If We Were Perfect (herophine)

Chapter Six: Anything To Make You Feel

4 Years Prior

Josephine

I open my eyes to someone knocking on my bedroom door. My cheek was warm and had a subtle mark from my pencil that I must've fallen asleep on. I shake away the tiredness and head to the door, yanking it open.

Mom was waiting for me. Still dressed in her pajamas, a blue rain-coat hanging from her shoulders. Her shoes were on and her purse was on her shoulder.

"Mom, what happened? Was it Grandpa?" I ask, panicked about my Grandpa's health. It better not be my Grandpa. I don't know what I would do if my Grandpa died.

"No, but we need to go. Now. ASAP." She tells me, something must've happened to someone. But who? It couldn't have been Jamie. He posted on Instagram a minute ago. I grab my shoes, then sit on the edge of my bed to pull them on.

"Mom, what happened?" I question with a sense of panic in my voice. I switch off my desk lamp and grab my coat from my closet. Leaving my phone on my desk.

"Hero and Ben, they were in a car accident."

My heart stops and rises to my throat, pulsing there, making it impossible for me to breath. I cough to regain breath, then move across the room, following my Mom downstairs without turning off the light. She may think I saw Hero as just a family member, but I didn't, I never have.

I've had a crush on him since the days our eyes met, but he hadn't known until recently.

After three years, I finally admitted to having a crush on him. The way his dimples appeared when her smiled. The shade of red his face turned when you got to talking about something he liked. His smile and his bright eyes. Every bit of him. He's attractive, at least to me, a hormonal thirteen-year-old girl. Ben is easy on the eyes too, but he's an adult and that would be illegal.

Mom's car was already started in the driveway, puffs of gas forming behind it. I jump into the passenger seat and pull my buckle down to where it locks.

Mom speeds seven miles over the speed limit to Breuter Memorial Hospital, a place I had become very acquainted with recent, from my Grandpa.

I knew my way around the building, and when I rushed into the lobby, Nancy, my Grandpa's nurse noticed me.

"Josephine, Melissa. It's good to see you, do you want me to tell your Grandpa you're here?" She ask and steps out from around the desk. My Mom hastily shakes her head, spotting Hero and Hadley's mom waiting by the elevator.

We run over to her and she begins crying as soon as my Mom hugs her. I press the button to open the doors and Mom assist her through the doors. While she cries on my Mom's shoulder, sobbing the number of what floor we were going to.

I hit the button labeled 26 and the elevator slowly travels to the top floor.

When the doors open, I see Hadley and her Dad waiting in the set of chairs.

Hadley runs toward me and I hug her, wiping away her tears of pain.

"What happened? Are they okay?" I ask, looking toward their Dad. He looks to their Mom, then Hadley, shaking his head.

"Ben died. Hero's fine, just a few cuts and bruises." He says, choking back his tears. I knew it hurt him as much it their Mom. Her entire life was spent raising her kids to be the best they could be, then one of them dies. It must hurt. A lot.

I can't imagine the pain that she's going through. The pain they're going through.

"Hey, Jo, wanna go see Hero with me?" Hadley ask, resting her hand on my shoulder. I nod and she takes my hand. We were all she had. Her parents were too devastated to pay attention to her, but I always would. I'd do anything for her. She was my best friend. She pushes open Hero's door and the two of us creep into the room. The room looked as it it were drawn on a blank sheet of paper with a black pen or marker. There was no color, besides the monitors next to Hero, and his sheets. But both colors were soft and pale.

"Josephine?" He ask, his eyes were squinted and Hadley looks to me, nodding for me to go see him.

She had known about my crush on her twin brother, but she hadn't cared. She wanted us to be together forever. For me to marry him so we could be sisters. At least sister-in-laws.

"Are you okay?" I ask, sitting down in the chair next to him. He nods. His face is only bruised a little, but his arms are gashed and black and blue. As if he got in a fight.

"Josephine, the crash made me realize that I need to appreciate life more. If there's an opportunity, I have to go for it. I wasn't appreciating the fact that you liked me. More than a friend, and to be honest, I liked you too," He starts. When he admits his crush, my heart rises, then falls back to its original place, "Josephine, can we try to... you know...date?"

I hastily nod my head, "Yes, Of course."

But then the two of us turn to Hadley. Her jaw is dropped to the floor and her eyes are filled with excitement.

"Yes! Omg, now we can be sisters, and when you get married, I want to be your maid of honor, and I'll babysit your kids while I find a boyfriend. It'll be perfect!" She jumps up and down excitedly.

And our lips grow closer and closer, until they're brushing against each other. The taste of his lips was intoxicating.

Little did I know, he was my past, present, and future.