The house looked nothing like she remembered. Maybe it's because she was five when they moved out in 1982, but Maddie had a sneaking suspicion that it was because the house was a lot cleaner than it was the last time her family lived there.

It had been a stroke of luck, her mother had said. Bonnie had been on the phone with her old friend from camp, Nick, for the first time since they'd moved from Ohio to Georgia, and he'd mentioned that their old house was for sale again.

Maddie thought it was weird that this Nick guy hadn't spoken to her parents in over twelve years, but Bonnie seemed elated, making preparations to sell their house and move back into the house they'd owned in Shadyside.

Another thing that was different from what she remembered. Maddie had only been five when they moved, but now as a seventeen-year-old, she noticed that Shadyside sucked. That was the only way she could describe it. There was no sugarcoating it; Shadyside was the worst.

But, their house was fairly nice, and it was clean from the previous owners, and for the first time in a while, her parents had managed all day without a single nasty comment aimed at the other.

Maddie had just finished bringing in the last of the boxes to her bedroom. She and Andrew had done rock paper scissors for the biggest room and she'd lost, huffing sulkily as she trudged up the stairs.

As she wiped the sweat from her forehead, Maddie headed downstairs and was met with the familiar sound of her parents arguing. "All I'm asking for is a little help unpacking, Scott,"

Her father was sitting at the kitchen counter with a newspaper, not even looking up at his wife. "You were the one who wanted to move back to this shithole," He said matter-of-factly. "I don't see what was so bad about Georgia."

Bonnie sighed, gritting her teeth. "Yes you fucking do," she snapped. "It's a fresh start here. I organised an interview with you at the realtor's office, and I have a position as a writer that's open; Nick's recommending me."

Maddie heard her big brother sigh behind her. Andrew had gotten their father that interview, not Bonnie, but he didn't care enough to speak up about it. Neither of them cared about their parent's argument when they both knew it would be them unpacking the house. Sydney and Jack were playing in the front yard, Andrew's eyes automatically flicking out the window every so often to watch them. It was a habit both of the siblings had picked up over time. "Don't you understand, Bonnie? It doesn't fucking matter what jobs we have here when we're probably going to get murdered,"

Maddie knew Shadyside was a little... run down. But her dad seemed genuinely terrified that something would happen. Bonnie sighed exasperatedly. "We were one bill away from being fucking homeless in Georgia, Scott. We have a chance at a good life here for our kids,"

"Maybe we would have had more money if it weren't for you and your goddamn drinking!" Scott raised his voice at his wife, and Maddie didn't know if he wasn't aware of the presence of their two older kids or if neither of them cared.

"Well they're certainly not wasting any time," Andrew muttered in her ear, Maddie sighing in agreement. "We should go check on the kids, give them some space," Maddie wordlessly followed him and had just reached the door when someone on the other side knocked.

Scott and Bonnie tore themselves away from their fight to plaster smiles on their faces as Maddie opened the door. It was a couple about her parents' age along with a teenage girl. "Hi, I'm Rebecca, this is my husband Tyler and our daughter Heather, we live across the street,"

"Hi, Rebecca. I'm Bonnie," Bonnie shook Rebecca's hand. "My husband Scott, then we have Andrew and Madeline, and over there on the grass is Sydney and Jack. So nice to meet you,"

"We wanted to invite you over to our house for dinner," Tyler said, a genuine-looking smile on his face, unlike the completely fake ones that adorned Maddie's parents. It was weird to her, to see a family that was so well put together, even if it was fake. She was convinced everyone could see through Bonnie and Scott's facades.

It seemed as though it wasn't a facade on the Watkins' part, the family seemed to have a nice conversation over dinner while making the effort to include the other family in conversation. "So, Madeline. What grade are you in?"

Maddie swallowed her bite of food before answering. "Eleventh," she answered. "Andrew's graduating this year and Sydney's in fourth,"

"Heather's in eleventh grade!" Tyler said happily, and the aforementioned girl smiled awkwardly at Maddie. She seemed nice enough, but her parents hadn't really let her get a word in with the only people her age sitting at the opposite ends of the table. "Hey, sweetheart. Weren't you planning on going to a party tonight?"

Maddie couldn't read the expression on her face. Heather genuinely didn't care if these new kids came along, they seemed cool and if they didn't want to hang with her there would be other people there anyway. She wasn't going to kick up a fuss about it. She already kind of liked Maddie, noting the band on the shirt she wore. She listened to The Cure too. "Yeah. You guys should come along if you want,"

"Isn't that a good idea?" Bonnie smiled. She looked down at Andrew and Maddie's almost empty plates. "Why don't you guys get changed, you can go with Heather?"

Neither of the Holt children made any objections as they walked back across the street with Heather and their younger siblings. Sydney and Jack needed to be in bed soon, and the parents had decided they might as well just leave from their house rather than Heather waiting at her house.

"Your parents seem nice," Andrew said by way of conversation as they reached the front door. He was planning on handling Jack while Maddie put Sydney down.

Heather let out a barking laugh. "Yeah, sure. My dad's fucking this woman up in Sunnyvale and my mom has a gambling problem," she said bluntly. "But thank you for saying so,"

Maddie couldn't control the laugh that left her mouth, looking over at the other girl, who simply smiled.

The party was loud. Heather had to shout to let Maddie and Andrew hear her. "I have some friends over there, but you guys can come if you want," They shook their heads. Andrew wanted to get to know seniors rather than juniors and Maddie had smuggled in her walkman, intending to not speak to another human that night.

