Misunderstood: Inspired by the Neighbor from Hell Series (A Neighbor from Hell YA Book 1)

by R. L. Mathewson

  Chloe couldn’t do that to her sister no matter how much she pissed her off.

  Katie was terrified of the basement, not that Chloe could blame her since it wasn’t exactly her favorite room in the house either. Whenever Katie ventured down into the basement, which wasn’t very often, it usually ended with Chloe being forced to rescue her.

  At least she wouldn’t have to tear the house apart to find her, Chloe thought as she headed for the basement door that had been left open. That was something at least, Chloe told herself as she paused by the door to flick on the basement light before forcing herself to go down the stairs and–

  “What was that?” the teenage boy that she’d forgotten about asked as Chloe slowly turned around, telling herself that this day couldn’t possibly get any worse only to find herself trapped in the basement.

  With Cole Bradford.

  *-*-*-*

  He was going to kill Jonathan, Sebastian decided as he followed Mikey’s curious gaze to find her watching his brother and–

  “That explains so much,” Mikey said in a thoughtful tone, dragging his attention away from the little bastard hiding behind their mother.

  “What explains so much?” Sebastian asked as he absently tapped his thumb against the book that he’d helped himself to from Aunt Haley’s and Uncle’s Jason’s bookshelf.

  “Everything,” Mikey said on a wistful sigh as she continued to gaze dreamily at Jonathan. “God, our children are going to be so beautiful.”

  And just like that he was done, Sebastian decided as he stood up, glaring down at the little brat. “Read,” he bit out before he turned around and headed to one of the empty tables on the other side of the patio.

  “Oh, come on. I was kidding!” Mikey called after him.

  “Just read the damn book,” was all he said as he dropped his book on an empty table and headed over to the food, determined to ignore the little brat.

  “Aw, don’t be like that, Sebastian. You know you’re my favorite,” Mikey said, somewhat appeasing him.

  Somewhat.

  When he didn’t say anything, mostly because she didn’t deserve his forgiveness, Mikey finally mumbled, “Fine.” He glanced over his shoulder in time to watch her release a long-suffering sigh as she opened the book and settled in to read. When he saw her lips pull down into an adorable pout, Sebastian found himself grabbing a plate for her and–

  “Don’t tell me that you actually believe that crap,” came the question that had Sebastian looking to his left to find the kid that he was assuming was Aunt Haley’s nephew reaching past him to grab a soda. Before Sebastian could respond, he was walking back to his table and dropping down into his chair with a bored sigh. Not that he actually had a response, Sebastian thought as he found himself watching Mikey.

  Once upon a time, he honestly hadn’t thought much about the Bradford curse but now…

  Now, he was wondering what he’d done to piss Mrs. Blaine off, Sebastian thought as he caught Mrs. Blaine watching him. Biting back a sigh, he finished making up a plate for Mikey and grabbed one for himself. When he was done, he placed Mikey’s plate on the chair next to her before heading back to his table. Once he was there, he took a bite of his burger, opened the book he’d borrowed, and–

  “Why did you do it?” came the abruptly asked question that had Sebastian glancing up to find Mrs. Blaine sitting across from him, her hands folded over the cane resting across the armrests of her wheelchair, watching him through narrowed eyes.

  “Because it needed to be done,” Sebastian said as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Mikey was still reading only to find himself smiling when she mumbled, “Stupid book,” as she popped a chip in her mouth.

  “How much do you want?” Mrs. Blaine demanded, dragging his attention back to find her watching him with a calculating expression.

  “Nothing,” Sebastian said as he went back to reading his book.

  For several minutes, Mrs. Blaine sat there, watching him, looking as though she was trying to figure something out. Whatever she saw, had her sighing heavily as she said, “I’d like a Coke.”

  “Not happening,” Sebastian absently murmured as he popped a chip into his mouth.

  “And why’s that?” Mrs. Blaine asked, still watching him.

