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

by R. L. Mathewson

  For the last three years, she’d waited for a chance to try out for the eighth-grade baseball team, biding her time on the travel teams, practicing every chance that she got just so that she would be ready because this was the year that everything changed. It didn’t matter how many perfect games she’d pitched before, how many players that she’d managed to strike out, or how many homeruns she’d managed to score because none of that mattered anymore.

  The only thing that mattered was getting on the team and securing the starting pitcher position and keeping it. Next year, there was going to be a lot of competition and she planned on doing whatever it took to make sure there was a spot on the team for her. Getting on the team this year would go a long way to helping her make the freshmen team next year. If she didn’t get on the team this year…

  God, she didn’t even want to think about that.

  Looking thoughtful, Mr. Rose nodded as he murmured, “That should give you three days then.”

  “For what?”

  “To see how fast you can read that book and do your book report over again if you want to play baseball this year,” he said, making her wince as he handed her book report back to her.

  “Very quickly,” Mikey promised as she gestured toward the door with the thick book that she had no chance in hell of finishing in three days. “I’m going to get started right now.”

  “That’s probably for the best,” Mr. Rose murmured in agreement as Mikey headed for the door, wondering how she was going to pull this one off.

  She could see if they’d made a movie based on the book, but since that hadn’t ended well for her the last time, mostly because she fell asleep before the end and decided to just wing it when it came time to write the book report, she would probably be better off skipping that option. That meant reading the book, Mikey realized as she opened the book to the back page and

  Groaned.

  Six hundred and forty pages? Oh, there was no way in hell that she was going to be able to pull that off, Mikey realized as she shoved the book into her backpack along with the book report that she’d been hoping would be enough to raise her grade. She reached inside the pocket of her hoodie, needing the familiar weight of her baseball only to remember that she wasn’t allowed to have it in school and sighed heavily as she dropped her hand away.

  Maybe she was going about this all wrong, Mikey wondered a few minutes later as she grabbed a plastic lunch tray and stepped in line. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, she thought as she ordered a double-lunch and took her time choosing a particularly yummy looking cup of chocolate pudding with extra whipped cream and paid for her lunch before heading toward an empty table in the back.

  It was just a book report, Mikey told herself as she placed her tray down, dropped her bag on the floor and sat down with a nod because she could do this. If she started reading the book as soon as she got home, stayed up all night and spent every waking minute for the next two days reading, then she should be able to pull it off. This could definitely work, Mikey thought, nodding only to end up groaning as she dropped her head in her hands because she definitely wasn’t going to be able to pull this one off in time.

  “What are you doing?” came the murmured question that had her dropping her hands away to find Sebastian helping himself to the hamburger that she bought for him as he dropped down in the seat across from her.

  “Wallowing in self-pity,” Mikey said as she grabbed a tater tot and popped it in her mouth.

  Nodding, Sebastian said, “And you’re really good at it.”

  “I know,” Mikey said absently as she glanced around the busy cafeteria, making sure that none of the teachers had noticed Sebastian’s presence even as she couldn’t help but wonder how he kept managing to sneak in here without getting caught.

  “Why are we wallowing?” Sebastian asked, popping another tater tot in his mouth as he leaned over and picked her backpack up off the floor.

  “Because it brings me joy,” she said, grabbing one of the chocolate milks off the tray and took a sip as Sebastian searched through her bag to see if she had any new books to read. When he came across the book that she was supposed to read for class, he said, “The Count of Monte Cristo? I’ve already read this book,” with a disappointed sigh.

  “Figures,” Mikey said with a pathetic groan as she watched Sebastian shift his attention to her book report.

  “What’s this?” he asked, frowning down at her paper.

  “My book report,” she said, switching her attention to her burger.

  Blinking, Sebastian looked back down at the paper in his hands and–

  “No, seriously. What is this?” he asked, making her eyes narrow on him as she reached over and snatched the paper that she’d really rather not discuss out of his hands and decided that a change in topic was in order.

  “How was therapy?” she asked, watching as he ran a hand through his messy short dark-brown hair that somedays looked black, today being one of those days.

  She liked his hair, but she liked his eyes even more. They were the bluest eyes that she’d ever seen. They were also the first thing that she’d noticed about him. The second? That he was too damn serious for a kid their age. While the rest of the kids in his family had been playing football, running around on the beach, and playing tag, he’d had his face buried in a book, ignoring the world around him.

  The few times that he’d spoken to her, he’d been quiet, greeted her with a polite smile, asked her a few questions about baseball and then…

  He’d have another book in his hands and the world around him was once again forgotten. She’d shrugged it off, figuring that he wasn’t really interested in talking to her, which was why he’d taken her by surprise when he’d decided to go with her when she got stuck going with her mom and Reese on an errand to pick up tools for the renovation on their house. Not that driving two hours to pick up tools was her idea of a good time, but it had either been that or spending the day with her Uncle Eric at his office, helping sort through IRS forms.

