the north side of laurendale was full of rich senators, old money families, and wealth only most could dream of. this side of laurendale was the one shown on posters, or on advertisements. a true small town.

then, there was the south side of laurendale right on the bayou. this is where your trailer parks, drug dealers, and working-class people thrived.

this is where you had lived your whole life. while the northside thrived off of fake smiles and publicity stunts, the southside would tell you if they hated you and had no problem talking about small town drama.

however, one thing was for sure—just because you grew up in a trailer park doesn’t mean that you were all incredibly close. there were specific people who most kids your age were smart to stray away from.

first, there was ethan owensbee, who was known for causing chaos wherever he went. then there are two brothers, noah and nolan, and whoever else followed the dictatorship of ethan. since you were little, all three of the boys had been feared, even by some northsiders, especially ethan.

you had luckily stayed away from the three boys until 7th grade. your whole life fell apart when your mother started her new ‘music’ career that had yet to be successful, and of course, ethan was the first one to know.

since then, you’ve been a target of their attacks.

yet, the one thing that has kept you from loosing your shit on the boys, was a radio that you got for your birthday. it was nothing special, and it was the only thing your mom could by—but to you? it was amazing. and you could finally hear the one person that you had been looking for.

your dad. he left when you were six to find his new career in music, and for him? he was extremely successful, and even had his own talk show based in nashville. while, technically, you didn’t know what he looked like now or if he even ever wanted to see you again, it felt as if you had a piece of your dad everytime you listened to the radio.

it’s currently a hot july night, AKA, fourth of july, and for your trailer park? it meant loud music and watching huge fireworks from lawn chairs in your front yards.

normally, you would be out with some of the kids, but right now? you were too excited for your dad’s talk show. tonight, he would be explaining the details for a talent show that anyone could sign up for.

your mom was out in texas, for some ‘huge break’ tour while you stayed with your cousin, emma lee.

however, while you were sitting on the dirt path that went down the entire trailer park, radio by your side, you noticed a stray cat practically running for its life, while a group of boys chased after it. scratch that—ethan and his goons chased after the poor cat.

however, when ethan saw you sitting there, he started running exactly towards you, luckily, you moved out of the way just in time, landing in a ditch.

but that isn’t what shocked you. what shocked you is that when you stood up? your radio was completely smashed by all of the boys stepping over it. you screamed after them, until finally ms. jennie, AKA, the scary old lady of the trailer park, called them back to apologize.

all ten of the boys apologized, including ethan, obviously scared by ms. jennie.

“don’t ever do that again. now, noah, help her with her radio, I know you’re good at fixing things.” ms. jennie said while you internally groaned.

noah muttered a small ‘yes ma’am’ staying behind while the rest of his friends took off again. see, noah himself, wasn’t as bad as ethan or his younger brother nolan—and honestly stayed quiet when they picked on you, but still. he never really did anything to stop it either.

“I don’t need your help. you’ve done enough.” you snap at him, starting to pick up the pieces of the radio.

you can feel his blue eyes burning into the side of your face, and when you look up, he’s frowning, “just let me help you. please?”

you took a deep breath, before gesturing at him to help you. even though your pride was hurt, you still had ten minutes to listen to the talk show, and noah was good at fixing things.