wrong side of the tracks.

"I don't understand how you people can think you're the greatest living people in the world, yet you go around treating everyone else like they're below you, or they're trash," Jimmy said.

"I don't think that," Maddison insisted. "Please what can I do to make things right."

"You can leave my side of town and never come back," Jimmy said.

Maddison frowned. "Jimmy please," she frowned. "I want us all to get along."

Zacky walked over and patted Jimmy's shoulder. "Hey man, it's all right," he said.

Jimmy looked down at Zacky and then back at Maddison before he turned and walked back inside the house.

Zacky frowned. "He's really sensitive about the whole money thing," he said. "He's the worst off of all of us."

"If I had known I swear I wouldn't have tried to bribe him with money," Addison insisted. "I've never even done that before today. I was desperate. Please I don't want him to hate me."

"Why does this matter so much to you?" Zacky asked curiously. "It's not like you have any sort of relationship with him you need to keep up."

"You and your friends," she mumbled. "You seem happier than I pretend to be. How do you do it?"

"Because we appreciate what we have," Zacky said. "We love our families and while we wish we might have better things, we really probably wouldn't change a thing."

"All I want is for my parents to notice me," Maddison admitted. "I'm invisible to them because I wasn't a boy."

"Why did they want a boy?" Zacky asked curiously.

"My dad thinks women are born sinners and harlots," Maddison replied simply.

Zacky's brows furrowed. "Well, that . . . that makes absolutely no sense," he said. "But I guess none of the shit you Jesus freaks say makes sense."

"I'm not a Jesus freak," she snapped. "My mama and daddy may be but I'm not."

"Then why do you go to church with them?" Zacky asked. "I see you every Sunday when I go through town. You're there with them."

"I tried to not go one time," Maddison admitted. "Never knew how hard it would be to sleep with welts all over my back."

Zacky frowned. "They beat you?" he mumbled.

Maddison nodded. "Daddy pulled of his belt and beat me black and blue on my back."

Zacky shook his head. "I'm sorry he did that," he mumbled.

"Its not your fault," Maddison mumbled.