Page 11 of Fame & Chaos

Through all the chaos, though, there was always one constant.

Indi.

My Indi.

She stayed beside me through every hospital visit, every bad day, every emotional disaster that came with the mess between Colt and Dad. And honestly? She understood disappointment better than most adults.

Her parents were people with an addiction who cared more about drugs, festivals, and each other than they ever cared about her. Half the time, she practically raised herself while they disappeared for days on end chasing whatever high mattered more than their daughter.

I hated them for it.

Still do.

When I was really sick, Indi would sit beside my bed for hours telling me stories about magical kingdoms and made-up worlds where she was a princess, and I was the knight protecting her from dragons.

Sometimes we’d spend entire afternoons planning our futures instead.

Especially after I became part of the Slade family.

All of a sudden, the world felt bigger.

Limitless.

We’d talk about throwing huge parties when we were older and inviting all our friends, only to remember neither of us really had any outside each other.

Oddly enough, that never bothered us much.

Indi was fascinated by my new life. Going from poor and invisible to being connected to the most famous rock family in the world blew her mind a little. She used to tell me all the time that she knew I was destined for something bigger, and at the time, I thought she was crazy.

Now? Maybe she saw something in me long before I ever did.

I’d known Indi since first grade.

I was the weird, quiet kid everyone made fun of because I was tall, awkward, and sick all the time. Then Indi Malone marched into the classroom, told everyone to “Piss off,” and sat beside me like she’d known me forever.

That was it.

From that moment on, we were inseparable, and I never imagined a version of my life without her.

A little after Annie’s fifth birthday, the band started forming naturally among all of us kids. Annie, Ella, Aston, Chad, and I had basically grown up surrounded by music, so it was inevitable, really.

We started out messing around more than anything else.

But weirdly?

We were good.

Like… genuinely good.

Chad was smashing drums better than some adults before he’d even hit primary school, Aston played bass like he’d been born with one in his hands, and Annie and Ella both picked up guitar ridiculously fast. Though Ella still needed sheet music, Annie could somehow feel music naturally.

As we got older, things tightened even more.

The chemistry between us became effortless.

Soon enough, Colt and Dad started encouraging us to write original songs instead of only playing covers, so Annie and I sat down together and started experimenting.

Annie had this raw emotional honesty even as a kid that translated perfectly into lyrics, and together we somehow stumbled into creating songs that sounded decent.