If We Were Perfect (herophine)

Chapter Twelve: Part Two

HERO

PROM

I pull open the car door for Josephine and she slides into the passenger seat. I close it, then open the back door for Hadley. She climbs in slowly, careful not to ruin her dress.

Once I'm in the car, I begin to pull out of the driveway. The sun was going down behind the horizon.

Josephine turns up the radio and music fills the car, her and Hadley start singing along.

A few minutes later, I pull into the schools parking lot and open the doors for my sister and girlfriend.

Hadley doesn't bother hanging around us, and rushes to the door. I help Josephine out and take her hand in mine. She smiles hesitantly and I nod, "It's finally here."

I hold open the door for her to enter and she enters first, I follow behind her, letting the door shut behind me.

I see Caleb waiting for us at the entrance of the gym. He's wearing a grey tux, with a white button up and a blue tie. He was leaning against the heavy, black doors.

"Bro! Finally, I've been waiting for you to get here?" He shouts jokingly and approaches me slowly, "Josephine, you look stunning."

She smiles, spinning around with a playful smile.

"Thank you, Cal!" She replies, fixing her loose strand of hair by tucking it behind her ear.

The three of us enter the large gymnasium, the lights are a bright, dazzling blue, and a disco ball spins around from the ceiling. Josephine is to my left, Caleb is on my right.

The music is pumping through the gymnasium.

"How about we go and get something to drink?" I ask Josephine. She nods and I walk over to the punch bowl. It was on a big, wooden table and the dozen boxes of pizza took up half of the table.

I fill up one cup, then another one for Josephine. She takes it and brings it to her lips, sipping at the red punch. It was a mix of Hawaiian Punch and Sprite. It had enough flavor to where it was bearable, but it wasn't the best thing I've ever tried.

"Thank you, Hero." she whispers, I nod, then kiss her cheek.

A slow song begins to play and Josephine sets down her cup, then takes mine, setting it next to her cup. I follow her out to the dance floor and the two of us begin to dance around the gym. She gives me a wide smile as we sway back and forth.

"You're beautiful." I whisper, she smiles, moving her hand from my shoulder, then wiping a tear away from her eye.

"Thank you."

I nod, and then spin her, slowly moving faster with the song. She giggles as she draws herself closer to me, our chest bump.

"I know I should've told you sooner, but I never was going to go to Chicago. I was going to stay here. In Florida." She tells me as the song transitions to the next song. Woah? What? She isn't leaving me.

"Josephine! That's amazing, now I don't have to live in a frat house. We can get an apartment and live together." I reply excitedly. She nods and jump up and down like a little kid. I chuckle, then notice something wrong. Hadley was sitting on the bleachers. Her mascara was running down her eyes and cheek. Oh shit.

"Jo, what's wrong with Hadley?" I ask, turning back to my girlfriend, nodding my head toward my sister.

"I'm not sure, should we talk to her?"

Before I can answer, Josephine is already dragging me over to my sister. She sits down with Hadley and I kneel in front of her, standing on the toe of my shoe.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

She looks up, then back at me.

"My date left me to go vape in the parking lot." She whispers, wiping away her tears.

I hug her, "Come dance with me."

I pull her up and lead her out to the dance floor. I spin her around the same way I did to Josephine. The song isn't as slow, but it isn't club music either. She attempts to put on a smile as we dance across the dance floor, from the side, I see Josephine take Caleb's hands and lead him out to the dance floor. I see them chuckling and laughing every few seconds, but I don't care. Hadley is my twin sister, and if she isn't okay, then neither am I.

The song was from a movie soundtrack, it was slow, and the girls voice was amazing as leaving the Pop music genre behind for the song. Hadley laughs as the beat drops and the singers begin harmonizing. We spin away from each other and Josephine is in my arms as the song ends. Hadley is with Caleb and I hope that he can cheer her up. For at least one night. Please cheer her up.

Josephine looks to them, then back at me, "Why haven't they hooked up? He is way better for her than Joseph."

He told me why yesterday, but I don't know if I should tell her. I have to.

"Do not tell anyone, don't talk to him about it either. He's gay." I whisper, moving Josephine and myself further away from the two.

"Damn, is that why Jenifer broke up with him?"

"Yeah, and he's afraid she's going to out him."

"Well, Jenifer is too much of a puss to do that. She got scared when the light pointed at her at Winter Formal, there's no way she would do it publicly." Josephine states, following me back to the punch bowl. We grab new cups and fill them, then head over to a small table that was pushed against the wall. I pull out my phone and take a selfie of Josephine and I. She smiles, making a piece sign and putting it front of her face.

"You're weird." I tease with a playful smile. She punches my shoulder, then says,

"And you aren't?"

"Fair point, babe."

We sit and watch the dance for a little bit, her head rest on my shoulder and the two of us sit in silence.

"When do you want to start looking for apartments?" I ask, looking to her. She shrugs.

"Maybe on Tuesday? Wednesday?" She replies, "My campus is two hours from yours, so maybe we can find somewhere in between the two?"

I nod, then look back at her, "Do you want to go?"

She nods, then takes my hand, "Lead the way."