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

by R. L. Mathewson

  Not after what happened last year.

  At first, it hadn’t been bad. They’d set up their sleeping bags, discussed which of the boys they were going to shove into the pond, she’d voted for Jonathan, and settled in to play a game of Monopoly. It wasn’t too long after that, that the camping trip turned into a nightmare and she found herself sitting there, praying that they stopped talking about boybands, actors they wanted to marry, makeup, and a million other things that she really didn’t care about. That was followed by an impromptu karaoke rendition of all of Justin Bieber’s greatest hits and Mikey praying for a bear to tear through the tent and put her out of her misery.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

  What did happen was her cousins kept revisiting the earlier topic of conversation, boybands, and further discussing the likelihood of meeting them and that somehow led to a conversation about which one they could see themselves marrying. When they asked Mikey which boyband member she wanted to marry, she’d stared at them until they moved on. For seven hours, yes, seven hours, they’d giggled, whispered, and gasped as they talked about all those things that Mikey couldn’t care less about.

  After the first night, she’d figured that they got it out of their system and they would move onto something else the next night. She’d been wrong. Very, very wrong. Apparently, Elizabeth and Jessica were very passionate about boybands and had the teen magazines to back it up. So, while Mikey had been forced to lay there, staring up at the tent ceiling, her cousins had debated the pros and cons of marrying someone from the latest boyband or Theo James.

  Once they came to a decision, Theo James, Mikey had hoped the nightmare would end. It didn’t. No, what it did was progress on to other topics that had Mikey wishing that her parents came so that she could crash with them in their tent instead, but since her mom had just given birth to the second set of twins two months earlier, they hadn’t been able to come. That left Mikey with nowhere else to go.

  When the conversation moved on to which of the boys at their school they thought were cute, Mikey tried to change the subject only to somehow make things worse. The girls had decided to find out which one of their brothers and cousins Mikey thought was the cutest since she wasn’t biologically related to any of them. When she’d told them in the driest voice possible that her baby brothers were the cutest Bradfords, they’d quickly agreed before asking her who she thought the second cutest Bradford was.

  That’s when she gave up.

  That’s also when she realized that she couldn’t put herself through that again, not if she wanted to maintain a hold on her sanity. Mikey swore she wouldn’t go this year and had planned to come up with a good excuse to stay home only she’d forgotten all about it with everything going on with school, baseball, and–

  Baseball!

  Clearing her throat, Mikey shifted in her seat, doing her best to look disappointed as she said, “I can’t go next week. I’ve got practice and three games.”

  Not that she was looking forward to warming the bench, but anything, and she really did mean anything, was better than sharing a tent with Elizabeth and Jessica. In fact, she was more than willing to see if she could schedule her annual dental exam next week if that’s what it took.

  “Your parents already said you were going,” Uncle Trevor said, shrugging it off as he looked from her empty plate to his with a disappointed sigh. “God, I’m starving.”

  “But they’re not going!” she pointed out, somewhat hysterically.

  “Which is why they want to make sure that you go. They don’t want you to miss out on spending time with the family because of the boys,” Uncle Trevor said as he signaled for the waitress.

  “But, baseball…” Mikey mumbled weakly, knowing that it was pointless to argue at this point knowing how her mom felt about family.

  Up until three years ago, their extended family had consisted of Uncle Eric, her biological father’s little brother, and Aunt Sarah, her mom’s best friend, and that was it. She grew up without any cousins to play with, grandparents to spoil her, or a large array of aunts and uncles to torment, so her mom was trying to make it up to her by making sure that she got to spend time with Reese’s family.

  “Your coach will understand,” Uncle Trevor said, but something, mostly the fact that her coach seemed to really hate her, told her that this wasn’t going to end well.

  Chapter 32

  “Now, let’s see if we can come up with a solution that works for everyone,” Principal Miller said with a polite smile as the school lawyer and the Superintendent finished reading through Sebastian’s school records.

  “I’m assuming that the school has a solution that they’d like to suggest,” Uncle Garret said, looking calm while Sebastian sat there, slowly exhaling as he told himself that this was going to work out because if it didn’t…

  He was never going to listen to anything Mikey said ever again.

  “We believe that the best solution to this situation would be to have Sebastian attend high school through our virtual program,” Principal Miller said as the school’s lawyer handed them each a packet on the virtual school program.

  “And we believe that the best solution would be to allow Sebastian to enroll in the high school and give him a second chance,” Uncle Garret smoothly replied.

  “Sebastian has already had several chances over the years to rectify his behavior only to end up abusing those opportunities,” Principal Miller pointed out as he opened Sebastian’s file. “In elementary school alone, Sebastian had an extensive history of behavioral issues from disrupting class, property damage, skipping school, fights, bringing animals into school, detentions, suspensions, and on one occasion, he even locked his teacher in a closet with a large snake. To be honest, your son should have been expelled a long time ago.”

