catch up on sleep before Graduation next week?" She says, gesturing to the bags under her eyes.

"Hadley, stop with the swearing." Dad grunts, then takes a sip of his orange juice. He always does this, he calls Hadley and I out when we swear, but then swears like a sailor at a damn football game on TV. He wonders where we get it from, but Mom, Hadley, and I knew it was from him.

Mom wasn't as strict about us swearing as long as it wasn't derogative, or calling her or Dad specific words.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't want to look like something from The Walking Dead." She replies and he rolls his eyes. It must be a gene, because we all roll our eyes. A lot. More than we should.

Mom sits down across from me and sips from her cup of coffee, "How does a family day trip sound? Anywhere is fine as long as its in the state."

No. No. No. I do not want to spend the day with my family pretending everything is perfect. It isn't, yet I have to put up a facade to hide the fact that it has been almost four years.

Ben.

It had been four years. I was thirteen. We were sitting in the exact same spots as we are now, the one chair on the opposite end of Dad was empty like it is now.

Mom must catch my eyes on Ben's old, untouched chair, because I see her in my perifial vision, walking over to me as tears spring to my eyes.

"Hero, I know, it's hard. It's hard for all of us," she says, sitting down at my side. I fall against her and begin sobbing. Dad and Hadley sit in silence behind us. I can't move.My tear soaked eyes and aching heart stop me from doing so.

Ben and I did everything together. He would take me fishing, we would go to the local arcade and play laser tag all the time, and we would always hangout. He would help me and Hadley with homework and he'd do stuff with her too, but she wasn't the one who watched him die.

***

Two hours after my emotional breakdown, I'm heading to my interview with FSU. They wanted to talk about possible scholarships I could get and programs I could join. I got my acceptance letter two weeks ago, but never told anyone. I told them that they wanted to talk to me about it in person and that was my reason for having to go to the interview.

I search the parking lot for a parking place and find one in ten-buck-two. It reminded me of how my aunt always parked their car the furthest away from wherever they were going because they didn't want the car getting dinged or dented, but I don't blame her, if I had that nice of a car, I would do the same.

I grab my binder which held all of my information including grades dating back to 9th grade, then head into the large, towering building.

My phone vibrates and I'm hopeful that it's Josephine, they should've landed by now.

But it's not, its my Mom asking if I made it safely.

I hastily text back a simple: yeah, love you <3

I turn my phone to silent and go to the front desk. I need to know if Josephine is okay. What if she got hurt? What if their flight was delayed? What if something happened to Jamie or her Mom?

The worrying questions run laps throughout my head and makes my ever growing anxiety 100x worse.

A tall, fit man in a suit exits the elevator and I recognize him as the the man who gave me a tour around the campus during spring break.

"Hero! It's good to see you again, Congrats on getting in!" He says enthusiasticly and I smile, nodding and shaking his hand.

"Sir, thank you for scheduling this interview with me. I have a few questions about not only your sports program, but also your academics program." I reply nervously and he nods.

"Of course, how about we talk about this in my office?"

I nod, following him over to the elevator. He puts a password into a small keypad, then the elevator begins to move up. It wasn't old and rickety and unstable like the elevators in old doctor's office's, but instead, moved quickly, not making me fear for my life as it climbed to one of the highest floors in the building.

A few seconds later, the doors open and I follow Mr. Davenport down the long, stark hallway. He pushes open a door and allows me to enter before him. His office was large, wide windows over looked the surrounding city and it was only then when I realized how high up we were.

"So, ask your questions, then we can talk about the other information."

***

Sorry to cut it off at a little cliffhanger, but I want to know what you want to see next, with the next chapter being in Josephine's POV, do you want to see her arriving in Chicago or have a little bit of a time skip and her being at dinner?

And what do you think happened to Ben??

Please comment and vote for a possible shoutout in the next chapter!

Love you all.

KC