  “Because you’re not supposed to have caffeine,” he reminded her as he turned the page.

  “A hundred dollars,” she said, making him sigh.

  “No.”

  “Two hundred dollars.”

  “No.”

  “Three hundred,” Mrs. Blaine said firmly, drawing his attention to find her watching him expectantly.

  “Five hundred,” he countered, watching as a flash of something that looked like disappointment crossed her features before she managed to pull it back.

  With a firm nod, she said, “Five hundred.”

  Without a word, Sebastian walked back over to the coolers and grabbed some ice, threw it in a cup and poured some lemonade. Once he was done, he walked back over to the table and set the cup down in front of Mrs. Blaine. Biting back a sigh, he sat down, determined to get back to his book and–

  “This isn’t what I asked for,” she said, sounding amused.

  “No, it’s not,” Sebastian said, searching for the spot where he’d left off only to feel everything in him go still when he heard, “Thank you, Braxton,” and found himself looking over in time to see Aunt Haley’s nephew place a can of Coke in front of Mrs. Blaine.

  “She’s not supposed to have soda,” Sebastian said as he reached over and plucked the can of Coke off the table before Mrs. Blaine could get her hands on it.

  “She can have whatever she wants,” Braxton said as his gaze flickered past Sebastian.

  Frowning, Sebastian followed Braxton’s gaze to find him looking toward the rest of Haley’s family to find a man with the same dark hair and light blue eyes as Braxton nodding approvingly and just like that, Sebastian knew why Aunt Haley’s family suddenly couldn’t live without her.

  It had nothing to do with Aunt Haley and everything to do with manipulating the elderly woman sitting across from him, and he had a bad feeling that he knew why. He just hoped that he was wrong.

  “No, she can’t,” Sebastian said, keeping his gaze locked on Braxton as he popped open the Coke and took a sip.

  “Says who?” Braxton demanded.

  “Says her doctor,” Sebastian said firmly, wondering just how far he would go. Mrs. Blaine had a heart condition and Aunt Haley made sure that everyone in the family knew it to ensure that her grandmother couldn’t get her hands on anything that would interfere with her medication.

  When Braxton moved to grab another Coke, Sebastian stopped him with a quietly spoken, “If you give her something that could hurt her and you end up making Aunt Haley cry, it will be the last thing that you ever do.”

  Grinding his jaw, Braxton shot him a murderous glare before he turned around and stormed off while Sebastian watched him, making sure that he wasn’t about to try anything else. Once Braxton disappeared from sight, Sebastian shifted his attention back to his book only to feel someone watching him. Looking up, he found Mrs. Blaine watching him with that curious gleam back in her eye.

  With a firm nod, she said, “I like you. You may call me Grandma,” before gesturing to her helper to roll her away, leaving him sitting there…confused.

  Chapter 16

  They were just trying to screw with her head, Mikey decided as she shifted her gaze from Sebastian, who was quietly reading a few tables away from her, to find Jonathan, along with Mathew and all their cousins watching her with knowing smiles and…

  Definitely screwing with her, Mikey decided as she pulled the baseball out of her pocket and forced herself to read the book that she was beginning to fear would never end only to once again find herself watching Sebastian as she absently rolled the ball between her hands. This wouldn’t be the first time that they’d tried screwing with her head.

  They’d been doing it sinc
e she met them, which worked for her since she usually enjoyed screwing with their heads as well, but this…

  They definitely had to be kidding.

  She didn’t know where they were going to end up when they were adults, but she knew enough to know that they probably wouldn’t be living next to each other anymore. Sebastian would probably go off to attend some Ivy League school and end up living somewhere like New York or London while she ended up attending whatever college would give her the best chance to make it to the pros and once she graduated, she honestly didn’t care where she ended up as long as she was able to play baseball for the rest of her life, which meant…

  If what they said was true, then Sebastian would one day fall in love with someone else, who would probably have more in common with him and make him happy, and that was fine. More than fine, because Sebastian was her best friend and she wanted him to be happy. That didn’t mean that Mikey had to like whoever he ended up with, she told herself as she watched Sebastian head inside.

