Misunderstood (A Neighbor from Hell YA #1) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,26

seem to matter, does it? As far as Mikey is concerned, she was in way over her head and she needed my help. I texted Aunt Kasey and Uncle Reese as soon as I realized how late it was so that they wouldn’t worry about her. I also sent you and mom a text to let you know that I was helping Mikey with her homework,” Sebastian said, dropping back down on his bed since there was no point in getting dressed now that it looked like he was going to be stuck in his room all weekend.

“Sebastian, Mikey is–”

“The only one that doesn’t look at me like I’m a freak,” he finished for his father as he glared at the ceiling.

“Wait. Yes, I do!” came the smartass comment from the closet that had Sebastian narrowing his eyes as he climbed off the bed and grabbing his noise-blocking headphones and iPod. Ignoring the pained look on his father’s face, he walked over to the closet, yanked the door open and handed Mikey the headphones and iPod.

With a grumble, she accepted them, pulling on the headphones and started the playlist that he’d created for her before returning her attention back to her book as he closed the closet door and–

“I don’t look at you like you’re a freak,” his father said.

“Yes, you do,” Sebastian said, dropping back down on his bed with a sigh.

For several minutes, his father didn’t say anything and then…

“Please talk to me, Sebastian,” his father pleaded softly.

“I don’t have anything to say,” Sebastian said as he continued glaring at the ceiling, tired of playing this game. If they wanted to send him to military school then–

“He was fixing Mrs. Blaine’s ramp!” Mikey said in a rush as she hurried out of the closet, climbed onto his bed and–

Oooomph!

–slammed a pillow over his face before he could tell the little traitor to be quiet.

When Sebastian managed to shove the pillow away, she straddled his chest and slapped her hand over his mouth as she continued betraying him. “The boards broke, breaking Mrs. Blaine’s wheelchair in the process. Sebastian got her wheelchair loose and replaced the boards. That’s how he cut his hand. He forgot to grab the book before he left. And as far as last night, nothing happened. He tried to help me get through this book and we fell asleep. He wasn’t lying and nothing happened, so please don’t send him to military school just because he’s a stubborn jerk!” Mikey finished in a rush as she struggled to keep her hand over his mouth.

Once she was done, he glanced over to find his father absently nodding as he stood up. With a softly murmured, “Here,” he placed Sebastian’s iPad back on the nightstand before he walked out, leaving Sebastian alone with the traitor.

With a glare, he pushed her hand away and bit out, “Run,” which had Mikey nodding with a mumbled, “That’s probably a good idea,” as she did just that.

Chapter 11

“Damn it,” Trevor sighed, dropping his head as he grabbed onto the kitchen counter while he stood there wondering just how many times he was going to screw this up.

“What’s wrong?” Zoe asked as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss against his back.

“I think I just made everything worse,” he said, releasing his hold on the counter so that he could turn around and pull his wife into his arms.

“Is that even possible?” Zoe asked with a heartfelt sigh as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest.

“He thinks that we look at him like he’s a freak,” Trevor said, pressing a kiss against the top of his wife’s head as he tried to figure out how he was going to fix this.

This used to be so easy, Trevor thought, unable to help but smile as he remembered when Sebastian was a baby, the way that his face used to light up whenever he saw him and…

God, he missed those days.

He missed seeing a carefree smile on his son’s face, the way that Sebastian would run outside so that he could be the first one to tell Trevor about his day, and the mischievous look in his eye when he tormented his brothers. One day, Sebastian had been a happy, carefree kid and the next, he’d stopped smiling, stopped tormenting his brothers, and became too damn serious and Trevor had no idea why. He’d tried to talk to Sebastian, tried spending more time with him,