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

by R. L. Mathewson

  When he opened his mouth to tell her that he’d changed his mind, Mrs. Blaine raised her cane and–

  Sebastian found himself quickly getting to his feet and following the receptionist down the hall. He shot one last glare over his shoulder as Mrs. Blaine’s eyes narrowed in warning and her grip tightened around her cane. Message received, he cleared his throat and quickly turned around and focused on the portraits of every dean that had served at Latin Scribe High School since it opened over two hundred years ago.

  When they came to a white door at the end of the hallway, she gestured for him to go inside. After a slight hesitation, Sebastian slowly exhaled as he reached for the doorknob and opened the door to find nearly a dozen people sitting behind a long table waiting for him, including Uncle Jason.

  “Sebastian Bradford,” someone said, drawing his attention to a man wearing a black suit with a bowtie, sitting in the middle of the table. “We were just reviewing your application.”

  “Have a seat,” a woman with dark hair and a firm smile said, gesturing to the small table in the middle of the room. Unable to shake the feeling that he was on trial, Sebastian nodded as he made his way to the table and sat down.

  “Can we get you something to drink before we start?”

  “No, thank you,” Sebastian said, hoping to get this over with quickly before he did something to make this worse.

  “Why don’t we get right to it then?” the man sitting across from him suggested.

  After a slight hesitation, Sebastian nodded.

  “We heard about the incident at the middle school. Would you like to tell us what happened?” came the question that he should have expected.

  “I made a mistake,” Sebastian admitted, licking his suddenly dry lips as he slowly took in all the people staring at him.

  “You seem to do that a lot,” a woman sitting at the end said as she opened a file, probably his, and read something.

  Not sure how to answer that, Sebastian glanced at Uncle Jason for help only to find his uncle frowning as he read through his file. God, why did he come here? He should have told Mrs. Blaine that he’d changed his mind and went home when he had the chance.

  “Destruction of property, suspensions, detentions, truancy, the list goes on and on,” a man at the other end of the table said, taking off his glasses as he sat back and gestured to Sebastian’s file. “I honestly don’t understand why you’re here wasting our time with this.”

  After a slight hesitation, Sebastian nodded slowly as he pushed his chair back and stood up. “I’m sorry for wasting your time,” he said as he turned around to leave only to have the same man stop him with a question.

  “We have thousands of applicants this year, all of them have worked hard to get where they are and all of them have better records than you. Why should we even consider giving you a chance?”

  “Because no one else will,” Sebastian said, meeting his questioning gaze head-on.

  “Why didn’t you accept the full scholarship from Radcliffe?” Uncle Jason asked, drawing Sebastian’s attention.

  “Because I didn’t deserve it,” he answered honestly.

  “And your brother did?”

  “Yes,” Sebastian said firmly.

  “Why?”

  “Because he wasn’t the one that made our mother cry,” Sebastian said softly, forcing himself to look away from Uncle Jason before he said too much.

  “What was your score on Radcliffe’s entrance exam?” the man sitting across from him asked, sounding bored.

  “A perfect score,” Sebastian said, watching as the board members looked down at his application and–

  “You earned a perfect score on both tests?” the woman at the end of the table asked, looking surprised as the rest of the members looked down at the files in front of them.

  A nod.

  “Do you know Mikey Campbell?” one of them asked, making him frown in confusion.

  “Yes, she’s my best friend,” Sebastian said, wondering what that had to do with anything.

  “So, you know that she applied as well.”

  “Yes, we applied together.”

  “Did you happen to see the essay that she wrote for her application?” Uncle Jason asked.

  “No, she wouldn’t let me read it,” Sebastian said, suddenly wishing that he’d pushed her harder to show him.

  Nodding, Uncle Jason opened another file and pulled out a paper. He pushed it toward Sebastian. Frowning, Sebastian walked over to the table and picked it up, absently noting that it was two pages stapled together. When he read the title, he glanced up in confusion.

