Wrong.

One weekend, my husband, David, and I took the kids to visit my parents.

“We can have a date night while your parents take over with Grandma and Grandpa duty,” David said, packing

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I had to admit, I was ready to get out of town for a while. I had been feeling restless, and I just wanted a change of scenery before I started to feel suffocated.

We were gone for two days.

And when we got back?

My God.

Our backyard looked like it had survived a frat house BBQ apocalypse.

There were empty beer bottles littering the patio, my potted plants were turned upside down, and the kids’ toys were thrown everywhere. Grease stains covered the deck. Our once beautiful grill station looked like it had barely survived an explosion.

I stood there, staring at the mess, my eye twitching.

Deep breaths, Camilla, I told myself. Maybe there’s an actual explanation for this.

So, I went next door and knocked. Claire answered, still in pajamas, looking completely unbothered.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, laughing. “That was Adam’s birthday party. You know kids, right? It’s just what they do.”

I blinked. My brain felt like it was ticking away.

That’s just what kids do? Was she mad? Didn’t she see the mess? What the hell?!

“My backyard isn’t a public park, Claire. You could’ve at least cleaned up.”

“Oh, don’t be so uptight, Camilla,” she said, shrugging. “It’s just a little mess. You’ll get over it. Surely, you and your husband can use a hose? A little bit of water will clear that up.”

I could have thrown something at her.

Oh, I’ll get over it? Um, sure.

I went back to my home, trying to figure out what to do. I could be reasonable, or I could be erratic and make Claire pay.

“What’s that look on your face?” David asked as I walked into the kitchen. “Found the culprit?”

“It was Adam’s birthday party. Apparently, that’s how he spent it.”

“Isn’t he, like, sixteen?” David asked, making me a cup of tea.

“Something like that,” I said, getting the jar of biscuits. “Oh my goodness. Underage drinking! There are so many beer bottles out there.”

David looked at me and laughed.

“Every kid does it at least once, Cami,” he said. “But, I mean… you could use that as leverage, right? To scare the kid?”

I nodded.

“But I want Claire to feel something, too. She told me that we could just hose down the mess and that I’d get over it.”

We had our tea in silence while I tried to figure out what to do.

Okay, Cami, I thought. Let’s try being reasonable first.

I grabbed a notepad and 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, I went over to Claire and handed it to her. I expected a mature response. But what I got in return was anything but.

The next day, I woke up to a list of her rules taped to my front door.

It was not a joke. It was Claire’s rules. For my property. My property.

I nearly choked on my coffee as I read the note.

Dear Neighbors!

To keep things fair and neighborly, I’ve put together some simple rules:

Please follow these to avoid any issues.

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. It is distracting, and I don’t like when strangers watch me cook.
Notify me before grilling so I know who’s using it. Schedules are key.
Your garden hose is for community use. I may need it for washing my car and watering my garden.
Patio furniture is for everyone!
When you mow your side of the lawn, do mine too. It looks so much better that way.
Be patient if my son leaves trash in your yard. Kids will be kids, and it’s not a big deal!
Sometimes I need extra parking space. I might use your driveway when needed.
Also, if you ever have concerns about these rules, feel free to discuss them with me. But please remember, I know what’s best for our community!
I’m looking forward to a harmonious neighborhood!

I read it twice to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

This woman really thought she had just annexed my backyard into her personal kingdom. Then my eldest kid, Olivia, came running up, phone in hand.

“Mom, you need to see this,” she said. She showed me a video.

Claire’s son, Adam, had been posting TikTok videos.

From our backyard!

In the clips, he and his friends laughed about using our space like it was their personal hangout. And then they trashed the place on camera.

Oh. Oh.

I grabbed my phone immediately.

I walked to my backyard and filmed everything. The litter, the grease-stained grill and the beer bottles still rolling on the patio. I zoomed in on the ridiculous list of rules Claire had taped to my door.

And then I posted it on my socials.

As for the caption?

Glad my neighbor and her kid enjoy my backyard more than I do! Check out the rules she gave me!

Within three days, the video had 5 million views, with people sharing it like wildfire.

People flooded the comments:

Excuse me? Her rules?! For YOUR house?!

No way, put up a fence ASAP. These people are insane.

What game is she playing?

Tell me you have an entitled neighbor without telling me you have an entitled neighbor.

Then someone offered to help.

A man in the comments said that he specialized in building chain-link fences. By the end of the week, my backyard was sealed tighter than Fort Knox.