  “Since we’re bringing up his elementary school records, why don’t we discuss his grades?” Uncle Garret suggested, pulling out a small stack of folders and handed them out. “Even with all those behavioral issues and missed school, Sebastian was able to maintain his grades and even set several academic records. Before his expulsion, Sebastian had skipped several grades and was placed in middle school–”

  “Where he hacked into the computer system, tore through the firewall, made changes to his schedule, destroyed a science lab causing over ten thousand dollars’ worth of damage, and got into a screaming match with several teachers in the cafeteria, and that was all on his first day,” Principal Miller said, interrupting him.

  “Sebastian has already accepted responsibility for those issues and as for the last, I believe he was coming to the defense of several students that the school decided to make an example of because they didn’t have lunch money and chose to publicly humiliate them instead of showing them compassion.”

  “We’re not here to discuss school policy,” the Superintendent cut in.

  “That’s exactly why we’re here. You’re refusing to allow Sebastian the right to a full education based on school policy,” Uncle Garret pointed out.

  “And virtual school will allow Sebastian to do that,” the principal said firmly.

  “It’s not the same,” Sebastian’s mother said. “Sebastian has more than paid for his mistakes and he’s learned from them. He’s not the same kid anymore and he deserves another chance.”

  “And the other students deserve an education without having to worry about your son’s disruptive behavior interfering with that,” the Superintendent pointed out while Sebastian sat there, admitting to himself that this wasn’t going well.

  “He’s not going to cause any problems,” his father said.

  “You can’t guarantee that,” Principal Miller pointed out.

  “But I can,” Sebastian said before his mother could answer. “I’m not going to cause any problems. I just want to go back to school. I understand your concerns, believe me, I do, but I’m not going to do anything that will jeopardize this.”

  Before the other side could argue, Uncle G
arret was taking over. “The problem is, the school failed to provide Sebastian with access to the programs that he qualified for. Several times over the years, Sebastian was tested and each time his scores indicated that he should have been placed in the gifted program. Instead, they left him in a regular classroom where he went unchallenged. He grew bored and unfortunately for Sebastian, he got himself into trouble. That won’t be the case now. With honors and A.P. courses available, Sebastian will have something to keep him challenged and out of trouble.”

  “He can do those courses online.”

  “Yes, he can, but he’s not going to,” Uncle Garret said smoothly. Without taking his eyes off the principal, he said, “Why don’t you wait outside, Sebastian, while we talk to your principal.”

  Even though leaving was the last thing that he wanted to do, Sebastian knew that staying wasn’t an option, not if he wanted to prove that he’d changed. With a reluctant nod, he forced himself to leave. A minute later, he dropped down onto one of the hard-plastic chairs in the front office and tried not to think about what was going on behind that closed door.

  When sitting there became too much, he headed outside, hoping some fresh air would help calm his nerves. To be honest, he really didn’t want to go to this school, but he knew that he didn’t have a choice. Never had. If a public school was fighting them this hard to keep him out, then he didn’t have a chance in hell of getting into one of the private schools.

  Granted, he’d known from the beginning that he wasn’t going to get into any of the private schools, but then again, getting in had never been the point. He wanted to give Mikey a chance and he knew that the stubborn pain in the ass would never have applied unless he did. He was going to do everything he could to make sure that she got into one of those schools. He just wanted her to be happy.

  She deserved to be happy.

  And he deserved…

  Everything that he was getting, Sebastian reminded himself, slowly exhaling as he glanced back at the school. God, he hoped they let him back in. If they didn’t, and they probably wouldn’t, then he was going to go through with his original plan. He knew that Mikey would be pissed, but he couldn’t do this anymore. With his history, there weren’t many options left for him.

  His best bet was to get his GED, beg Uncle Jared for a job and take classes at the community college, and maybe after a year, he would be able to transfer to–

  “You’re on probation,” came the announcement that had him looking back to find his mother smiling.

  “What?” Sebastian asked as he glanced at his father to find him looking relieved.

  “You’re on probation. They’re going to let you enroll with the understanding that if you screw this up in any way that you’ll–”

  “I won’t screw this up,” Sebastian said, smiling as he pulled his mother into a hug. “I promise.”

  *-*-*-*

  “Well, this is fun,” Mikey said as she watched her team get beaten for the fifteenth time in a row from the comfort of her bench.

  It seemed that she wasn’t the only one who’d figured out that the coach’s son and nephews were telegraphing their pitches. Every team they’d come against had figured it out, which was probably why her team kept losing. The only one who hadn’t figured it out was the coach. She’d considered telling him, but he’d probably just make her run laps, again.

  Every time she made the mistake of asking him a question, he made her run laps. It didn’t matter if she asked him if he wanted her to play today or if she asked him for a copy of the team schedule so that she wouldn’t miss practice, he made her run and when he wasn’t doing that, he made her sit on the bench. Every day she came to practice, ran drills with the rest of the team, got to warm up with the team and then, it was time for her to sit on the bench and wait for everyone to leave.

