Chapter 5

CHAPTER5

She really needed to focus, Mikey told herself as she struggled to remember that she was supposed to be glaring as she snuck another glance at Sebastian, only to swallow hard.

He was so handsome.

Granted, he always looked handsome, but she really liked the way that he looked in his school uniform, Mikey thought as she took in the fresh haircut that he got yesterday, the bright blue eyes watching her curiously before taking in the crisp light blue shirt that fit him perfectly along with the black pants that ended with freshly polished black shoes. When he sent her a questioning look, Mikey cleared her throat and reminded herself that she had other things to worry about, like getting out of wearing this uniform.

With that in mind, Mikey slowly exhaled before she forced herself to face her mother again and said, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t force me to go through with this.”

“And Sebastian?” Reese said with a pointed look at her best friend.

“Is a bad influence,” Mikey said with a sad shake of her head and a long-suffering sigh as she glanced over her shoulder and noted the glare aimed at her. Mouthing, “I’m sorry,” she pushed forward, knowing that Sebastian would forgive her one day.

“Which really explains why you keep sneaking over to his house every night,” her mother said dryly, making her wince.

“Shouldn’t we be discussing how much you’re going to miss me?” Mikey asked with a hopeful smile, hoping to change the subject as she watched Uncle Trevor and Jonathan walk inside.

“You look adorable,” Uncle Trevor said with a warm smile that had her eyes narrowing on him.

“I always look adorable,” Mikey reminded him, making him chuckle as she watched Jonathan help himself to a muffin, only to frown when he gestured absently towards her. “There’s something different about you.”

“I will kill you,” Mikey bit out, knowing that she would have no choice but to take that muffin and shove it down his-

“That’s not it,” Jonathan said, shrugging it off as he took a bite of his muffin while he considered her.

“Are you ready?” Uncle Trevor asked as he grabbed her bag off the floor where she’d tossed it when she was forced to barricade herself in the pantry.

“No,” Mikey said, shaking her head as she moved to step back only to have Jonathan shove the rest of the muffin in his mouth, grab hold of her hand and drag her towards the door.

“Have a good day at school,” her mother called after her, which, normally, would have earned a glare, but at the moment, she was panicking too much to properly express her outrage.

“Please don’t do this to me,” Mikey mumbled weakly as she tried to pull her hand away, but the big jerk simply tightened his hold around her hand and kept moving.

“It’s for your own good,” Jonathan said, grabbing her bag and tossed it to Sebastian as Mikey noted the way that his gaze dropped to their hands before she was yanked outside and halfway down the driveway.

“You’ll thank me later,” Jonathan said with a satisfied sigh as he released her hand and headed across the street to where his mother was waiting by the minivan to drive him to school.

“You look very pretty!” Aunt Zoe said with a warm smile as she climbed into the minivan.

“Thank you,” Mikey murmured awkwardly as she reached down to adjust her skirt.

“You sold me out last night,” Sebastian said as he moved past her and opened the passenger side door of his father’s truck.

“And this morning,” Mikey felt obligated to point out as she reached for her bag only to have him pull it out of her reach and toss it over his shoulder as he held the door open for her.

“You really are a pain in my ass,” Sebastian said with a teasing smile as he held his hand out to her. With a grumble, Mikey took his hand and did her best to ignore just how good it felt to hold it as she climbed into the truck.

“You knew this,” Mikey said as she settled in the middle seat as Uncle Trevor and Sebastian joined her.

“This is true,” Sebastian murmured as he dropped their bags on the floor and reached for the seatbelt as Mikey sat there, debating her options. She could shove Sebastian out of the way and make a run for it or…

“So, I was thinking,” Mikey said as she focused on Uncle Trevor.

“About…” Uncle Trevor drawled as he started the truck.

“He’s not going to get you out of this,” Sebastian felt the need to point out for some reason.

“Shhh, not while I’m plotting,” Mikey whispered as she reached over and absently slapped her hand over Sebastian’s mouth. That was followed by clearing her throat, slapping a smile on her face and-

“Coach Dilmore,” Uncle Trevor said, but then again, that’s all he really needed to say to get her to shut her mouth, grumble, and pout as she stared out the window while she resigned herself to the inevitable.

Her first day of high school.

* * *

“Why areyou doing this to me?” Chloe asked hollowly as she watched the little girl who was slowly destroying her will to live finally come out of the bathroom.

“I’m ready,” Katie announced with a firm nod as she assumed a fighting stance while Chloe stood there, wondering where she went wrong as she took in the Spiderman costume that she hid in the basement to stop something like this from happening.

She should have asked Uncle Nick to drop Katie off when she had the chance, Chloe thought as she stood there, watching helplessly as her sister struck another attack pose even as she had to admit that wasn’t really an option. She loved her uncle, she really did, especially since he’d moved in after their parents died so that they could stay together, but they were more like roommates than a family. He was barely home and when he was home, he was either watching a game, sleeping, or telling her to stay away from Cole.