There were no more:

Oops, my son and his friends needed a place to hang out!

I just needed to wash my car real quick, Camilla.

If Claire wanted access to my space… too bad, because she wasn’t getting it. And she noticed the fence immediately.

She stormed over, holding a wooden spoon, and pounded on my door.

“You’re breaking my rules!” she screeched. “Goddammit!”

I smiled sweetly.

“What’s with the spoon?” I asked. “What have you been baking?”

She looked at me like I was mad.

“I said that you’re breaking my rules, Camilla!”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, my voice dripping with fake innocence. “I just thought since we had different house rules, it was best we keep things separate.”

She fumed.

I sipped my coffee and smiled.

My water bill improved overnight. Suddenly, Claire didn’t have access to my hose anymore. My driveway stayed empty because there was no more free parking for her.

And then…

Two days later, there was a knock on the door around dinnertime.

Not Claire.

Adam.

The 16-year-old looked absolutely miserable.

“Ma’am, please,” he muttered. “Please… you’re ruining my life.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Those videos that you made,” he groaned. “Now I have trouble at school because of you! At first, I thought it was cool and that nobody would notice anything. But then people realized that it was me. And now they won’t let me live it down.”

Oh, so he outed himself and he was mad about it?

I tilted my head.

“Oh, that sounds rough, buddy,” I said. “But you know, actions have consequences. Do you understand that you should have just cleaned up after yourself? There was no need to trash the place. I was fine with you using it. I was fine with you having your friends around. But what you did…”

“Yes, I do understand,” he said quietly.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll delete the videos. But please remember, do not use someone else’s property as your own. Don’t take advantage of a good thing.”

He nodded and walked away.

The night air was cooler than usual, and the quiet hum of the neighborhood felt almost… peaceful.

I stepped outside, tightening my robe around myself as I walked toward the trash bins. The motion sensor flicked on, casting a harsh yellow glow over my yard.

And that’s when I saw her.

Claire.

She was leaning against the side of her house, a cigarette dangling between her fingers.

Her shoulders were curled inward, and her hair was messy and unbrushed. She looked nothing like the smug, entitled woman who had taped her ridiculous rules to my door.

For a second, I considered ignoring her.

But then she exhaled slowly, tilting her head toward me.

“You win,” she muttered, her voice hoarse.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

She took another drag from her cigarette and then laughed quietly to herself.

“You heard me, Camilla,” she said, waving the cigarette in the air. “You won. Congratulations. You should see what people are saying about me…”

I stared at her, trying to decipher her tone. It wasn’t mocking. It wasn’t even angry. It was just… tired.

Defeated.

I dropped the trash into the bin, dusting off my hands.

“Not really sure what you mean, Claire,” I said. “I didn’t realize this was a competition.”

She scoffed.

“Oh, come on, Camilla,” she muttered. “We both know what this is. You didn’t like how I did things, so you went nuclear. You put my kid on blast, for goodness’ sake. You ruined his life.”

I crossed my arms.

“Adam ruined his own life,” I said flatly. “I didn’t force him to throw a party in my yard. I didn’t force him to post videos bragging about it. And I sure as hell didn’t force you to act like my backyard was yours.”

Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t argue.

For once.

She exhaled again, staring out at the darkened street.

“Do you know how hard it is to raise a teenage boy alone?”

I blinked slowly. That was… unexpected.

I stayed silent.

She let out a humorless laugh, shaking her head.

“Adam doesn’t have a dad,” she said. “Never did. It’s just been us. And I tried to give him a good life, I did. But…” she shrugged. “Kids are kids, right? He made a stupid mistake.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Claire, this wasn’t just a stupid mistake.”

She didn’t answer. She just took another slow drag.

“You know,” I said, my voice calm but firm. “I could have taken things a lot further.”

That got her attention. Her head snapped toward me.

“What?”

“Seriously, Claire. You gave me rules for my own house. You let your kid treat my property like his playground. And when I asked for basic respect, you laughed in my face.”

She just stared at me.

“I could have taken legal action. I could have pressed charges. I could have gone to the police. I had enough proof. But I didn’t. I’m not a bad person, Claire. I just don’t like being walked over.”

For the first time since I met her, she looked small. She turned away, flicking the ash from her cigarette.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “I get that now.”

I watched her for a second, letting the moment sit between us.

Then I nodded.

“Good.”

And with that, I turned and walked back inside, leaving Claire in the dark.

What would you have done?