  She considered following him and demanding some answers but the small group watching her every move, waiting for another chance to torment her, had her biting back a sigh. Besides, she had better things to do than to sit around wondering if they were screwing with her head. With that in mind, Mikey forced herself to focus back on the book in her lap even as she mumbled, “Stupid Bradford curse.”

  “You’re Mikey, right?” came the question as the boy that had been glaring at everyone all afternoon sat down next to her. “I’m Braxton.”

  “That’s me,” Mikey said, biting back a sigh when she realized that she had no idea what she’d just read. With a groan, she flipped back to the previous page and…flipped back again until she found a page that actually made sense to her.

  “I saw you play last year in the Chase Tournament. You have a pretty good arm,” Braxton said as Mikey checked how many pages she had left to read.

  “Thanks. Do you play?” Mikey absently asked as she mentally calculated how many pages that she was going to have to read between today and tomorrow and–

  “First base,” Braxton said as he reached over and plucked the baseball out of her hand.

  Blinking, Mikey looked from her empty hand to the boy absently tossing her ball in the air and catching it. “That’s my ball,” she mumbled hollowly as she tried to make sense out of what was happening.

  “Let’s go play catch and you can show me that fastball of yours,” Braxton said, tossing the ball in the air and–

  “I’m gonna have to pass,” Mikey said as she reached out and snatched the ball out of the air before he had a chance to catch it.

  “Why?” Braxton demanded with a look that told her that he wasn’t used to hearing no.

  “Because I have to finish this book for school and I promised that I wouldn’t,” Mikey said, shoving the ball back in her pocket as she shifted her attention back to the book that was going to take a miracle to finish in time.

  “Come on, just ten minutes,” Braxton said, sounding annoyed.

  “No,” she said firmly, determined to get through this damn book so that she could–

  “Whatever. You probably throw like a girl anyway,” Braxton said and just like that, Mikey decided that she could spare ten minutes to teach the jerk a lesson.

  *-*-*-*

  “Open the door, Katie. I have your money,” Cole bit out between clenched teeth as he fought against the urge to pound his fists against the door, afraid that he’d scare the little girl that was slowly making his life a living hell.

  “No, you don’t! You only have five dollars!” Katie snapped from the safety of the other side of the locked basement door.

  “I can get the rest of the money if you let me out,” Cole said as he glared at the door, imagining all the things that he was going to do to the little brat once he escaped.

  “You should have paid me my dollar in the first place!”

  “And I would have if you hadn’t handed me a cup of water and called it lemonade!”

  “That was the secret ingredient!” the little brat shouted back as Cole released a frustrated groan and forced himself to turn around and head back downstairs before he said something that he would regret.

  With a heavy sigh, Cole sat back down on the cold cement floor with a muttered, “Your little sister is evil,” as he glared up at the basement door that the little demon had slammed shut over an hour ago.

  “I know,” the girl that he really didn’t want to be locked in a basement with mumbled sadly as she continued to stare helplessly up at the locked basement door.

  At least she’d stopped mumbling, “I really hate my life,” Cole thought since it had been a bit concerning for a little while there. God, he had to get out of here, he thought, biting back a sigh because the last thing that he needed right now was to be locked in a basement with Chloe Anderson, especially now that he knew that she wanted him.

  Not that he could blame her, Cole thought as he risked a glance to his right to find her staring helplessly up at the basement door. As flattered as he was that she wanted him, she just wasn’t his type, he thought, biting back a sigh as he ran his eyes over her, taking in her honey-gold blonde hair, her baby-blue eyes hidden behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, the way she worried her teeth over her bottom lip that looked soft, down to the baggy T-shirt and worn jeans that hinted at a figure and back again.

  She was definitely cute, but sadly, he just wasn’t into cute. Even if he was, he wouldn’t be interested in Chloe. She was quiet, barely said a word in class, always had her nose in a book, and definitely was not his type, which brought him back to the real reason that he came here today.