Not that she really had a choice, not with Cole taking it upon himself to sneak over here every chance that he got, Chloe thought as she stood there, thinking about the stubborn teenage boy who’d made sure that they had an amazing summer. Every day, he stopped by before work to annoy the hell out of her and right after work, he showed up with enough food to feed an army, took over the TV, and ignored Katie’s attempts to make him cry. When he wasn’t doing that, he was dragging them out of the house, taking them swimming, to the movies, dragging them over to his house for dinner, and making her like him a little bit more than she did the day before, which was the problem.

She was a pity case and sooner or later, Cole was going to lose interest and move on, and she was going to do the same because the only thing that mattered was the little demon determined to drive her crazy. Speaking of her sister…

“I’m really going to need you to go change,” Chloe said, really hoping that her sister took pity on her this morning.

“And I’m really going to need you to accept my need to embrace my secret identity,” Katie said with a firm nod.

“And I’m going to need you to go change so that we’re not late for the first day of school,” Chloe said, gesturing for her to get on with it.

“We’re not going to be late for school, not with my skills,” Katie said with a firm nod as she took up another fighting pose.

“We will if we don’t leave now,” Chloe said, trying not to think about all of the demerits that awaited her this year for being late. Last year, she finished the year two demerits shy of getting a written warning, which would have put her scholarship at risk and-

She couldn’t lose her scholarship.

“Then, you should go,” Katie said with a firm nod and a gesture for her to do just that.

“If I leave, then, who’s going to bring you to school?” Chloe asked as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“I don’t need to go to school,” Katie said, following that up with a firm nod. “I need to fight crime.”

“No, what you need to do is get your little butt back upstairs and change,” Chloe said, debating the odds of dragging her upstairs and getting her to change quickly, only to decide that they weren’t very good.

“I’m supposed to wear a costume on the first day,” Katie assured her with a solemn nod.

“You’re really not, though,” Chloe said, adjusting her bag over her shoulder as she did her best not to panic.

“I really am. It’s a rule,” Katie said with a pitying look. “Besides, Cole isn’t here yet.”

Biting back a sigh, Chloe said, “He’s not coming.”

“Why not?” Katie asked, frowning in confusion.

“Because he’s probably still getting ready for school.”

“Then, we should wait for him,” Katie said, moving to push her glasses back up her nose only to remember that she wasn’t wearing them.

“If we do that, then I won’t be able to drop you off at school and make it to first period on time and I’ll end up getting written up on the first day,” Chloe said, wondering how she was going to pull this off. There was no way that she was going to be able to get Katie to school on time every morning, not with her little sister determined to do everything within her power to drive her crazy.

Frowning, Katie asked, “What time were we supposed to leave?”

“Ten minutes ago,” Chloe said as she watched her little sister strike another pose.

Nodding, Katie said, “You really didn’t plan this very well, did you?”

“Please don’t make me beat you,” Chloe mumbled hollowly.

“You’d have to catch me first,” Katie pointed out.

“Are you going to go change?”

“We don’t have time,” Katie said as she grabbed her Ghostbuster’s backpack and headed for the door with a satisfied sigh.

“Please don’t do this to me,” Chloe said, really not looking forward to facing Katie’s new teacher.

Katie opened the front door only to go still as she bit out, “You’re late.”

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asked, frowning as she watched Cole Bradford, her neighbor, personal tormentor, and the boy who was confusing her, invite himself in.

“Wondering when Spiderman got so short,” Cole said with a teasing smile.

Nodding slowly, Katie said, “This will not be forgotten.”

“Why aren’t you dressed?” Cole asked, gesturing to Katie’s Spiderman costume.

“Why are you questioning my authority?” Katie countered with a glare.

“Since you’re not ready, I guess we won’t have time to stop at Dixon’s Bakery on the way, which is a damn shame since I was told that they had donuts with extra buttercream frosting today,” Cole said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of his head.

“They do?” Katie asked, swallowing hard.

“They do,” Cole said, nodding solemnly, “and I was going to buy you two of them, but sadly, we just don’t have time today.”

“I’ll be right back!” Katie said, turning around and racing back upstairs before the last word left Cole’s mouth.

“Why didn’t I think of bribery?” Chloe asked, sighing heavily as she stood there, listening as her little sister tore her room apart, looking for her school clothes.

“Because you’re a lightweight,” Cole said with a pitying look.

“She’s going to kill you when she finds out that we’re not getting donuts,” Chloe pointed out as she tried to ignore just how incredibly handsome he was. It was something that she should really be used to by now, but sadly, mostly for her, she was pathetic.

“Who said we’re not going to be able to get donuts?” Cole asked as he reached back and grabbed a large, white bakery bag off the porch. “We’re not going to be late,” he promised with a wink as he opened the bag and pulled out a double-chocolate donut and handed it to her.

“You thought of everything,” Chloe said, admittedly impressed as she took a bite of the incredibly delicious donut before pointing out, “We’re still going to be late.”

“Not today,” Cole said with a satisfied sigh as he pulled out a set of car keys from his pocket and-

Chloe was suddenly fine with being late.