She only had one drink before switching to water, headphones loud enough that she could almost block out the music. She could pretend she was home alone and her parents weren't both drunk and angry, and how she didn't have a house to unpack when she got home. She could pretend there wasn't someone tapping her on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up.

Normally, when guys put gel in their hair it was an instant turn-off. But the boy standing over her had put in just enough to stop his clearly unruly curls from going wild. He was pretty, with a too-wide smile and pink cheeks making it hard for Maddie to tell if he was drunk or that's just how he was. "You like music?" he gestured to her headphones. "Me too!"

Maddie didn't want to deal with strangers. Not neighbors across the street, not goofy blonde boys, no one. She barely even wanted to deal with herself.

"Cool," she said, going to put her headphones back over her head.

"What are you listening to?" he asked. Clearly, he didn't understand social cues or he didn't care.

"Ace of Base," Maddie admitted somewhat sheepishly. She figured this guy would probably wrinkle his nose at anything that wasn't alternative or punk, based on the way he was dressed. But instead, he just nodded,

"I personally prefer ABBA, but as far as Swedish pop groups go, you can never go wrong with a little Ace of Base," he said. "You new around here?"

"Just moved here," she nodded. This guy seemed okay, and he was sort of cute, so she was willing to let him talk to her. "I'm Maddie,"

"Simon," she didn't think it was possible, but his smile got even wider.

It was that lasting moment when both people knew the conversation was about to end, and they were both desperate to say something to make sure the interaction continued. Neither of them really wanted to pretend they didn't know each other at school because of one conversation they'd had. Wanting to learn more about each other, they both spoke at the same time.

"Do you wanna hang out?"

"Do you wanna make out?"

Maddie paused for a moment, considering the offer. "I have something better that we can do,"

He was still there when she woke up the next morning.

Maddie had only slept with a few guys over in Georgia, but they'd had the decency to sneak out before she woke up. What the hell was she supposed to do now? This guy was supposed to be a one-night stand, and now she was going to have to talk to him.

Andrew had told her the night before to stay as late as she wanted, go wild, he'd said, volunteering to take the morning shift with their siblings, so Maddie wasn't worried about that.

She was more worried about the fact that she didn't want to deal with this guy. Simon was cute, and he was funny and sweet, and last night Maddie had wanted to hang out with him but that morning she wanted nothing more than to never see him again. Ever.

He was waking up. Crap. What was she supposed to do? Did she fake sleep? Did she talk to him? It was seven in the morning and she had a hangover and felt suffocated.

His smile appeared almost instantaneously as his eyes focused on her face. "Hi,"

She could barely breathe, she needed to get out of the situation. She needed Simon to get out. "Hey. So, last night was great,"

Simon looked over at her, adoration filling his eyes. "Yeah, it wa-"

"But my family is downstairs and if my dad finds out you're here he'll kill me, so..."

Simon's grin ebbed almost indiscernible as he sat up. "Yeah, sure," he tugged his clothes on, still examining her as he did. He glanced towards the open window which let out to the roof that he could climb down. She was gorgeous, and every time he looked at her he could hear the way she whispered his name, the feeling of her lips on his neck, the way she tugged at his hair. She was perfect.

She pulled on a pair of sweatpants, looking at her face in the mirror. She hadn't taken her makeup off the night before, and she was worried about wrinkles. Simon took a few seconds more to gaze at her. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," she didn't even look at him.

Simon knew that it would probably be the last time he ever made eye contact with Madeline Holt ever again, but she was funny and smart and sweet last night, and she seemed super into him. He guessed she was just looking for someone to hook up with and turned on the charm with him the night before, but that didn't stop his stomach from fluttering when he thought about her. She was amazing.

And totally disinterested in him.

He let out a small "bye" that she returned with a half-hearted wave as she pulled a shirt over her head. She knew she was being a bitch, but he was way too happy and way too interested in her. She needed coffee and Advil and to be alone.

Her parents had made her uproot her entire life, which she understood but wasn't happy about. Bonnie wasn't exaggerating; they really were one bill away from homelessness. Even with Maddie, Andrew and Bonnie working, they could barely pay rent on time, and Scott couldn't hold down a job to save his life. With the stress, Bonnie had turned to wine, which ledto Scott refusing to be around her, spending most of his day passed out in the bedroom on sleeping pills. That left Andrew and Maddie to take care of their siblings. Their relationship only grew more strained when Bonnie decided to move back to Ohio.

Scott was adamant. He did not want his kids in Shadyside. They were young, they had plenty of time to carve a life out for themselves in Georgia. They had Andrew young, they were only eighteen. They didn't expect their lives to decline so hard that Scott agreed to move back to Shadyside, despite his hatred for the town. Maddie was starting to feel the same way as her dad. So far Shadyside had brought her a cute guy that she wanted nothing to do with and a raging hangover.

She brushed her teeth and showered, scrubbing every remnant of Simon from her body. She never even wanted to think about him again. Chances were she probably wouldn't. But then again, when had she ever been that lucky?

────────── ⋆˚✿˖° author's note
hiiii!! maddie lowkey kinda sucks in the early chapters i am sorry but she becomes self-aware later so there's that at least 💔
so the way that this book is formatted is that the first 9 chapters are like. setting the scene and then chapter 10 is when the movie actually begins. cause of the way the movie is plotted out, you really don't get to spend a lot of time actually learning about characters and no matter how i tried to write it just starting w the mall scene felt rushed and sloppy so this was the only real solution i could find