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

by R. L. Mathewson

*-*-*-*

  “Tell me that she didn’t really just hide in the pantry,” Uncle Reese said, sighing heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck while he shifted his attention from the closed pantry door to Sebastian.

  “She has problems,” Sebastian said, stepping out of the way as Aunt Kasey took over the mess that he was making.

  “She really does,” Aunt Kasey said as Sebastian’s attention shifted to his parents, who didn’t really look all that surprised to find him here. And who also didn’t look like they’d gone to bed yet, making him wonder what they were doing here.

  “I assume that you have a good reason for being here this late at night,” Uncle Reese said, dropping down on Mikey’s recently vacated seat.

  “You would assume wrong,” Sebastian said only to glare when the little brat said, “We really do!” from the safety of the pantry.

  “And I can’t wait to hear it,” Aunt Kasey said with a warm smile as she gestured to the cabinets. “Can you grab a frying pan for me, sweetie?”

  Sending one last glare at the pantry door, Sebastian grabbed a large frying pan out of the cabinets for Aunt Kasey as his parents joined Uncle Reese and sat down at the kitchen island. While they waited for an answer, they helped themselves to the platter of chocolate chip cookies that Aunt Kasey kept filled for moments like this.

  All of them looking at him expectantly.

  Before he could open his mouth, the little traitor said, “You might as well tell them! They’re going to find out sooner or later!”

  “We really will,” his father said while his mother, who was frowning down at the cookie in her hand, said, “My chocolate chip cookies never come out looking like this.”

  “How do they usually come out?” Uncle Reese asked as he reached over and plucked the cookie out of her hand and popped it in his mouth.

  “Greener,” she mumbled sadly.

  “We’ll work on that,” Aunt Kasey, who’d been trying to teach his mother how to cook for the past two years, promised with a warm smile as she finished chopping the pot roast and vegetables and placed everything in the frying pan.

  “You people need to focus!” came the demand from the pantry that had Sebastian once again glaring.

  “What exactly are we going to find out, sooner or later?” his father asked, helping himself to another cookie as he waited for Sebastian to start talking.

  Realizing that he didn’t really have a choice anyway, Sebastian opened his mouth only to once again glare when Mikey said, “We’re filling out applications!”

  Really wondering why her parents didn’t beat her, he said, “We’re applying to private high schools.”

  The stunned silence that followed had him biting back a sigh. This was one of the reasons that he didn’t want to tell his family. Besides the fact that they were going to ask questions that he really didn’t want to answer.

  “You’re applying to high schools?” his mother asked with a hopeful smile.

  He opened his mouth and–

  “We’re applying to private high schools because the public school won’t let him in!”

  Narrowing his eyes, Sebastian stalked over to the pantry, threw the door open, and–

  “Uh-oh,” Mikey mumbled when he reached inside and grabbed her.

  “Be careful! I’m precious, damn it!” the little traitor said as Sebastian threw her over his shoulder and carried her back into the kitchen.

  “No, you’re spoiled,” Sebastian said as he shrugged her off his shoulder and dropped her on Uncle Reese’s lap.

  “I prefer appropriately adored,” Mikey said with a firm nod as she shifted to get more comfortable.

  “You really are,” Uncle Reese said, wrapping his arm around her to stop her from falling over as he grabbed another cookie, which Mikey immediately helped herself to.

  Nodding, Mikey said, “I know,” as she gestured with the cookie in her hand for Sebastian to continue.

  Taking a deep breath, Sebastian said, “I want to go back to school.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” his mother asked, looking really relieved while his dad…

  “What happened with the public high school?”

  “They told him that he can’t go because of his expulsion and if he wanted to go that he had to do the virtual option,” Mikey said, shrugging it off as she nibbled on her cookie.

  “You have a big mouth,” Sebastian snapped as he snatched the cookie out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth.

  Shrugging, Mikey said, “I know.”

  “Why are you applying, Mikey? I thought you were looking forward to playing for the Warriors?” Aunt Kasey asked, sounding curious.

  Panic took over Mikey’s expression as she shot him a helpless look, making him damn near roll his eyes because she should know that he would never do anything to hurt her.

  Revenge?

  Absolutely.

  But he would never do anything to hurt her and she knew it.

  “She’s hoping to get on a team in a better division,” Sebastian said with a look that told Mikey that she owed him.

  Nodding quickly, Mikey said, “I really am, which is why we’re going to need you to sign a few things so that we can apply.”

  “That doesn’t explain what Sebastian is doing here or why you’re both up at one in the morning,” Uncle Reese drawled, leveling a look on Sebastian that had him trying not to wince.

  “It really does though,” Mikey said, finishing off the last bite of her cookie.

  “How’s that?” Aunt Kasey asked as she started scooping the homemade hash onto plates.

  “Because I made him,” Mikey said with a firm nod as she gestured for his father to hand her another cookie.

  Sighing heavily, Sebastian gave a sad shake of his head as he said, “I really didn’t have much of a choice.”

