Misunderstood (Neighbor from Hell (YA) 1)

“Her website is insanely successful, and now, she has a catering company that’s in high demand and I’ve honestly never seen her happier.”

“That’s because she worked her ass off to get where she is today,” Sebastian pointed out, giving her braid a playful tug.

“Okay, then look at your parents. Your mother grew up in foster care, ran away when she was what? Fifteen? Sixteen? She finished school, put herself through college, and after struggling to make it on her own, she fell in love with your father, she is happily married, and has her own business. It all worked out for her. And your father, managed to get his act together after dropping out of school and earned his GED. Things worked out for all of them in the end.”

“First off, they worked their butts off to get where they are today, so I’m not sure that you can say that everything just ‘worked out for the best.’ Secondly, I’m pretty sure that my mother lost a bet and had to marry him,” Sebastian pointed out.

“I’m sitting right here,” his father, who had been kind enough to take the day off to drive them here so that they could take the test, bit out, drawing their attention.

Blinking, Sebastian said, “I know.”

“There was no bet,” his father said, narrowing his eyes dangerously on him. “Your mother loves and adores me and cried tears of joy when I married her.”

“Are you sure they were tears of joy?” Mikey asked with a sympathetic wince that had his father’s lips twitching.

“You kids are brutal,” his father said, chuckling as he looked back down at his phone and continued scrolling through available properties online, probably looking for another house to flip.

“And you knew this,” Mikey said, nodding only to wince when the door to the testing room opened and a middle-aged man that really didn’t look happy to be here, gestured for them to go inside.

Knowing there was no turning back now, Sebastian slowly exhaled as he stood up, telling himself that everything would work out for the best.

*-*-*-*

“I can’t believe I failed,” Mikey said hollowly as she stared down at her untouched burger.

There was a heavy sigh and then, “You didn’t fail,” Sebastian said while she watched as he stole half of her delicious-looking burger.

“I’m sure you did fine,” Uncle Trevor said as he helped himself to some of her steak fries.

“Why must you lie to me?” Mikey asked with a sniffle, and because it felt like it was needed at the moment, a disappointed sigh.

“Why do you think we’re lying to you?” Sebastian asked as she watched her chocolate milkshake disappear.

“Because I was the last one to finish the exam,” Mikey mumbled sadly only to point to the large pickle on her plate since she wasn’t a big fan of pickles. A second later it was gone and she found herself looking out the large w

indow to her left, staring at the parking lot, wondering what she was going to do with her life now that her baseball career was over.

“Because you didn’t rush like most of them did,” Sebastian pointed out as she couldn’t help but wonder if she had what it took to be a paid assassin.

Probably not, Mikey thought only to wonder if she should learn how to cook and join the family business only to decide that might not be a good idea with her hating to cook and all. That led her to wondering if she should call Uncle Jared and see if he’d be willing to hold a job for her until she turned eighteen. She could do construction, Mikey told herself only to wonder if Uncle Jared would be willing to overlook the fact that she was afraid of saws, nail guns, and basically anything and everything that could leave her maimed or impaled on something.

“Are you planning on pouting until we get our test results?” Sebastian asked, helping himself to the rest of her fries.

“Yes, yes, I am,” Mikey said with a sniffle as she continued to pout, deciding that she really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“That will really make the week fly by,” Sebastian said dryly as he reached for the rest of her burger.

“The camping trip should help get your mind off of it,” Uncle Trevor said, drawing her attention.

“Camping trip?” Mikey said, frowning only to roll her eyes when she was met with matching “Duh” looks.

“April vacation is next week,” Sebastian said as though that was supposed to mean something to her.

At her blank stare, Uncle Trevor said, “The family camping trip.”

It took a moment before his words sank in and when they did…

“Oh, god no,” Mikey found herself mumbling as she threw a frantic look at Sebastian, hoping beyond hope that he was going to tell her that this was a joke.