What He Doesn't Know

Chapter 4

2 years ago

"Hermione!"

"Yes, mom?" I look up.

I put down my geometry book down, I didn't know high school would be so hard! I'm halfway done with freshmen year and I freaking want to graduate already.

"What is this?" She's drunk...

I quickly stood up and ran to the kitchen.

"I thought I told you to do the dishes!" She yelled.

"I'm so sorry, mom, I was doing homework, I promise I'll do it right now."

"Then do it!"

I nod and quickly start scrubbing the plates.

I dry the first plate that I finish and quickly walk towards the cabinet, my mother watching me.

I open the cabinet and try to reach the 3rd row of shelves.

I curse to myself about how short I am. As I begin to reach, the damp plate slips out of my hands.

I barely have enough time to move out of the way so that the plate doesn't hit me directly.

"What have you done!" She shrieks.

"I-"

"How could you do this!"

"Mom, it was an accident! Just let it be, it's a plate!" Logan defends me.

"Yeah, mom, it was an accident, I'm sorry!" I beg for her to stop yelling.

"Accident?" She chuckles. "Accidents are for imperfect people!"

What is she trying to tell me?

"Mom, she's not perfect, nobody is perfect!" Logan yells.

This isn't the first time Logan and mom get in a fight. They always have arguments like this when she is drunk.

"You both have to be better than this! I will never love you two until you're perfect! Logan, you are my favorite child! You're the only one who actually tries! The rest disappoint me! Hermione, you need to grow into your life, you need to be more than just a girl." She sneered. "You have to be prettier and smarter!"

I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. Those words could have been encouraging, but she used them to attack me.

"Stop!" I sobbed.

I ran to my room and started crying, she's never been this drunk.

"Hermione..." Logan hugs me tightly.

"Why would she say that, Logan?" I cried.

"She doesn't know what she's saying, please stop crying," he whispered.

"She knows exactly what she's saying." I could feel my body shaking.

"Shh," he shushed. "It's alright."

You never quite get to cherish how great it is to have a sibling next to you at your hardest moments.

Logan and I had never been closer when our mother started drinking again, Logan and I would constantly bother each other. As the time passed by, he and I had to spend more time together as my siblings and I would cry and beg for our old mother back. We all knew that Logan and mom never had a bad relationship, so nothing seemed to bother him. But I knew that at night when he thought we were all sleeping, he would lock himself in the bathroom and cry. My strong rock of a brother would cry all by himself, never wanting anyone by his side. And even if I tried to talk to him about it, he would change the conversation. I knew how strong he was, both inside and out. And that's what I loved about him the most.