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

by R. L. Mathewson

  He loved it.

  “Do you want to continue going to therapy?” his father suddenly asked, taking him by surprise and making him wonder what Mikey told him.

  “No,” Sebastian said with absolutely no hesitation.

  “Okay,” his father said with a nod of understanding. “Then we’ll stop asking you to go, but I need to know that you’ll come to me if you have something that you need to talk about, okay?”

  With a hesitant nod, Sebastian asked, “And if I mess up again?”

  “Then we talk about it,” his father said, shooting him a wink as he left, leaving Sebastian sitting there, wondering just how long this reprieve was going to last.

  Chapter 12

  “What are you doing?”

  “You mean besides wondering why you keep staring at me?” Mikey asked as she forced herself to turn the page, destroying another part of her soul in the process.

  “Besides that,” Jonathan said as he leaned over the back of the couch to see what she was doing.

  “I’m trying to finish this book,” Mikey said even as she debated skipping to the end to find out how the book ended so that she could write the book report and just get it over with, but she couldn’t risk it.

  “That doesn’t explain why you’ve been sitting in here for the past hour or why Sebastian is glaring at you,” he pointed out.

  “Doesn’t it though?” Mikey asked with a sad shake of her head as she risked a glance at the boy that wasn’t talking to her, to find him sitting next to her, seething.

  For a moment, she considered pointing out that she hadn’t actually broken her promise only to rethink that idea when Sebastian narrowed his eyes on her. Deciding that perhaps it would be best to take a break, she closed the book only to sigh and open it again when Sebastian bit out, “Keep reading.”

  “So, back to us,” Jonathan said, making her sigh once again.

  “There is no us,” Mikey reminded him as she found where she’d left off and forced herself to keep reading.

  “There could be,” Jonathan said, releasing a tragic sigh and if she thought for one second that he was serious, she wouldn’t have reached up and–

  “Ow! Why must you fight our love?” he asked as he rubbed the spot on his arm where she’d been forced to flick him.

  “Because you’re only trying to torment your brother,” Mikey mumbled absently as she finished the page.

  “This is true,” Jonathan murmured in agreement only to grunt in pain when Sebastian reached up and flicked his other arm.

  “Leave her alone,” Sebastian said, shifting to get more comfortable next to her.

  “I would. I really would, but then Mom would kill me,” Jonathan said with a sad shake of his head as he walked around the couch and dropped down on the cushion next to Mikey.

  “And why’s that?” Sebastian asked, shifting his glare from her, which she truly appreciated, to his brother.

  “Because we’re supposed to go to Uncle Jason’s and Aunt Haley’s house for a party,” Jonathan said, making her frown because she didn’t remember anyone mentioning a party.

  “Cole’s birthday isn’t for a month,” Sebastian pointed out, absently gesturing for her to keep reading.

  “It’s not for Cole’s birthday,” Jonathan said with a heartfelt sigh as he laid his head on Mikey’s shoulder.

  “Then what’s it for?” Mikey asked, reaching over to push him away, but he simply ignored her and settled in more comfortably with a satisfied sigh.

  “Aunt Haley’s family,” Jonathan said, making them both frown because that couldn’t be right.

  Aunt Haley’s family cut her off when she married Uncle Jason and as far as Mikey knew, they hadn’t talked to her since. She wasn’t sure about all the details, but from what she understood, they hadn’t had much to do with Aunt Haley to begin with, but when she married Uncle Jason, they’d decided to cut her off. They were rich snobs who hadn’t been willing to give Uncle Jason a chance for Haley’s sake. As far as Mikey was concerned, it was their loss. Uncle Jason was probably one of the nicest people she knew. He was also funny, hardworking, and he absolutely adored Aunt Haley and their children.

  “What are you talking about?” Sebastian asked as he reached over and shoved Jonathan away from her.

