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“But you’re not going to,” Aunt Haley said, making him chuckle as he put everything back in the refrigerator.

“I’ll figure something out,” Sebastian said as he grabbed three bottles of water, the chips, and the bowl of potato salad that Aunt Haley made yesterday and put everything on the table.

“Okay. Then what about your personal letters of recommendation?” Aunt Haley asked as he grabbed their plates.

“I don’t have any,” Sebastian admitted as he placed her plate in front of her and–

“Does this have extra mayonnaise?” Mrs. Blaine asked, not bothering to look as she narrowed her eyes on him.

“Not unless you want Aunt Haley to beat me,” Sebastian said, going back to grab his plate.

When he returned to the table, Mrs. Blaine’s glare had shifted to Aunt Haley, which Sebastian appreciated. He put some potato salad on his plate, noted the way that his little cousin followed the move as Hunter licked his lips and got up and grabbed a small plate for him. Sebastian put a small scoop on the plate and moved to place it in front of Hunter only to bite back a sigh when his cousin shot him a glare of his own.

After adding a second scoop of potato salad on the plate, Sebastian took a bite of his sandwich and moved to return his focus to the chapter that he was supposed to be reading only to become aware of someone watching him. Looking up, he wasn’t exactly surprised to find Aunt Haley and Mrs. Blaine glaring at him.

“What do you mean, you don’t have a letter of recommendation?” Aunt Haley asked. “Your uncle and I are both writing you one.”

“Thank you, but you don’t have to do that,” Sebastian said, hating the idea of them putting themselves on the line like that. He–

“Ow!” he said, narrowing his eyes on his aunt as he rubbed his shoulder where her water bottle had bounced off.

“Stop being difficult,” Aunt Haley said, gesturing for him to give her back the water bottle.

With a glare, Sebastian reached down and grabbed the bottle off the floor and handed it back to her.

“Who else can you ask?” Aunt Haley asked, acting like she hadn’t just launched a water bottle at him.

“No one.”

“What about your Aunt Kasey? You help her a lot. Why can’t you ask her?”

“Because we all share the same last name,” he pointed out.

“I can see how that might be an issue,” Aunt Haley murmured, looking thoughtful as she took a sip of water while he couldn’t help but notice that Mrs. Blaine was once again glaring at him.

At his questioning look, she asked, “Why wasn’t I asked for a letter?”

“Because I was afraid that you’d beat me with your cane?” Sebastian said as Aunt Haley was forced to turn her head while Mrs. Blaine’s eyes narrowed dangerously on him and her hand twitched as though she was thinking about grabbing her cane, which she probably was.

Clearing her throat around what sounded suspiciously like a snort of laughter, Aunt Haley decided to change the subject. “How is Mikey doing with her essay?”

“I don’t know. She won’t let me see what she wrote,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily as he grabbed his water and took a sip, wondering why Mikey was such a pain in his ass.

“I thought you were helping her,” Aunt Haley said, frowning in confusion.

“I am, but apparently, I’m not allowed to see her essay until she’s done.”

“Maybe it’s personal?” Aunt Haley suggested, which of course only made him even more curious about what Mikey was writing.

“Are you ready for the test?” Aunt Haley asked as Mrs. Blaine continued to glare at him, something that he should be used to by now.

“As ready as I can be,” Sebastian said, even as he couldn’t help but wonder if Mikey was.

*-*-*-*

Well, she was now officially late for practice, but it couldn’t be helped, Mikey told herself as she knocked on the door.

Mr. Rose looked up from the papers that he was correcting. When he saw her, he gestured for her to come. “What can I help you with, Mikey?” he asked with a smile as he tossed the pen back on his desk.