[ I've borrowed the amazing idea of a childhood friend turned music star who doesn't talk to the love interest any more from solar_fIare who also has fantastic twisters fics you should check out!
and then as for her music 'vibes' just picture early in her career taylor swift before she swapped to pop music you know? those are the vibes and you'll see that with the many references to her songs — example for this chapter: lots of mary's song
and I'm not even putting coming soon bc we know soon is just in a few hours or tomorrow ]
[ OUR GIRL'S IN LOVE ]
AUGUST MONTGOMERY was gonna be a star — even by the age of seven, she knew. She thrived off performing and entertaining, constantly singing and dancing at county fair talent shows and in the pageants her parents put her in growing up. The country music station was constantly turned up at full volume in her bedroom on her purple Bratz-branded radio as she sang along to her heroes like Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood, dreaming of the day she'd be like them.
And because she believed every performer needed to know how to play some kind of instrument, she was learning from a self-teaching book how to play the guitar — one day she hoped to have mastered countless instruments, but she was starting small.
That was how the pair of nine-year-olds found her, sitting underneath a tree in the park across the street from her house where they'd been riding their bikes. And they rode right up to her, drawn in by her playing their shared favorite Tim McGraw song. 'Just to See You Smile' even though the lied and chose a less sappy one like 'Should've Been a Cowboy' when anyone asked them.
"What'chu doin'?" a boy asked, startling August, who looked up from her sheet music quickly.
There were two of them.
One was taller, already hitting his first of two growth spurts that were prepared to hit him as he grew up. His blonde hair was shaggy and pushed back off his face, and he wore a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts. But when August saw the uncoordinated cowboy boots also on his feet, she had to hold back a giggle.
The other was a bit shorter with dark hair that was cut short and tanned skin. He was in a shirt with the arms cut off and a pair of cargo shorts and a clunky, well-worn, muddy pair of regular boots. He was the one that had spoken to her.
August pushed some curly, brown hair behind her ears shyly, not one to have many friends. But maybe if she played her cards right, these older boys would want to keep talking to her.
"I'm teachin' myself how to play the guitar," she told him, her accent nearly as thick as his.
"That's cool you're learnin' on your own," the blonde boy said. "You got a name?"
"Yeah. Everyone does, don't they?" she asked with a grin. "I'm August. What about y'all?"
"I'm Tyler. This here is my best buddy, Boone," he introduced. "We's riding our bikes around town."
Then Boone nodded to her pink bike lying on the grass. "You wanna come with?" he asked with a smile.
"Well, I'd have to run home and put my guitar up, but I'm just down the block," she told them while putting her blue acoustic guitar in it's case, which she'd gotten for her birthday two months ago. "Mind comin' with?"
"'Course," Tyler said while grabbing her case for her as Boone helped prop her bike up. She smiled at their manners, figuring they were raised pretty well. "But fair warning, I'm the fastest bike rider in town."
"He is not," Boone said, scoffing. "That'd be me. You'll see."
"Well, you'll just have to race," August decided. "I'll be the judge."
"Well, I'm gone win," Tyler isnsited. "If I can place first in the Junior Rodeo Mutton Busting contest, I can win a bike race."
August raised an impressed eyebrow. "You tryin' to be a bull rider when you grow up or something'?"
"He's gone be the best bull rider in the world," Boone insisted with a wide grin. "He's gone be competing at the rodeo next county over on Saturday. You should come."
She perked up, always loving a good rodeo. "That's so exciting. Maybe if I ask Daddy, he'll bring me."
Tyler smiled back at her. "I'd sure like to have you in the crowd."
"Then I'd better be sure to be extra sweet to Daddy and Mama for the next few days."
☁︎
"Come on, Ty, don't be a sore winner," August said from her spot between Tyler and Boone in the basement of Boone's house.
They were eleven and thirteen now, and Tyler just had his first real bull riding contest, having come up from the mutton busting level. And of course, he'd beaten everyone by quite a bit, which went right to his head.
He'd bragged for hours about winning, but that was forever ago. Now, as they ate popcorn with Skittles mixed in, she and Boone were trying to get through a game of truth or dare. But Tyler, as always, was thinking the world of himself.
"Keep talkin' bad about me, and I'll beat you up or somethin'," Tyler told the girl, making her giggle. "I could do it! I'm bigger than you!"
"Sure you would, Ty," Boone said, rolling his eyes as August continued to laugh.
"But aren't you proud of me, Auggie?" Tyler asked, looking at her with a pout on his face.
August sighed, giving in. "Of course, I am, Ty," she told him with a soft smile. "But callin' all them other boys names behind their backs knowing you're gone be competing with them all season is mean. Not to mention you could jinx yourself."
Tyler scoffed. "Jinxes ain't real."
Boone gasped and threw his handful of popcorn at him. "You better knock on some dang wood, Tyler James."
It made Tyler snicker who leaned off the couch they were piled on to knock on the hardwood floor. "Whatever. Truth or dare, Booney?"
"Dare, duh," he said, rolling his eyes. Boone had never picked truth, and neither did Tyler. It'd be dare or dare if not for August, who was a wimp when it came to most things.
"I dare you to lick the toilet seat," Tyler said with a smirk.
"Ew," August cringed. Only to look at Boone in disbelief. "Ew, Boone!"