  That had led to her sneaking over to the cottage Reese’s family was renting for the summer, deciding that it would be in her best interest to bring someone with her to make it harder for her mom to change her mind and make her go with her uncle. With that in mind, she’d quickly decided to drag one of the boys with her since the girls hadn’t seemed all that interested in baseball.

  She’d quickly decided against bringing Sebastian with her because he was too damn serious and had settled on his brother Jonathan only to find herself dragged out of the room by Sebastian, who’d decided that he was going no matter what. That’s when she’d realized there was a lot more to Sebastian than she’d thought. He was smart, funny, and entertaining, which she’d appreciated since it made the trip more interesting.

  They’d hung out with his family, played Monopoly, watched movies, and had a sleepover at Reese’s parents’ house and then, the next morning when they got back to her house, it had been like none of it had ever happened. He’d gone back to his books and she’d been disappointed. She figured that he didn’t want to be friends with a girl, which sucked, but she’d been used to it by then. Most of the boys that she went to school with didn’t want to be friends with a girl, and the girls…

  Definitely didn’t want to be friends with a tomboy.

  After her mother married Reese, Mikey hadn’t really expected to see Sebastian that much other than at family gatherings, so it surprised her when she woke up one night to find Sebastian sitting on the bed next to her, reading a book. Before she’d had a chance to ask him what he was doing in her room at two in the morning, he’d shooshed her and told her that he was reading.

  That had been followed by him stealing her pillow, hogging the bed, and ignoring her while she’d laid there, contemplating shoving him off her bed. In the end, she’d shrugged it off and went back to sleep, too tired to really care. Since then, they’d become best friends, not that he really gave her a choice, Mikey thought, biting back a smile, that
is, until he reached over and stole her hamburger.

  Then, she settled on glaring at the boy that she couldn’t imagine her life without.

  Chapter 4

  “Therapy?” Mikey said as she reached over and stole her burger back.

  “What about it?” Sebastian asked, biting back a sigh as he contemplated buying another burger only to decide against it since it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught.

  “How was it?” Mikey asked, finishing off her burger before he had a chance to steal it again.

  “Life-altering,” he said dryly, stealing Mikey’s pudding as he watched her, taking in the way that her bright green eyes narrowed on him as she worried her plump bottom lip between her teeth, the way the stubborn curve of her small chin firmed in determination, and the Dutch braids she always wore her hair in, and

  God, she really was too damn adorable for words.

  Nodding, Mikey said, “I can tell,” making his lips twitch.

  “Are you going to tell me about that book report?” Sebastian asked, gesturing to the incoherent mess covered in red marker.

  “Are you ever going to tell me why you’re not in school?” she countered back, making him sigh.

  “Because I love homeschooling,” he said flatly.

  “And I totally believe you,” Mikey said, blinking.

  Narrowing his eyes on his best friend, he said, “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “I see,” she murmured, looking thoughtful. “And the fact that you got expelled from this school after only one day…”

  “Was unfortunate,” Sebastian said, reluctantly getting to his feet when the lunch bell rang, signaling the end to his daily reprieve from the boredom that was his life.

  There was a heavy sigh and then, “I’ll see you after school,” Mikey said as Sebastian grabbed their tray.

  “Maybe…” Sebastian said with a teasing smile that had her narrowing her beautiful green eyes on him.

  “Please don’t make me beat you up,” Mikey said, trying to look terrifying as she narrowed her eyes on him, but she was too damn adorable to pull it off.

  Still…

  “I’ll think about it,” Sebastian said, shooting her a wink as he headed to the trash barrels by the back wall and took care of their tray.

  After one last look at Mikey to find her pouting adorably, Sebastian made his way through the crowded cafeteria and headed toward the boys’ locker room. He waited by the door to make sure that the coast was clear before he headed inside and made his way straight to the back entrance to the gym and seconds later, was pushing open the heavy security door that the coach kept propped open during the day with an old orange traffic cone that had seen better days.

  He kept his head down as he made his way around the large brick building and cut through the staff parking lot. He headed to the bike rack where he’d left his bike. A few minutes later, Sebastian was contemplating a trip to the library only to remember that he’d promised his Aunt Haley that he’d stop by and grab the book that she wanted him to read.

  At least it would help kill some time before it was time to walk Mikey home, Sebastian decided as he got on his bike and headed to his aunt’s house. Ten minutes later, he was pulling into the empty driveway and

  “Please let this be over,” Sebastian said, letting his bike fall over so that he could grab his phone from his bag when a loud chime alerted him that he had an email even as he told himself not to get his hopes up, but god, did he need this to be over.

  He wasn’t sure that he could keep doing this.

  When he’d turned down the scholarship so that his brother could go to Radcliffe Academy, he’d told himself that something else would come along only it never did. For a while, his mother had doubled her efforts to try to find a school that would take him, but he’d ended up telling her that he didn’t want to go back to school just so she would stop worrying about him. He’d caused enough problems for her. He didn’t want her worrying about him. It had taken some time, but she’d eventually let it go.