  “Aunt Haley’s father contacted her out of the blue, giving her some lame story about how much he regretted pushing her away and how much he missed her. He wanted to meet his grandchildren and spend more time with her and a bunch of other crap that means that we get to go spend the day at Uncle Jason’s house,” Jonathan said, shrugging it off as he snuggled closer to her side as she sat there, considering what he said and…

  “You like to eavesdrop, don’t you?” Mikey asked, unable to help but notice that he always knew everything first.

  “It’s my passion,” Jonathan said with a heartfelt sigh as a thought occurred to her.

  She glanced over at him to find him looking adoringly at her and asked, “You don’t eavesdrop on my conversations, do you?”

  “Only the good ones,” Jonathan said, nodding solemnly.

  With a murmured, “I see,” Mikey stood up and tossed her book on the couch before she grabbed a pillow.

  “What’s that pillow for?” Jonathan asked, blinking innocently up at Mikey as she adjusted her hold on the pillow.

  “Nothing,” she mumbled absently, deciding that they should probably discuss a few things.

  *-*-*-*

  “Are you going to move over?” came the question that had his brother folding his arms over his chest as he pointedly ignored Mikey.

  With a heavy sigh, Mikey glanced toward the backseat where Mathew, Jessica, and five of the platters of baked goods that her mother had made for the party took up the back before she shifted her attention back to the empty spot next to him and–

  “You could have just asked me to move,” Jonathan grumbled only to follow that up with an, “Ow!” when she used her foot to push off his lap.

  “And you could stop being a jerk,” Mikey pointed out as she settled in between them only to grumble something when his father handed Jonathan a large cardboard box filled with more food for the party.

  Without a word, she climbed onto Sebastian’s lap so that Jonathan could put the box down on the seat between them, shifted to get comfortable and promptly ignored him, which was more than fine with Sebastian since he wasn’t talking to her at the moment. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his head back against his seat as he closed his eyes and resigned himself to the long day ahead. He normally wasn’t a big fan of parties, but today he was exhausted and the only thing that he wanted to do was crawl back in bed and pass out.

  For a moment, he considered asking his parents if he could skip the party and stay home, but he didn’t trust the girl settling back against him to keep reading. Knowing Mikey, she’d end up getting distracted by one of his cousins or spend the rest of the night tormenting one of his uncles, Sebastian thought, feeling his lips twitch as Mikey laid her head against his chest with a long-suffering sigh.

  “Keep reading,” he murmured.

  “I am,” she muttered, sounding so damn miserable that he couldn’t help but smile as he opened his eyes and found her glaring down at the book in her hands.

  “Where are you stuck?” Sebastian asked, shifting her on his lap so that he could get a better look at the page she was on only to find himself biting back a groan when he caught the scent of the lemongrass shampoo that she liked to use.

  “I thought you weren’t talking to me,” Mikey said as he took in the way that her mischievous green eyes flickered in his direction before he found himself running his gaze down to the soft pink lips that he’d been thinking about a lot lately, unable to help but notice that her bottom lip was plumper than her top lip, even as he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to–

  Kill his brother.

  The sound of someone clearing his throat had him looking up and finding his brother watching him with
an unholy gleam in his eye. Wagging his eyebrows, Jonathan shot Mikey a pointed look that was going to get him killed. Just as Sebastian reached over to discreetly do that, Jonathan stopped wagging his eyebrows, cleared his throat and had Sebastian frowning when he suddenly stopped smiling and…

  Why was he pouting? Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder only to bite back a curse when Jonathan released a shuddering sigh and announced, “I just can’t stay mad at you, Mikey,” with a dramatic sniffle there at the end.

  Sebastian was definitely going to kill him.

  “You really can though,” Mikey murmured absently, not bothering to look up as she turned the page.

  “No, I just can’t do that…” Jonathan said, releasing another shuddering sigh that was going to get him smacked. “Not after everything we’ve been through.”

  “What exactly have we been through?” Mikey asked, sounding bored as she glanced up at Jonathan, who was looking at her adoringly.