  “Keep reading,” Uncle Jason said, gesturing for him to continue.

  Sebastian looked back down at the paper in his hand and read the title again, wondering why Mikey wrote her essay about him when this essay was supposed to be about her. When he came to the first paragraph, his stomach dropped.

  Although, this essay is supposed to demonstrate why I would make a wonderful addition to Latin Scribe High School, I can’t do that. Not when I know that there is someone else that should be there instead.

  I want to tell you about my best friend, Sebastian Bradford with the hopes that you will read this letter before you have the chance to read his file because that will only tell you about the mistakes that he’s made and I want to tell you about the boy…

  “With your school record, you would have automatically been rejected, but with your test scores, we would have seriously considered you. Your recent situation would have forced us to consider another applicant, but that letter,” the man sitting in front of him said, pointing at the letter in Sebastian’s hands that he was still trying to wrap his mind around, “has put us in a very difficult position. You see, we want the boy described in that letter, because that’s the kind of person that we hope all of our students will develop into by the time they leave us.”

  “Is the boy she described in that letter you?”

  Before Sebastian could answer, Uncle Jason spoke. “Yes, he is.”

  “What would you say if we offered you a partial scholarship?” someone else asked before Sebastian could wrap his mind around everything that was happening.

  “I would have to respectfully decline and wait until next year to apply again,” Sebastian said absently as he found himself reading the letter Mikey wrote again.

  “Why is that?” Uncle Jason asked as Sebastian looked up and gave the only answer that he could.

  “Because my parents shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes.”

  Chapter 45

  “I’m an idiot,” Sebastian said with a groan.

  “And if you hadn’t been saying that for the past week, I’d probably be concerned,” Mikey said, shrugging it off as she took in the large sign in Aunt Haley’s and Uncle Jason’s kitchen, congratulating her, Elizabeth, and Braxton for getting into Latin Scribe High School.

  There was still no word from Latin Scribe about his application, but then again, he didn’t need a letter to tell him that he’d messed up. He already had thirty-two letters telling him the same thing, his scores were impressive but they just weren’t willing to take a chance on him. He didn’t need to hear it from one more school to know that it was over.

  At least there was cake, Sebastian thought as he stole Mikey’s plate. With a glare and a grumble, she stole Jonathan’s, who simply settled on glaring before he moved to take it back, thought better of it, and stole Mathew’s. He should probably get something to drink to help wash down all the frosting, Sebastian thought as he glanced at the refrigerator only to decide that he wasn’t thirsty when he found Braxton’s father glaring at him again.

  He seemed to do that a lot, Sebastian thought as he shifted his focus to Cole to find him laughing at something that Chloe was showing him on her phone, while Katie watched his every move from across the room. That probably wouldn’t end well, Sebastian thought even as he couldn’t help but notice that everyone was in a good mood.

  Well, everyone except for Bra
xton and his father, who had somehow managed to disappear in the last minute. Thankful for the small reprieve from glaring, Sebastian glanced back down at Mikey just as she managed to help herself to a Coke. Realizing just how thirsty he was, Sebastian plucked the soda out of her hands and finished it off.

  “Jerk face,” Mikey mumbled, making him smile as he reached back to place the empty can on the counter only to see Aunt Haley trying to soothe Hunter, who was crying softly in her arms.

  “What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked as he placed his plate on the counter.

  “Hunter’s blankie. I can’t find it,” Aunt Haley said, worrying her bottom lip as she glanced around the kitchen.

  “It’s probably outside in his playpen. I’ll go get it,” Sebastian said, already making his way toward the back door where they’d spent most of the afternoon swimming.

  “Thank you, sweetie,” Aunt Haley said as she tried to distract Hunter with a small slice of cake, but he simply shook his head and buried his face against her neck.

  Sebastian walked into the living room and headed for the patio doors when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Frowning, he looked back to find Uncle Jason handing him a blank white envelope.

