Misunderstood (A Neighbor from Hell YA #1) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,60

headed for the front doors only to add, “Please,” as she walked past him.

For a moment, he considered letting her go, but…he couldn’t do that. Wondering why he was really doing this, Cole shut his locker and quickly caught up to her.

“How could I possibly make this worse?” he asked, because he honestly couldn’t imagine her life getting worse than this.

“Look,” Chloe said, stepping off to the side so that she could talk to him, “I appreciate what you’re doing, I really do, but I can handle this on my own.”

“Really?” Cole asked as he folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall while he considered her.

“Yes,” she said, reaching up to push her glasses back up her nose.

“How?” he asked, because from what he’d seen she hadn’t done anything to stop this.

“By ignoring them,” Chloe said, sighing as she headed for the door, leaving him standing there, shaking his head, because she couldn’t be serious.

“You really think that ignoring them is going to make this go away?” Cole asked when he caught up with her again.

“No, but most of them lose interest and–”

“You said most of them. What happens with the ones that don’t lose interest?” he asked, watching the way that she opened her mouth to say something only to close it and quicken her step, probably hoping that he would just drop it and leave her alone.

“Tell me what happens when they don’t lose interest,” Cole said, because he could only imagine what a bunch of spoiled rich kids could do to her to pass the time.

“It doesn’t matter,” Chloe said, softly sighing as they walked outside and made their way to the sidewalk.

“Then you should have no problem telling me,” he said, reaching up to pull his tie loose when she stopped again.

“Look, I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to help, but honestly, I don’t need it. I was doing just fine on my own. Okay?” Chloe said as she gave him what she probably thought was a reassuring smile before nodding as she turned to walk away.

“Then why are you taking the long way home?” he asked, moving to catch up with her again.

“Because you take the short way home,” Chloe said absently with a wince as she adjusted the large bag over her shoulders that was clearly too heavy for her.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Cole asked as he moved to follow her down Pine Hill Road.

“Everything,” she said as though that was supposed to explain everything.

It didn’t.

What it did was make him pluck the bag off her shoulder and throw it over his. When she went to take it back from him, he shifted it to his other arm and said, “Explain.”

“Have you always been this annoying?” Chloe asked, reaching over to grab the bag only to sigh when he stepped out of her reach.

“Yes,” Cole said, making her lips twitch despite the fact that she looked like she wanted to throttle him. Since he was used to that look, he didn’t take it personally.

“Look, your dad is the most popular teacher in school and from what I’ve heard, your mom was too. You’re the captain of the JV football team, you’re popular, good looking, and everyone loves you,” she explained with a sad shake of her head, leaving him even more confused than he was before.

“And…” Cole said, letting that one word trail off, wondering if she was going somewhere with this.

“And I’m not. I’m a nerd, possibly a dork, I’m not really sure at the moment. I’m also a scholarship student who needs to get good grades to keep my spot, which means that I have to work my butt off. I’m not rich, I don’t fit in, and I’m probably never going to, and I’m okay with that.”

“You’re not making any sense. I’m not rich,” he pointed out.

“No, but you fit in, which means that when you suddenly take notice of me that other kids do as well. They’re watching me more, noticing just how much I don’t fit in and when you’re not around–”

“It’s worse,” Cole said, finishing for her on a heavy sigh.

Nodding, Chloe said, “They don’t just pick on me anymore because I’m a nerd or because I’m poor and my parents are dead. Now they’re speculating why Cole Bradford has suddenly noticed that I’m alive, and honestly, I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

“What are they saying?” Cole asked her as she reached