  So, gonna kill him…

  “Too much to let a simple misunderstanding come between us,” Jonathan answered, nodding solemnly.

  “It wasn’t a simple misunderstanding. I was trying to smother you with a pillow and if that man,” and this is where she paused to point a damning finger at his father just as they pulled in behind a BMW parked in front of Uncle Jason’s house, “hadn’t pulled me off, I would have made you eat that pillow.”

  “And I would have loved every second of it,” Jonathan said, nodding.

  “There is something seriously wrong with you,” Mikey said with a sad shake of her head as she returned her attention back to her book while Sebastian once again found himself reaching over to grab his brother by the back of his neck only to have the little bastard throw the car door open with a taunting grin and take off before he could wring his damn neck.

  Chapter 13

  “Let’s go over the rules,” Uncle Trevor said, dragging her attention from the book to find him turned around in his seat and looking directly at her.

  Wondering why he was looking at her, Mikey opened her mouth and–

  “No baseball,” Uncle Trevor said, and yeah, okay so she could understand why that might be a problem with Aunt Haley’s family here.

  Still…

  “What if I promised not to throw the ball near the house?” Mikey said, worrying her bottom lip because she’d kind of been hoping to get a chance to practice for a few hours before tryouts on Monday. She’d considered staying home since her parents couldn’t come today, hoping that her dad would have time to help her practice but decided against it since that would have meant ditching Sebastian and she couldn’t do that, not when she knew how much he hated going to things like this.

  “What happened last year when you decided to toss the ball around outside Fenway Park?” Uncle Trevor asked, dryly.

  “I made a grown man cry,” Mikey said, struggling to bite back a wince even as she decided that perhaps it would be for the best if she focused on finishing her book.

  Nodding, Uncle Trevor murmured, “You made a grown man cry and…”

  Biting back a sigh, Mikey said, “And I promised that I wouldn’t throw near anyone that hasn’t been warned that one of my fastballs has the potential to maim someone.”

  “And…”

  “I promised not to throw the ball near anyone that wasn’t physically able to jump out of the way in time,” she finished, unable to help but pout a little at the end there.

  “Good,” Uncle Trevor murmured before shifting his attention to the rest of them. “This is important to your Aunt Haley, so please be on your best behavior and try to be nice to her nephew. He’s not used to us yet,” Uncle Trevor said as he gestured for them to go inside.

  Resigning herself to spending the rest of the day trying to get through this book, Mikey climbed out of the car and–

  “Get off me, you little demon!” Cole, Uncle’s Jason’s oldest son who’d she’d like to point out was six feet tall, the captain of the J.V. football team over at Latin Scribe High School, and fifteen years old, yelled somewhat hysterically as a little girl, who couldn’t be older than six, jumped onto his back and took him back down to the ground with a vicious growl.

  “Where’s my money, punk?” the little girl demanded only to pause in her vicious attack to push her glasses back up her nose before she continued.

  “I don’t owe you anything!” Cole snapped back, carefully trying to dislodge the little girl off his back, but she wasn’t going anywhere.

  “You owe me five dollars and eighty-five cents!” she snapped as she climbed onto his back and held on, refusing to let him go until she got her money.

  “What the hell are you talking about? That lemonade was only supposed to be a dollar a cup!” Cole said in outrage.

  “Consider it interest!” the little girl said with a murderous glare as Uncle Trevor took one look at the scene before them and shook his head with a resigned sigh as he reached into the back seat and grabbed the large box of food that her mother had sent over and headed inside.

  “Wait! Where are you going?” Cole demanded as he watched helplessly while Uncle Trevor headed inside only to turn a panicked look at Aunt Zoe as she grabbed a large platter of cupcakes from the back and moved to follow her husband inside.

  “Try to play nice, sweetie,” Aunt Zoe said with a warm smile as she stepped over Cole’s sprawled legs and went inside, leaving the rest of them to enjoy the show.

  “Play nice? Are you serious?” Cole asked in disbelief as Mikey plucked Sebastian’s phone out of his pocket and began recording, “I really love this family.”

