Misunderstood (Neighbor from Hell (YA) 1)

“Probably,” Sebastian said around a yawn as he leaned back against the wall while he waited for the talk that he knew was coming, the one where his father let him know that he was worried about him, again.

His parents had been having these talks with him since he’d turned down that scholarship three years ago, and they always began the same way…

“We need to talk,” his father said, giving up trying to figure Mikey out and focused on Sebastian.

“About?” Sebastian asked as he watched his father try to figure out how to talk to him.

With a sigh, his father rubbed the back of his neck as he reached over and grabbed the desk chair and sat down. “Mikey for starters.”

“What about her?” Sebastian asked while he sat there, wondering when his father was going to bring up the therapist.

“How about the fact that I told you that she wasn’t allowed to sleep over anymore. At least, not in your bed,” his father said, leaning back in the chair as he gestured to the iPad.

Great.

Sebastian grabbed his iPad and tossed it to his father, who added, “You’re grounded for a month.”

“A month? Are you serious? For what?” Sebastian demanded, because there was no way in hell that this should end with him losing everything for a month.

One month of not being allowed to leave the house, of having to stay in his room only allowed to leave for meals, to do his chores, and most likely, go to therapy. There was no way that he would be able to handle that right now. Christ, he could already feel the walls starting to close in around him.

“How about the fact that you lied to me?” his father said as he turned the iPad over in his hands.

“What did I lie about?”

“Aunt Haley,” his father said with a pointed look at his bandaged hand.

“I didn’t lie about anything!”

“Where did you go after you left the therapist’s office?”

“To the library and then to Aunt Haley’s house to grab a book,” Sebastian said, deciding that there was no way in hell that he was going to tell him where he’d gone for lunch because he wasn’t about to risk his father taking that away from him, too.

“You never grabbed the book that she left on the table for you,” his father said, watching him.

“That’s because I didn’t go inside,” he bit out evenly.

“What did you do, Sebastian?” his father asked, looking resigned to whatever he was about to admit and that…

Pissed him off.

“Or what? You’ll send to me to military school?” he demanded, watching as his father cursed under his breath.

“Sebastian, I–”

“I have never

given you a reason not to trust me. I work my ass off to do everything you tell me to. I get my schoolwork done, do my chores, help Jessica and Mathew with their homework, make sure they get to school on time, and none of that is ever good enough!” he snapped.

“You lied and you broke a rule. You were told that Mikey wasn’t allowed to sleep in your room anymore,” his father bit out evenly, looking just as pissed as Sebastian was.

“I didn’t lie, but that really doesn’t 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.