  At least he didn’t have to do the packets that she downloaded anymore. As soon as Jonathan started at Radcliffe, his parents had purchased a set of matching books for Sebastian so that he could get the same education as his brother. The only difference was that none of his work would count, but he hadn’t cared. He’d needed something more than busywork to do so that he didn’t lose his damn mind. It had also made having to homeschool bearable.

  Well, that and Aunt Haley.

  When she went on maternity leave a year and a half ago, she’d taken over his education. Three times a week, he went to her house so that she could go over his work, suggest books that she thought he would enjoy, and helped him keep his damn sanity. If it hadn’t been for her, he wasn’t sure that he would have been able to handle being homeschooled for this long.

  Then again…

  He had a feeling that Mikey coming into his life had something to do with that.

  He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but she made everything better. When he was around her, he was able to forget how badly he’d screwed up his life and just breathe. She made him feel like everything was going to be okay and god, did he want to believe that was true.

  For the past three years, he’d been biding his time waiting until it was officially time for him to start high school so that he could fix this. Now that he was going into high school next year, he had a chance. The public middle schools had been able to refuse to let him attend because of the expulsion, but the high school…

  Couldn’t.

  They had to allow him access to a public education. He’d checked to make sure before he got his hopes up. The moment that registration opened for the incoming freshmen, he’d filled out the online forms, making sure that he hadn’t missed anything before hitting Send.

  For the past two weeks, he’d been waiting for the email that would make it official and now, he had to keep waiting a little longer, Sebastian realized, sighing heavily when he saw that it was a text message from his mother, reminding him that there was leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge for lunch.

  “Great,” Sebastian said, sighing softly as he slid his phone back into his bag when the sounds of a board snapping had him glancing up.

  “Please be careful, Steven. I don’t want you to get hurt,” came the panicked words that drew his attention to find Mrs. Blaine, Aunt Haley’s grandmother, hugging the old cane that she never went anywhere without against her chest as she peered over the side of her wheelchair to see why she was stuck on the ramp.

  “The board broke, Mrs. Blaine, and it looks like it bent the wheel,” Mrs. Blaine’s newest helper said as Sebastian shifted his attention to the wheelchair, noting that it looked tilted.

  “How bad is it?” Mrs. Blaine asked as Sebastian picked up his bike and walked it over the grass so that he could place it against a tree.

  “It looks like the wheel is completely destroyed, Mrs. Blaine. If you want, I can bring you back inside and see if I can find a replacement in town,” Steven suggested as he reached down and tried to pull the wheel free.

  “I’m afraid this can’t wait. I need to find out what my son is up to before he gets another chance to break my Haley’s heart,” Mrs. Blaine said, making Sebastian frown as she gestured for the large man to help her to her feet only to have him frowning when the man actually did what he was told instead of getting the other wheelchair out of the car and transferring her like he was supposed to.

  She wasn’t supposed to be walking.

  “Should I let your grandson know that the ramp is broken?” Steven asked as he helped Mrs. Blaine to her feet.

  “Jason has enough to worry about. This can wait. We’ll just use the back door for now,” Mrs. Blaine said with a firm nod as she slowly made her way across the short distance to her car while Sebastian stood there, biting back a curse as he watched her struggle with each step.

  He waited until after she was safely settled in the car and was pulling out of th
e driveway before he made his way over to the ramp that was supposed to make it easier for her to get into the in-law apartment that his Uncle Jason had built for her. With one last look over his shoulder to make sure they were gone, Sebastian inspected the wheelchair. The wheel was definitely destroyed and so were three of the boards. They were going to have to be replaced.

  She definitely shouldn’t be walking, Sebastian thought as he dropped his backpack on the ramp so that he could take a closer look. If Aunt Haley had been home and caught her, she would have glared at the older woman until she sat back down and waited for someone to get the wheelchair out of the car for her, but Mrs. Blaine was stubborn. Always had been, Sebastian thought with a fond smile for the stubborn woman who liked to keep Aunt Haley on her toes.

  He didn’t know much about Aunt Haley’s grandmother other than the fact that she was insanely rich, had an unhealthy obsession with barbecue food, was stubborn, and loved to glare at him and he had no idea why. She always wore a fond smile for her great-grandchildren and an amused one whenever his brothers and sister were around, but when she looked at him…

  He’d considered asking his cousins why she hated him, but then again, he wasn’t exactly sure that he wanted to know. The only thing that mattered to him was that she’d stuck by Aunt Haley when the rest of her family had cut her off after she’d married Uncle Jason and for that alone, Sebastian would do whatever he could to help her.

  Sebastian grabbed the warped wheel and after a couple of tries, finally managed to pull the wheelchair free so that he could get a better look at the boards. They were rotted through, Sebastian realized as he moved the wheelchair off to the side so that he could check the rest of the boards to make sure that they were safe. He found three more boards that needed to be replaced, but the rest of them still looked good. He glanced down at his watch and noted the time.