  “Not unless he wanted another beating,” Mikey said, looking thoughtful as she nibbled on her cookie.

  “And I really didn’t want that,” Sebastian said, nodding.

  “Not after the last time,” Mikey added with a shuddering sigh as he reached over and plucked the cookie out of her hand.

  “I can see why that would be an issue,” his mother said, nodding in agreement as she gestured toward the kitchen door. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get the applications so that we can see what we have to work with.”

  And with that…something inside Sebastian finally relaxed.

  Chapter 24

  She could do this, Mikey repeated the mantra that had been helping her get through the past week without losing it.

  Well, that and she was in denial, which had worked for her up until a few minutes ago when she heard the announcement that Coach Dilmore was posting the team roster today. Now she was back to telling herself that it didn’t matter what position she played as long as she got on the team. All that mattered was that she got her foot in the door so that she could prove just how good she was so that the coach didn’t have any other choice but to give her a chance.

  She would hate not being able to pitch, but she would be fine with it. She would, Mikey told herself as she watched Coach Dilmore walk into the foyer and head for the announcement board. She watched helplessly as he took his time pinning a white piece of paper to the board.

  Once he was done, he walked away as she stood there, taking a deep breath and telling herself that everything was going to be fine. This would all work out for the best.

  It would.

  She just needed to remember that this was for the best. She could handle right field. She could do it, because this was just a temporary setback. Her mind latched on to that one word.

  Temporary.

  Because that’s what this was, temporary. Things would work out for the best. They always did, Mikey told herself that this was no big deal. It wasn’t. But no matter how many times she told herself that she still couldn’t seem to make herself move closer to that board.

  “This is ridiculous,” Mikey told herself, hoping that it would be enou
gh to get her to move.

  It wasn’t.

  Long after everyone else had left for the day, Mikey stood there, staring at the board as she repeated all the mantras and lies that she’d told herself over this past week, hoping that it would be enough and…

  Found herself moving closer to the announcement board.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Mikey told herself with a firm nod, because right field wasn’t the end of the world.

  It was still a spot on the team, Mikey reminded herself with a nod only to find herself shaking her head somewhat frantically because it wasn’t going to be okay. She really didn’t want to play right field and no matter what she told herself it wouldn’t be okay.

  Praying that this had all been a bad dream and that the coach had changed his mind, Mikey forced herself to walk up to that board and look for her name. Taking a deep breath, Mikey slowly exhaled as she searched for her name and when she finally found it, she…forgot how to breathe when she spotted the two words typed in black across from her name.

  Right field.

  *-*-*-*

  What the hell was wrong with him? Cole couldn’t help but wonder as he once again found himself thinking about what Chloe said to him. Over the past week, he’d considered asking his friends about what she’d said but…

  He didn’t care.

  At least, that’s what he told himself but that didn’t explain why he suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about her. For the past four years, he’d barely noticed her and now, he found himself watching her whenever she was around, waiting by his locker just for a chance to see her, and taking the long way home just so that he could make sure that she got home safely all while telling himself that she was wrong. But…

  He couldn’t.

  Over the past week he’d noticed how other kids treated her, the way they ignored her, taunted her, and seemed to go out of their way to make her life miserable and Chloe let them. He didn’t know why that pissed him off, but it did. He watched as she sat by herself at lunch, pretending that she couldn’t hear the assholes at the other tables talking about her. He watched as she stood by her locker, pretending that she was looking for something so that she could wait until the last possible second before she had to go to class. He watched other students go out of their way to make her life miserable, and he wasn’t sure who he was more pissed at, Chloe for letting it happen or at himself for not noticing sooner.

  As much as he would love to be able to say that it wasn’t his problem, he couldn’t do that. Not when he knew that Chloe was putting up with this bullshit every day. So, he’d started sitting at her table, glaring at whatever asshole ran his mouth until he shut up and left her alone. He made sure that she didn’t have to walk to class by herself. He sat next to her in class to make sure that she didn’t have to worry about some jerk throwing a pencil at her when the teacher wasn’t looking, and he made sure that he was there to–

  “Stop it,” Chloe said quietly as she glanced up from her locker to look at him.

  “Stop what?” Cole asked as he finished shoving the books that he wasn’t going to need tonight in his locker.

  “Whatever you think you’re doing, just please stop. You’re making it worse,” Chloe said with a resigned sigh as she closed her locker and headed for the front doors only to add, “Please,” as she walked past him.

  For a moment, he considered letting her go, but…he couldn’t do that. Wondering why he was really doing this, Cole shut his locker and quickly caught up to her.

  “How could I possibly make this worse?” he asked, because he honestly couldn’t imagine her life getting worse than this.

  “Look,” Chloe said, stepping off to the side so that she could talk to him, “I appreciate what you’re doing, I really do, but I can handle this on my own.”

  “Really?” Cole asked as he folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall while he considered her.

  “Yes,” she said, reaching up to push her glasses back up her nose.

  “How?” he asked, because from what he’d seen she hadn’t done anything to stop this.

