The Promise (Neighbor from Hell, #10)(2)

“Yes!” came the resounding answer, making her shoulders sag with defeat because she was really kind of hoping that they’d take into consideration the fact that she was only twelve, small for her age, and really, really sorry about this whole thing.

Granted, she hadn’t had a chance to apologize yet, but she would just as soon as they stopped trying to drag her away from the safety of the metal cabinet that kept making ominous sounds that were really starting to concern her. She should have kept running and tried to barricade herself in the closet, but at the time the cheerleaders had been closing in on her and she hadn’t been sure if she was going to make it to the closet in time. Thanks to her quick thinking she was now stuck on top of an old, somewhat rusty, metal cabinet with an angry mob of hormonal teenagers after her.

She really wished she could figure out how to keep her mouth shut sometimes, now being one of those times. It would definitely make her life easier, she thought as she was forced to flatten herself against the wall so that she could pull her foot away from the edge of the cabinet.

“Would it help if I said that I was sorry?” she asked with a hopeful expression only to groan when they yelled, “No!”

Hugging her backpack tightly against her chest, she nervously licked her lips as she glanced around the large classroom, looking for someone or something that could get her out of this. But it appeared as though she was on her own on this one.

What she wouldn’t give for a teacher to walk in right now…

Well, maybe not Mr. Lafereira since he was the reason that she was in this mess. He really shouldn’t have called on her, especially since he knew better than most teachers what her stubborn mouth was capable of. But for some reason, he’d felt it was necessary to prove that she didn’t know when to quit. There had been seventeen other students in the room who were more than capable of answering his question, but had he asked any of them a question about Robert E. Lee’s role in the American Revolution?

No, because for some reason the deeply disturbed man enjoyed it when she pointed out when he was wrong, which unfortunately for the sake of their education, was often. She wasn’t sure what his degree was in, but it definitely wasn’t in American History. He was constantly getting dates mixed up, his facts wrong, and could never seem to answer any of their questions without having to refer to the large history book that he kept open and ready on his desk. So, when she’d politely pointed out that Robert E. Lee had been in the Civil War and that he might want to seriously consider other vocations it had somehow enraged him into assigning everyone a ten-page paper due first thing Monday morning that had really been his fault for calling on her.

“I hate you!” one of the cheerleaders screamed, sobbing hysterically a bit at the end there.

“You ruined my life!” someone else added, but she really wasn’t sure who since they’d all decided to start screaming at her.

She should shut up and let them get it out their system with the hopes that it would be enough to get them to give up on their plan to shove her in a locker and seal it with cement, but once again, her mouth refused to stay shut.

“It’s only a dance,” she pointed out, reminding them that it wasn’t the end of the world, but that’s when she realized that she’d made another tactical error.

“It’s Homecoming!” someone yelled as though that meant something to her.

“I had to mow fifty lawns to pay for this thing!”

“It’s the biggest dance of the year!”

“I had to eat lettuce for a month to fit into my dress!” one of the girls screamed as she gave up trying to grab Joey and decided that it was time to shove the cabinet onto its side.

That was right around the time that Joey decided to abandon ship.

Taking a deep breath, she tightened her hold around her bag and jumped from the cabinet, managing to take everyone by surprise and—

Fall flat on her face with a pained groan.

It wasn’t the smartest thing that she’d ever done, but at least she was off the cabinet, she told herself as another pained groan escaped her. As she lay there, most likely dying from internal injuries, she couldn’t help but wonder if they would be willing to forget this whole thing now that her short, and somewhat depressing, life had flashed before her eyes. When she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her arms and drag her to her feet, she couldn’t help but regret her decision to turn down her grandmother’s generous offer to homeschool her so that she wouldn’t end up in a situation like this one.

And yes, having the rest of the school turn on her and demand her head on a platter had been something of a concern for her grandparents. If only she’d listened, she thought absently as she was carefully placed on her feet and found herself looking up at her brother’s disapproving face. She couldn’t help but notice that he really didn’t look all that pleased to see her.

That kind of hurt since she was very happy to see him.

“What did you do now?” Jackson asked as he shot the group itching to get their hands on her a look of warning, which was probably the only reason they weren’t dragging her off toward the lockers by now.

“Umm,” she mumbled, shooting a nervous glance around the room to find the rest of her third period American History class glaring at her, “I may have questioned Mr. Lafereiria’s ability to teach high school history.”