  “What’s this?” Sebastian asked, sending Uncle Jason a questioning look.

  “Look for yourself,” Uncle Jason said, gesturing to the envelope in Sebastian’s hands.

  Frowning, Sebastian opened the envelope and–

  Was forced to reach out and slap his hand against the wall when his legs threatened to give out as he read the first line again. Latin Scribe High School was giving him a chance with a full academic scholarship and absolutely no mention of probation.

  “Is this real?” Sebastian asked, praying that this wasn’t some kind of sick joke.

  “It better be. I had to fight with your aunt and Grandma over who got to give it to you,” Uncle Jason said with a chuckle only to add, “You’ve earned it.”

  “Thank you,” Sebastian said, feeling his lips pull up into a smile. Feeling like he was in a dream, he headed outside to find Hunter’s blankie as he stared down at the letter in his hands.

  God, this couldn’t be real, he thought as he grabbed Hunter’s blankie before he turned around and quickly made his way back to the door so that he could show Mikey when he heard it.

  Curious, Sebastian walked around the house only to come to a stop when he saw Mr. Taylor moving closer to Braxton, who was…trembling?

  “You’ve wasted my time with this!” Mr. Taylor snapped.

  “I’m sorry,” Braxton said, staring down at the ground.

  “You’re sorry?” Braxton’s father asked in disbelief. “Do you know how much time I’ve wasted on you? You had one job, Braxton! One job! You were supposed to spend more time with your great-grandmother and make her like you! But instead, you got into a pissing contest with some charity case. Do you think that’s why I let you come home? To waste my time?”

  “No,” Braxton said hollowly, but Mr. Taylor wasn’t done yet.

  “You’re nothing but a disappointment. If you can’t get the job done, then I’ll find someone else who can and send you back to that boarding school and get you out of my hair.”

  “I’m sorry,” Braxton said again only to flinch when Mr. Taylor moved closer.

  “If you don’t get this done, then I promise you that you will be very sorry,” Mr. Taylor said coldly before he turned around and Sebastian found himself stepping behind a large hedge before he spotted him.

  Sebastian waited until Mr. Taylor went inside before he stepped out from behind the hedge. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Mr. Taylor wasn’t coming back before he looked around the corner and realized why Braxton seemed so damn miserable all the time.

  “I hate him,” Braxton bit out as tears rolled down his face and his hands clenched into fists.

  “I don’t blame you,” Sebastian said, throwing Hunter’s blankie over his shoulder and shoved the letter from Latin Scribe into his back pocket as he moved closer.

  “Did you know that they only had me because of Cole?” Braxton asked, wiping the back of his arm across his eyes.

  “What?” Sebastian asked, wondering if he’d heard him right.

  Nodding, Braxton said, “They knew that Aunt Haley was Great-Grandmother’s favorite, but they figured that Aunt Haley’s marriage wasn’t going to last and she’d come running back only she never did. Instead, she got pregnant with Cole and they panicked.”

  “And that’s where you came in?” Sebastian guessed, wondering what the hell was wrong with these people.

  “Great-Grandmother loves children so they were hoping that another baby would be enough to make her forget about Aunt Haley. So, after a lot of arguing, they decided that my mother would have to make the sacrifice for the greater good and had me, but the problem was that a new baby wasn’t enough to make Great-Grandmother forget how they’d treated Aunt Haley.”

  “What happened?” Sebastian asked.

  “What normally happens to kids in my family as soon they lose interest. They hired a nanny to raise me until it was time to go off to boarding school and that’s where I would have stayed except, they found out about Hunter. They’d hoped that a new baby would be enough to soften Great-Grandmother, but the problem was that my mother and aunts were apparently too old to get pregnant again. They considered adoption but didn’t think that would be enough to earn Great Grandmother’s forgiveness, so they decided that they had a use for me after all. They pulled me out of boarding school, enrolled me in a local private school, and decided that it was time that I spent more time with Great-Grandmother.”