  Once she’d made sure that everyone was gone, she snuck into the athletic shed, and dragged out one of the football team’s tackling dummies and set it at home plate, grabbed five buckets of old baseballs, and stepped onto the pitcher’s mound, and threw every damn ball as hard as she could until the last bucket was empty. Then, she collected all the balls and did it all over again, and again until the streetlights came on and it was time to go home. She made sure that she worked twice as hard as everyone else on the team, so that she didn’t blow it when she finally got her chance to pitch.

  Which wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon, Mikey thought, forcing her hands to clap when the game was called in favor of the other team. She watched as her teammates shook hands with the other team while Coach Dilmore congratulated the other coach and–

  Maybe this was a bad idea, Mikey told herself as she watched the coach head her way to grab his stuff. Definitely a bad idea, she told herself when she saw the look on his face. Perhaps, she should let him know that she had to leave town tomorrow through a politely worded email?

  When he absently muttered, “Good game, Campbell,” to her as he grabbed his stuff, she decided that he didn’t deserve a politely worded email.

  “Coach Dilmore?” Mikey said after a slight hesitation because she honestly wasn’t in the mood to run any more laps. The twenty that he had her run before the game had been enough.

  “What is it, Campbell?” he asked, not bothering to look at her as he shoved his iPad in his bag.

  Clearing her throat, she somehow managed to force the words out. “I won’t be at practice this week. I found out yesterday that my family is going camping and I can’t get out of it.”

  “How long?” he asked, still not looking at her as he grabbed the rest of his stuff.

  “From Saturday until next weekend.”

  “You’re going to miss three games,” Coach Dilmore said, finally glancing at her.

  “Unfortunately,” she said with a helpless shrug.

  “Well, I don’t see a problem with it. Have a good trip, Campbell,” he said, taking her by surprise.

  “Thank you,” Mikey mumbled absently, unable to help but frown as she watched him leave.

  That was it?

  Seriously? Well, that hadn’t been so bad, Mikey thought as she watched everyone else start packing up. When the last straggler left a half hour later, she made her way to the athletic shed and set to work.

  Chapter 33

  “Are you ever going to tell me what you did to piss him off?” Jonathan asked as they watched Braxton through the opening in their tent.

  “I have no idea,” Sebastian said, shrugging it off as he shifted his attention from Braxton, who had been glaring at everyone since his father dropped him off at their house this morning, back to the book that he was reading on his iPad.

  “And you don’t care,” Jonathan guessed, not really sounding like he cared either.

  “Who are you guys talking about?” Cole asked from the other side of the large tent that he’d claimed for himself. Normally they were forced to share the tent with their little brothers, but since Braxton decided to join them, Sebastian’s father had given Mathew and Joshua their own tent, most likely so that they wouldn’t overwhelm Braxton. Whatever the reason, Sebastian was thankful that he didn’t have to deal with his little brother and cousin bugging the crap out of him all night.

  “Your favorite cousin,” Jonathan drawled as he gestured toward Braxton who was sitting by the fire, glaring at whatever had pissed him off now.

  “I have no idea why he came. He never talks to any of us. He just sits off to the side, glaring until it’s time for his father or grandfather to pick him up. That’s usually followed by glaring while they do their best to kiss Grandma’s ass,” Cole said, shaking his head in disgust as he watched his cousin.

  “He doesn’t always glare, sometimes he just stares at Mikey,” Jonathan said, drawing Sebastian’s attention to find his brother watching him with an anticipatory gleam in his eye.

  “True,” Cole murmured in agreement while Sebastian sat there debating throwing his iPad at his brother’s head.

  “Of course, the quest
ion is, does Mikey stare back?” Jonathan asked right around the time that Sebastian decided it would be more satisfying to use his hands to slap that smirk off his brother’s face.

  Decision made, Sebastian tossed his iPad on his sleeping bag and–

  “What are you talking about?” Braxton asked as he walked into the tent that he hadn’t been happy to find out that he was sharing with them and dropped down on the sleeping bag that he’d been forced to borrow from one of their uncles after learning that they were planning on sleeping on the ground instead of staying in a private cabin like he was used to.

  “Girls,” Jonathan smoothly answered.

  “What about them?” Braxton asked, sounding bored as he grabbed an iPad out of his bag.

  “We were just discussing which one has caught our attention. I, of course, have professed my undying love for Mikey,” Jonathan said, shooting Sebastian a wink that was going to get him killed. “Cole has finally confessed his love for the girl next door and Sebastian was just going to tell us who has caught his eye.”

  “I’m going to kill you,” Sebastian and Cole said in unison as they both moved to do just that when Braxton’s next words brought them up short.

  “Isn’t Mikey your cousin?”

  With an impatient gesture and a heavy sigh, Jonathan said, “Her mother married our father’s cousin. We’re not related. I’m going to need you to keep up here.”

  “Wait. Reese is your father’s cousin? Then why do you call him Uncle Reese?” Braxton asked, frowning.

  “Because we like to confuse people. Now, focus,” Jonathan said as he focused his attention back on Sebastian and gestured for him to get on with it.

  When Sebastian sat there, glaring at his brother, Jonathan added, “We could always guess.”