"A dare is a dang dare, and I ain't no coward!" Boone shouted, heading toward the bathroom with Tyler and August coming after him to watch.
He got on his knees and closed his eyes before quickly darting his tongue out to lick the slightest bit of the toilet seat. August squealed and shook out her limbs in disgust as Tyler laughed at him.
"I hate you," Boone said before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand as if that would help. "I hate you so dang much."
Once they were settled back down, Boone shoved a bunch of candy in his mouth with hopes that it would help. Then he set his eyes on August. "Alright, Auggie. Do I gotta ask? Truth or dare?"
"Truth," she grinned while settling back between the boys on the couch.
And maybe she shouldn't have said that with how Boone was smirking at her. "Who's the boy you been writing poems about in your song book?"
"Boone!" she exclaimed, sitting up straighter, her cheeks burning. "That's private!"
God, she was eleven, after all, so her poems weren't good. Even she knew that. So, having someone read them was embarrassing. And given that she had a horrible, terrible, suffocating crush on her two best friends, one of whom had read the poems about them, she wanted the couch to open up and swallow her whole.
"I just read a page or two," he said, snickering. Then he looked at Tyler with a smirk. "Our girl's in love."
"I am not!" she insisted. "Boone, that ain't none of your business."
"I don't know how I feel about this Poem Boy," Tyler said in a joking upset tone, shaking his head. "Ain't no one good enough for our Auggie."
"Look, if you ain't gone answer the truth, you gotta take a dare. I don't make the rules," Boone said while crossing his arms.
"Well, I ain't tellin'," she said stubbornly. And August couldn't even think about lying because Boone and Tyler knew her far too well at this point. They'd be able to tell. "So, dare, I guess."
"Oh, make it a good one, Boone," Tyler grinned, knowing they'd never get a chance like this again.
Boone took a long while — a long, long while. To the point that Tyler and August were kind of getting bored as they went back to talking about bull riding. Even though Tyler was still bragging, August wanted to know all about what it was like.
"It was like I was flyin', Auggie. I'd never felt so free," he was telling her.
"Weren't you scared?" she asked him. A bull was a big step up from a sheep. And though she was cheering in the stands, she was worried when he was thrown off the bull and hit his head.
"I mean, nah," he said, puffing his chest up. But then his shoulder sagged a bit and he smiled sheepishly. "A little, actually. But you can't let fears stop you. But you know all about bein' brave, singing in front of those crowds at your fairs and pageants and things."
"Well, those are small crowds. Even smaller than the one watching you today—"
"I got it!" Boone suddenly exclaimed, drawing their attention. Boone looked mighty proud of himself as he smiled smugly at a August. Then he leaned in and whispered in her ear so that Tyler couldn't hear.
Instantly, Tyler saw how August blushed a bright red at what he said. "What?" she squeaked out.
"You heard me," he said with a smirk on his face.
After a moment of just staring at Boone, she let out a weak breath. "Fine, I guess." Then she faced Tyler. "Ty, your turn. Truth or dare?"
"Is that it?" Tyler asked as Boone and August moved on from her dare so quickly, clearly confused. He thought he was gonna get to watch her do something embarrassing.
"She's gone do it. I'm sure of it," Boone said while leaning back against the armrest. "Truth or dare, Ty?"
"Dare, obviously," he said, rolling his eyes before looking at August expectantly.
"I dare you to kiss me," August mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes.
And instantly, knowing August would never ask that of him willingly, Tyler rolled his eyes and scoffed, looking to Boone. "You dared her to dare me to kiss her?"
"Yeah," Boone said, giggling. "Thought it'd be funny. You was complianin' the other day about never kissin' nobody after Nancy Wilson kissed Teddy Miller during gym. Helpin' you out."
Tyler sighed and looked at August. "Can I kiss you, Auggie?"
"I guess," she murmured, her cheeks still pink.
"Alight, I'm gone do it," Tyler said, trying to appear like he knew what he was doing as he scooted closer on the couch. "I guess, I just... kiss you?"
"I figure," August said, looking at him anxiously as he got closer.
Tyler hesitated before cupping her cheek, pulling her closer. He glanced back and forth between her lips and her eyes. August's blood was pounding as she felt his breath wash over her face, and her mouth felt incredibly dry.
Before he knew it, August was squealing and pushing him off. Rather than have his feelings hurt, Tyler just laughed it off with Boone, loving how easy it was to make her flustered. Picking on August was their favorite pastime.
"Well, that hurt my feelings more than you doggin' on my bull ridin' skills," he huffed, crossing his arms. "And I was real excited about bragging to everyone about gettin' my first kiss."
"Sorry, Ty," August said, her cheeks still red. "Not today."
"But another day?" he asked teasingly, making her giggle and shake her head. He just sighed dramatically.
"I'll kiss ya, Ty," Boone offered with a dimpled grin on his face.
Then August watched as Boone leaned over her to get to Tyler, quickly swooping in and kissing the other boy's lips. And both noticed how the tips of Tyler's ears turned red even though he didn't react any other way.
"Well," August hummed, a soft smile on her lips. "I feel a little left out."
Boone looked at her, raising an eager eyebrow. "You offerin' now? 'Cause we can share."
But August just shook her head and laughed it off, not knowing how serious they were being even back then.
"Did you already forget Boone licked the toilet seat?"
"Oh, god dang it, Boone!"