  “And that’s why they suddenly wanted Aunt Haley back in their lives,” Sebastian said, feeling sick to his stomach.

  “They hate you,” Braxton said with a humorless laugh. “You should have heard my grandfather when he saw you at that board meeting. They ended up pulling me out of school early just so that they could scream at me.”

  “That’s why you threw my iPad,” Sebastian said as everything slowly started to make sense.

  Nodding, Braxton said, “I’m sorry about that. I tried to give you mine, but they wouldn’t let me. They were hoping that the black eye you gave me would be enough to make Great-Grandmother discard you, but–”

  “They clearly don’t know her very well. She doesn’t give up on people easily,” Sebastian said absently as he thought about the day that Mrs. Blaine showed up at his house, demanding to know what happened. When he’d told her, she’d nodded and said something about needing to try harder.

  At the time, he hadn’t known what she was talking about, but now…

  “What happens now?” Sebastian asked as he watched Braxton rub the back of his neck.

  “I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to fix this,” Braxton said, slowly exhaling as he considered Sebastian. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

  “I’m beginning to see that,” he said hollowly as he realized just how much his parents had put up with and just how easily they could have given up on him only…

  They never did.

  “I’m not going to do it,” Braxton said with a firm nod.

  “Do what?” Sebastian asked, watching as Braxton picked up a brick from Aunt Haley’s small tulip garden.

  “He can go to hell. I don’t care anymore,” Braxton said as he threw the brick at his dad’s car.

  “Christ!” Sebastian said, jumping back when the windshield cracked.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Sebastian asked, watching as Braxton grabbed another brick, and this time, it shattered the windshield.

  “Making sure that he leaves Aunt Haley alone,” Braxton said with a determined nod as he grabbed the baseball bat that one of his cousins left outside and–

  “Braxton, stop!” Sebastian said as he put Hunter’s blankie down and moved to stop him only to jump out of the way when Braxton took out one of the headlights.

  “Why should I?” Braxton demanded
as he took out the other headlight and then the passenger side rear-view mirror.

  “Because he isn’t worth it!”

  “No, but if I get sent back to boarding school then maybe they’ll leave everyone alone. They won’t be able to do this to Great-Grandmother or Aunt Haley anymore,” Braxton said as he took out the passenger-side window before Sebastian could grab the bat from him.

  “He isn’t worth this,” Sebastian repeated as he pulled the bat away.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mr. Taylor shouted as he quickly made his way over to them.

  Before Sebastian could move, Mr. Taylor had Sebastian by the shirt and was slamming him back against the car, knocking the wind out of him. When he went to do it again, a terrifyingly cold voice said, “Get your hands off my son.”

  Mr. Taylor immediately released him and stepped back.

  Wincing in pain, Sebastian pushed away from the car only to forget how to breathe when he saw the look on his father’s face. He’d never seen his father this angry before and apparently, Mr. Taylor realized just how close Sebastian’s father was to tearing him apart, because he quickly stumbled back.

  “Look what your delinquent son did to my car!” Mr. Taylor snapped.

  “It wasn’t Sebastian,” his father said.

  “He’s holding a baseball bat!”

  “I know my son. He didn’t do this,” his father said calmly as he moved to stand between Sebastian and Mr. Taylor, who looked like he wanted to kill someone.

  With one last glare in their direction, Mr. Taylor turned to his son and snapped, “What happened?”

  And that’s when Sebastian realized it was all over. With a few words, he was about to lose everything, and this time, nothing was going to save him, Sebastian realized as he looked at Braxton and waited for the words that would doom him. Braxton told him that his father wanted Sebastian out of the picture and it never even occurred to him that they would do something like this to make it happen. God, he was such an idiot. It wouldn’t matter if his father believed him, because the cops definitely wouldn’t.

  Not after what just happened at the school.