  He should probably get this over with.

  With that in mind, Cole slowly exhaled as he tried to think of a way to break this to her gently only to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to do this without breaking her heart. Really hoping that she didn’t cry, he opened his mouth and–

  “Do you have your phone with you?” Chloe asked, not bothering to take her gaze off the basement door.

  “No,” Cole quickly said, clearing his throat as he discreetly reached down and made sure that his phone wasn’t sticking out of his pocket, because the last thing that he needed was for his family to find out that the little demon trapped him in a basement with Chloe.

  He would never live it down.

  Sighing heavily, Chloe turned her attention to the large basement that they were currently trapped in with a muttered, “There has to be a way out of here.”

  There wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to say anything, mostly because he was debating whether he should wait until they were out of here before he said anything to her. If Cole waited, then he probably wouldn’t have to worry about seeing her cry since he would be able to leave, but…

  This was going to be hard enough for her to hear. He didn’t want to do this in front of anyone and make this more difficult than it needed to be. It would just be easier to get this over with now. God, he wished that he didn’t have to do this, but what choice did he have? The longer that he let this go on, the worse it was going to be for her.

  Telling himself that he was doing the right thing, Cole said, “Chloe, we have to talk.”

  “No, we don’t. She’s my sister, which means that I’m the one that gets to beat her,” Chloe said as she stood up and after a heavy sigh, moved to go up the stairs only to go still when he said, “I’m not interested in you.”

  For a moment, she simply stood there with her back to him and then slowly, oh so freaking slowly, she turned around and said, “What?” looking truly confused.

  Biting back a sigh because this wasn’t going the way that he’d hoped, Cole said, “I’m just not into you, Chloe. I’m sorry.”

  Blinking, she said, “Why exactly are you telling me this?”

  “Because I don’t want you to get your hopes up,” Cole said with a sympathetic shake of his head as he added another, “Sorry,” because he really didn’t know what else to sa
y.

  “Hold on,” Chloe said, raising her hand to stop him. “You actually think that I like you?”

  When he shrugged, she slowly shook her head with a mumbled, “Unbelievable,” as she turned back around and headed up the stairs, leaving him sitting there wondering if that was it?

  That was…

  Easier than he’d thought, Cole mused, sighing in relief only to frown when Chloe calmly said, “Katie, if you open this door right now, I’ll let you throw the expired eggs that I tossed in the trashcan last night at Cole and I’ll even tell Uncle Nick that I’m the one that did it if he finds out.”

  Frowning, Cole heard the telltale click of a lock seconds before the basement door was opened and–

  “Thank you,” Chloe murmured quietly as she stepped into the kitchen as Cole got to his feet and–

  “Damn it!” he snapped when the first egg slammed into him. By the time the second egg hit, he was trying not to gag as the scent of rotten eggs hit him. By the third egg, he was making his way up the stairs, cursing Chloe to hell and back and by the time he made it to the kitchen, he was ready to kill someone.

  Chapter 17

  “Oh, that can’t be good,” Sebastian said, taking in the empty chair where he’d left Mikey before shifting his attention to the rest of the backyard, noting that none of his brothers or cousins were back here and…

  Definitely couldn’t be good.

  Trying not to panic, and it was always difficult not to panic when Mikey was involved, Sebastian grabbed her abandoned book and shoved it in his sweatshirt before he headed back inside the house, hoping that he’d somehow missed them when he came out. After a quick search of the kitchen, the living room, and his cousins’ bedrooms, he was biting back a curse as he walked out the front door, praying that he was wrong as he headed toward the park.

  When he heard the collective groans a few minutes later, he bit back a curse and moved his ass faster. He cut through the playground and the basketball courts and–

  “Damn it!” Braxton gasped in pain as he shoved his baseball glove off so that he could hug his hand, which was already turning an interesting shade of red, against his chest.