Camilla thought she was just being a good neighbor when she let Claire borrow a few things. First, it was a garden hose. Then a ladder. Then her outdoor grill station when she and her family weren’t home. No big deal, right? Just simple acts of kindness.
She had no idea she was about to be taken advantage of in the worst possible way.
When Claire and her 16-year-old son, Adam, moved in six months ago, they seemed normal. Claire was in her 40s, polite, and friendly enough. She even made small talk about how nice the neighborhood was. Camilla figured she’d be the kind of neighbor who mostly kept to herself, and that was fine with her.
Then one weekend, Camilla and her husband, David, decided to take the kids to visit her parents. They planned to be gone for two days, enjoy some fresh air, and have a short getaway before the busy weeks ahead.
When they returned home, Camilla stepped into the backyard and felt her stomach drop.
It looked like a hurricane had torn through.
Beer bottles were littered everywhere, the potted plants were overturned, and grease stains covered the deck. The once-pristine grill station? It looked like it had barely survived an explosion. The kids’ toys were scattered across the lawn like someone had gone out of their way to make the mess as chaotic as possible.
Camilla stood frozen, her eye twitching.
Deep breaths. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation.
She stormed next door and knocked. Claire answered in pajamas, hair messy, looking completely unbothered.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, laughing. “That was Adam’s birthday party. You know kids, right? It’s just what they do.”
Camilla blinked. Just… what they do? Did she not see the disaster zone her son had left behind?
“My backyard isn’t a public park, Claire,” Camilla said, her voice tense. “You could’ve at least cleaned up.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be so uptight, Camilla. It’s just a little mess. You’ll get over it. A little bit of water will clear that up.”
Oh. Oh, okay.
Camilla turned on her heel and marched back into her house, steam practically rising from her ears.
“What’s that look for?” David asked, sipping his coffee.
“It was Adam’s birthday party. Apparently, that’s how he spent it,” she said, pacing.
David raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t he, like, sixteen?”
“Yeah. Which means underage drinking,” she said, crossing her arms. “There were so many beer bottles out there.”
David smirked. “Every kid does it at least once. But you could use that as leverage.”
“Oh, I’m going to do more than that,” Camilla muttered. “She told me I’d ‘get over it.’ I want her to feel something, too.”
First, she tried being reasonable. She wrote down three simple rules:
- If you use something, clean it and put it back.
- Respect my property.
- Clean up after your child.
The next morning, she handed it to Claire. She expected a mature response.
What she got instead?
A list of Claire’s rules taped to her front door.
Not a joke. Not a misunderstanding. Claire had written rules for Camilla to follow on her own property.
Camilla nearly choked on her coffee reading it:
Dear Neighbors!
To keep things fair and neighborly, I’ve put together some simple rules:
- No grilling past 7 PM. The smell keeps me awake.
- No spicy seasonings when you’re cooking. My son doesn’t like the smell.
- If I’m using the grill, please stay out of the yard. I don’t like being watched while I cook.
- Notify me before grilling so I can schedule my usage.
- Your garden hose is for community use. I may need it to wash my car or water my garden.
- Patio furniture is for everyone!
- When you mow your lawn, do mine too. It looks better that way.
- Be patient if my son leaves trash in your yard. Kids will be kids. It’s not a big deal.
- Sometimes I need extra parking space. I might use your driveway when needed.
- If you have concerns about these rules, remember: I know what’s best for our community!
Looking forward to a harmonious neighborhood!
Camilla read it twice to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her.
This woman really thought she had annexed her backyard into her own personal property.
Then, her daughter Olivia ran up to her, phone in hand.
“Mom, you need to see this,” she said, showing her a video.
Claire’s son, Adam, had been posting TikToks from their backyard.
In the videos, he and his friends laughed about using the space like their personal hangout. And then they trashed it on camera.
Oh. Oh, okay.
Camilla grabbed her phone, went into the backyard, and filmed everything—the litter, the grease-stained grill, the beer bottles still rolling across the patio. She zoomed in on the ridiculous list of rules Claire had taped to her door.
Then she posted it online.
Her caption?
“Glad my neighbor and her kid enjoy my backyard more than I do! Check out the rules she gave me!”
Three days later? 5 million views.
People flooded the comments.
“Excuse me? HER rules?! For YOUR house?!”
“No way, put up a fence ASAP. These people are insane.”
“Tell me you have an entitled neighbor without telling me you have an entitled neighbor.”
Then someone offered to help.
A guy in the comments, who specialized in building fences, reached out. By the end of the week, Camilla’s backyard was sealed tighter than Fort Knox.
No more: Oops, my son needed a place to hang out!
No more: I just needed to wash my car real quick, Camilla.
Claire noticed the fence immediately.
She stormed over, wooden spoon in hand, and banged on the door.
“You’re breaking my rules!” she shrieked.
Camilla took a slow sip of her coffee. “What’s with the spoon? What have you been baking?”
Claire fumed. “You’re breaking my rules, Camilla!”
Camilla smiled sweetly. “Oh, sorry. I just thought since we had different house rules, it was best we keep things separate.”
Two days later, there was another knock on the door.
Not Claire.
Adam.
The 16-year-old looked miserable. “Ma’am, please… you’re ruining my life.”
Camilla tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“The video,” he groaned. “People at school know it’s me. They won’t let me live it down.”
Oh. So he outed himself and now he was mad about it?
Camilla crossed her arms. “Actions have consequences, Adam. Do you understand that all you had to do was clean up after yourself?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
Camilla nodded. “Okay. I’ll delete the videos. But next time? Don’t take advantage of people’s kindness.”
That night, she saw Claire outside, leaning against her house, cigarette in hand. She looked tired. Defeated.
“You win,” she muttered.
Camilla raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize this was a competition.”
Claire scoffed. “We both know what this is. You didn’t like how I did things, so you went nuclear.”
“No, Claire. You went nuclear when you made up rules for MY house.”
Claire looked down, silent.
Camilla exhaled. “I could have gone to the police. I didn’t. Be grateful for that.”
Claire flicked her cigarette. “Yeah… I get that now.”
Camilla smiled. Good.11 hours ago 1,213 5 minutes read