  “By ignoring them,” Chloe said, sighing as she headed for the door, leaving him standing there, shaking his head, because she couldn’t be serious.

  “You really think that ignoring them is going to make this go away?” Cole asked when he caught up with her again.

  “No, but most of them lose interest and–”

  “You said most of them. What happens with the ones that don’t lose interest?” he asked, watching the way that she opened her mouth to say something only to close it and quicken her step, probably hoping that he would just drop it and leave her alone.

  “Tell me what happens when they don’t lose interest,” Cole said, because he could only imagine what a bunch of spoiled rich kids could do to her to pass the time.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Chloe said, softly sighing as they walked outside and made their way to the sidewalk.

  “Then you should have no problem telling me,” he said, reaching up to pull his tie loose when she stopped again.

  “Look, I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to help, but honestly, I don’t need it. I was doing just fine on my own. Okay?” Chloe said as she gave him what she probably thought was a reassuring smile before nodding as she turned to walk away.

  “Then why are you taking the long way home?” he asked, moving to catch up with her again.

  “Because you take the short way home,” Chloe said absently with a wince as she adjusted the large bag over her shoulders that was clearly too heavy for her.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Cole asked as he moved to follow her down Pine Hill Road.

  “Everything,” she said as though that was supposed to explain everything.

  It didn’t.

  What it did was make him pluck the bag off her shoulder and throw it over his. When she went to take it back from him, he shifted it to his other arm and said, “Explain.”

  “Have you always been this annoying?” Chloe asked, reaching over to grab the bag only to sigh when he stepped out of her reach.

  “Yes,” Cole said, making her lips twitch despite the fact that she looked like she wanted to throttle him. Since he was used to that look, he didn’t take it personally.

  “Look, your dad is the most popular teacher in school and from what I’ve heard, your mom was too. You’re the captain of the JV football team, you’re popular, good looking, and everyone loves you,” she explained with a sad shake of her head, leaving him even more confused than he was before.

  “And…” Cole said, letting that one word trail off, wondering if she was going somewhere with this.

  “And I’m not. I’m a nerd, possibly a dork, I’m not really sure at the moment. I’m also a scholarship student who needs to get good grades to keep my spot, which means that I have to work my butt off. I’m not rich, I don’t fit in, and I’m probably never going to, and I’m okay with that.”

  “You’re not making any sense. I’m not rich,” he pointed out.

  “No, but you fit in, which means that when you suddenly take notice of me that other kids do as well. They’re watching me more, noticing just how much I don’t fit in and when you’re not around–”

  “It’s worse,” Cole said, finishing for her on a heavy sigh.

  Nodding, Chloe said, “They don’t just pick on me anymore because I’m a nerd or because I’m poor and my parents are dead. Now they’re speculating why Cole Bradford has suddenly noticed that I’m alive, and honestly, I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

  “What are they saying?” Cole asked her as she reached up and grabbed her bag off his shoulder.

  With a pitying look, Chloe said, “What do you think?” as she walked away and this time, he let her.

  Chapter

  25

  “She doesn’t look so good,” came the softly mumbled words that Sebastian barely heard as he took in Mikey, slumped over a park bench, qu
ietly mumbling to herself as she stared ahead, looking shell-shocked and adorably pathetic. Not really sure what was going on, Sebastian glanced down at the arm hanging over the side with what looked like a crumpled piece of paper held tightly in her hand before glancing up at his siblings and cousins as they all stood around her, sending her pitying looks.

  “What happened?” Sebastian asked when it became obvious that no one was going to jump at the chance to tell him.

  With a sigh, his cousin Joshua reached down and gently pried the paper out of Mikey’s hand while she mumbled sadly, “I’m a pitcher,” and handed it to him. Frowning, Sebastian smoothed the paper open and ran his gaze over what looked like the baseball team roster only to curse when he saw it.

  Right field.

  Biting back a sigh, Sebastian glanced back at the top of the list to find three names with “Pitcher” after their names, noting that all three of them ended with Dilmore. He crushed the paper in his hand and tossed it in the trash can. He couldn’t believe the coach actually went through with it. It was a dumb move, but something that they’d have to worry about later.

  “Are you okay?” Sebastian asked softly as he knelt down next to the bench.

  “I’m a pitcher,” came the mumbled response.

  “I know you are,” Sebastian said, taking her limp hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze.

  “I hate right field.”

  “I know you do.”

  “I hate my new coach,” Mikey said with a sniffle and a nod.

  “I do, too,” he admitted on a sigh.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” she mumbled weakly.

  “Yes, you can.”

  “I really can’t.”

  “It’s just for a few months, Mikey. Just to get your foot in the door and to keep your skills fresh. Once we get you into a new school with a new coach, you’ll be back on the pitcher’s mound,” he promised her, hoping that it would be enough.

  There was a slight pause, giving him hope and then, “I just want to lay here and feel sorry for myself,” Mikey mumbled with another sniffle as she turned her head so she could stare at an old oak tree.