Misunderstood (Neighbor from Hell (YA) 1)

“Yes!”

“And if she offered…”

“She’s not paying for my tuition,” Sebastian bit out, looking understandably pissed and she didn’t need to ask him to know why.

He would either figure it out on his own or he wouldn’t go.

It was as simple as that.

“What else did you talk about?” Mikey asked, hoping to change the subject for Sebastian’s sake. He had enough on his mind without adding this to it.

With one last glare at his brother, Sebastian looked at her as he said, “Not much. She wants me to come by in the morning.”

“Why?” she asked as he reached over and plucked his iPad out of his brother’s h

ands.

“I honestly have no idea,” Sebastian said with a sigh as he went back to figuring out how he was going to fix everything, which was something that she wished she could do for him.

Chapter 22

“Damn it,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily as he glanced down at his watch. He was running late, but it couldn’t be helped.

After he’d walked Mikey, who’d been strangely quiet this morning, to school, he’d ended up helping Aunt Kasey load a catering order into the van. Once he was done, he ran back inside and downloaded an application to Latin Scribe High School only to run into their first obstacle.

They needed their parents’ permission just to send in the application. He’d been hoping that they could apply and wait to see if they got accepted before they told their parents. He didn’t want their parents stressing out over the tuition. If they couldn’t get scholarships, then there really wasn’t any point in telling them. He’d just have to figure something else out, Sebastian thought as he let himself inside and–

“You’re late,” Mrs. Blaine said as soon as he opened the front door.

“Sorry. I had to help Aunt Kasey,” he said only to add, “It won’t happen again,” when her eyes narrowed dangerously on him as she reached for her cane.

With a sniff, Mrs. Blaine said, “Don’t let it happen again,” as she gestured for Steven only to frown when she looked back at Sebastian. “Where’s your suit?”

“My suit?” Sebastian said, following her gaze to take in his long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

“You’re supposed to be wearing a suit,” she said with an accusatory glare like he’d done this on purpose.

“Wait. You didn’t mention anything about a suit,” he said, because he definitely would have asked more questions if she’d mentioned a suit.

Not that she’d actually stuck around after she’d ordered him to come here today so that he could ask questions, Sebastian mused as he watched her eyes narrow dangerously on him.

Was it wrong to be afraid of a ninety-year-old woman? Probably, Sebastian thought as he watched her gesture toward the living room with her cane. “I’m sure one of Cole’s old suits will fit you,” Mrs. Blaine said, gesturing for him to get on with it.

Knowing better than to argue with her, especially when she had that cane, Sebastian headed upstairs and after a search of his cousin’s closet, he managed to find a black suit and a navy-blue shirt that fit him. His cousin had a few inches on him, but they had the same build, which made it easier to find a suit that actually fit. The box of Twinkies hidden in the back of his cousin’s closet helped pass the time as he searched for shoes. Once he had a black tie in hand and had consumed most of the Twinkies, Sebastian headed back downstairs only to find himself rushed out the door and sitting next to Mrs. Blaine in the backseat of her car, heading toward the highway.

“Where are we going?” he found himself asking when they joined rush-hour traffic.

“We have work to do,” was all Mrs. Blaine said before she closed her eyes and settled in for a nap while Sebastian sat there, wondering how he was going to explain this to his parents. They were going to kill him, Sebastian thought as he pulled his phone out of his pocket only to frown when he saw the message waiting from his mom.

Have fun!

Wondering why she didn’t tell him what Mrs. Blaine had in store for him this morning, Sebastian slowly exhaled as he sat back. He found himself staring out the car window, absently watching the cars they passed by as the exhaustion from the last four days finally caught up with him and he found himself closing his eyes, wondering how he was going to pull off the impossible only to groan sometime later when something hard tapped his knee.

“We’re here,” Mrs. Blaine said as he opened his eyes and found himself looking at the Blaine Building, a twenty-five-story building in the heart of downtown Carta. He’d passed by this building every time they came to the city, which wasn’t often, but every time he saw it, he found himself wondering about Aunt Haley’s family.

He debated asking Mrs. Blaine why they were there, but something told him that she would just glare at him. God, the woman loved to glare, Sebastian thought as he climbed out of the car. Biting back a yawn, he walked around the car to the other side just as her helper placed the wheelchair next to the car and set the locks. When Sebastian saw Mrs. Blaine reach out with a trembling hand to grab hold of the door as she moved to stand up and transition herself to the wheelchair, he bit back a curse and stepped closer. Before she could argue, Sebastian was there, pulling her into his arms and picked her up, absently noting that she weighed less than Mikey as he carefully placed her in her wheelchair.

With a nod and a murmured, “Thank you, Sebastian,” Mrs. Blaine settled back in her chair and gestured with her cane for him to push her inside. With one last glance up at the large building they were entering, Sebastian pushed her toward the double doors where two security officers dressed in black suits waited with welcoming smiles.