“I won’t,” Sebastian said, chuckling as he slowly made his way past his sister’s window.
As soon as he came to the edge of the roof, Sebastian lowered himself to the next level and made his way to the chimney where he spent most of his time reading to get a break from his family. He loved them, he truly did, but sometimes he just wanted to sit back with a book and lose himself for a little while. Since they were all afraid of heights, this worked out well for him.
It also didn’t hurt that this particular spot was close to his parents’ room and he’d be able to hear if they decided to check on them, which would give him plenty of time to return to the safety of his room and climb back in bed before they made good on all those promises to wring his neck if they caught him on the roof again. Until then, Sebastian was going to sit here and check out the insanely cool school that was going to save him from spending another year doing the workbooks that his mother downloaded from the internet.
He loved spending time with his mother and studying whatever he wanted, but he missed school. He missed gym class, missed hanging out with his friends at lunch, missed being able to get a new book every day from the library, and missed being taught instead of watching videos and doing busy work. For the past two years, his parents had been trying to get them into a new school, hoping to find a private school that would take them without costing a fortune, but thanks to their school records, none of the schools around here had been willing to accept them.
Except for Radcliffe Academy.
His mother had gone to bat for them, calling and emailing the school every week for the past year until the school finally gave in and allowed them to take the entrance exam. When their test results came in, the school offered them a scholarship and now, they were going to one of the best schools in the country and he couldn’t wait. They’d have to take two buses to get there, but it would be worth it, especially if–
“Baby, please stop crying,” Sebastian heard his father say, making him frown as he looked up from the iPad in his hands.
Curious, Sebastian shifted to the edge of the roof and looked past the chimney. When he heard the unmistakable sounds of his mother crying, something that he’d never heard before, he found himself shoving the iPad back in his sweatshirt and carefully moving around the chimney so that he could make sure that she was okay.
“Shhh, baby, please. Everything is going to be okay,” his father said while Sebastian watched through their bedroom window as he pulled Sebastian’s mother into his arms and closed his eyes. “It will be fine.”
“No, it won’t,” she said around a choked sob as she wrapped her arms around his father and pressed her face against his chest.
“We’ll figure something out. We always do,” his father promised, but from the expression on his face, Sebastian could tell that he really didn’t believe it.
Sebastian swallowed nervously as he knelt there, watching his parents, more terrified than he’d ever been in his life because he’d never seen his parents like this. When something went wrong, his parents usually teased each other until one of them was smiling and Sebastian knew that everything was going to be okay. But now…
Now, he was absolutely terrified.
“How are we supposed to choose?” his mother asked.
“I don’t know, Zoe,” his father said, making him frown.
“I can’t do this.”
“We’ll make it work,” his father promised.
“How are we supposed to come up with forty thousand dollars every year for the next eight years?” his mother asked, making his stomach drop.
“I don’t know.”
“How are we supposed to decide who gets to go to this school and have a real chance and which one stays here while we fumble our way through homeschooling him? I can’t do it, Trevor. I can’t do that to them,” his mother said as she held on tightly to his father while Sebastian sat there, realizing just how much his parents had been hiding from them.
They hadn’t offered them both a scholarship.
Radcliffe Academy had only offered one of them a scholarship, which meant that one of them wasn’t going anywhere. It meant eight more years of workbooks at the kitchen table, running errands with their mother, and trying not to die from boredom.
“I don’t think they expect us to choose, sweetheart. Sebastian got the higher score,” his father said as Sebastian sat there breathing a sigh of relief.
That is, until his mother spoke.
“What about Jonathan?”
“He can do another year of homeschooling, sweetheart. In the meantime, we’ll save every penny we get our hands on and we can send him next year,” his father promised as Sebastian wordlessly turned around and slowly made his way back to his bedroom.
“It’s about time,” Jonathan said, grinning as he sat up and tossed his book aside when Sebastian crawled back through the window. “I can’t decide if I want to join the robotics team or the soccer team. Both would be cool, but the robotics team gets a trip to Disney World if they win. We should both join. We’d definitely win then.”
“Here,” Sebastian said hollowly as he pulled the iPad out of his sweatshirt and handed it to his brother.
“You’re done?” his brother asked, looking surprised.
“Yeah, I’m done,” Sebastian said, nodding absently as he climbed onto the top bunk, laid down, and closed his eyes.
Chapter 2
Three Years Later…
“Do you know why you’re here today, Sebastian?” came the question that had already been asked by ten other therapists over this past year alone.
“I have a pretty good idea,” Sebastian murmured absently as he glanced around the large office, taking note of all the diplomas on the wall, the Marvel and D.C. Comics memorabilia throughout the large room, the huge flat screen television on the wall with every video game console known to man neatly lined up on the shelves below it, the large video game collection lining the bookshelves on either side of the large television, teen magazines covering the coffee table in front of him and couldn’t help but wonder why his parents thought this would be a good idea.
“Care to share?” the therapist that his parents hoped would figure out what was wrong with him, asked.
“Not really,” Sebastian said when he spotted something promising on the other side of the room.
“You like to read?” Ben, as he’d been told to call him, asked when Sebastian walked toward the collection of books on the other side of the room.
“Do you like to ask questions that you already know the answer to?” Sebastian countered as he took in the selection of books in front of him, looking for something new to read.
“Fair enough,” Ben said before he suggested, “Then why don’t you tell me what you want to talk about.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sebastian said, biting back a disappointed sigh as he took in graphic novel books, books on bullying, eating disorders, and depression, noting that Ben had the same collection of books that seemed to be standard in every therapist’s office, and was about to turn around when he saw it.
A book written on the best methods of behavioral therapy for teenagers written by the man currently trying to get inside his head. He made a mental note of the title before making his way back to his seat, noting that Ben already had a fresh legal pad and pen ready to go.