  “Is someone going to help me?” Cole demanded as he turned his glare on them.

  “No,” Mathew said as he helped himself to a brownie off one of the platters and settled in for the show.

  “Make sure you zoom in if she makes him cry,” Jessica told Mikey as she plucked the brownie out of her brother’s hand.

  “Sebastian?” Cole said, sounding really hopeful only to follow that up with a pained grunt when the little girl renewed her attack.

  Mikey glanced over her shoulder to see if Sebastian was going to help him only to find him frowning down at her book, taking in the page where she’d left off with a sad shake of his head and a mumbled, “This just isn’t going to work for me.”

  Afraid to find out what wasn’t going to work for him, Mikey shifted her attention back to Cole just as a teenage girl with blonde hair, glasses, and a panicked expression on her face came running toward them and–

  Promptly tripped over her own two feet.

  With a muttered, “I hate my life,” when she spotted them standing there. With a resigned sigh, she got back to her feet and pushed her glasses back up her nose as a blush crept up her neck as she forced herself to quickly make her way across the lawn toward Cole, who had somehow managed to roll over onto his back in the last thirty seconds, was forced to pull his arms free when the little girl grabbed hold of one of them and attempted to make him slap himself.

  God, she really loved this family, Mikey thought with a heartfelt sigh as her attention returned to the other girl just as she reached them.

  “Katie, you’ve got to stop,” she mumbled, blushing furiously as she glanced at Cole only to quickly avert her eyes when he narrowed a glare on her.

  “He owes me, Chloe!” Katie yelled as she attempted to renew her attack.

  “I owe you nothing, you little demon! That lemonade was watered down!” Cole bit out, earning an outraged gasp from Katie.

  Narrowing her eyes on him, she nodded firmly as she allowed Chloe, who Mikey was assuming was her older sister, to pull her away as she said, “We’re selling cookies in my Wilderness Girls’ troop next month and guess who’s not getting any?”

  “I’m your best customer and we both know it,” Cole bit out as he got to his feet to stare the little girl down.

  With a smug expression, the adorable little girl that was quickly becoming Mikey’s favorite person on earth said, “You�
��re really not though. Your father is.”

  “Without me, you won’t earn your cookie badge and we both know it,” Cole said, leaning down to get in the little girl’s face.

  “The only thing your cookie sales got me was a participation badge,” Katie said, moving to get in Cole’s face when Chloe pulled her back with a mumbled, “Please stop.”

  “Better listen to your sister,” Cole said in a taunting tone.

  “Why would I listen to her when she thinks you’re cute,” Katie said, matching his taunting tone as every gaze swung to Chloe.

  “I…I…” Chloe mumbled weakly, somehow managing to turn an even brighter shade of red as she reached over, grabbed hold of her sister and averted her gaze as mortification set in and once it did, she turned around, dragging her sister along with her, tripped and stumbled her way to the house next-door.

  “I’ll be back and when I am, you better have my money, punk!” the little girl yelled while they stood there, looking from the little girl that had managed to take Cole down, back to Cole and…

  “Don’t,” Cole bit out in warning, a warning that his cousins immediately ignored.

  “They live next door?” Mathew asked, looking greatly amused.

  “I will kill you,” Cole said, dusting himself off.

  “She’s cute,” Jessica said, nodding solemnly as Cole narrowed a glare on her.

  “Which one?” Mathew asked, clearly enjoying himself as he helped himself to another brownie.

  “His future wife,” Jessica said, making Mikey frown and before she could ask them what they were talking about, Sebastian was grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the house.

  “What was that all about?” Mikey asked, letting him drag her inside.

  “Nothing,” Sebastian said as he dragged her through the kitchen and into the living room, but something, mostly the way that he was grinding his jaw, told her that it wasn’t nothing.

  “Why must you lie to me?” Mikey asked with a disappointed sigh as they paused by the large bookshelves that took up one wall.