Vivian Ward is a 22-year-old realistic female character on Secret Desires.

Hi. I’m Vivian. Most people who meet me in Hollywood think I just sort of appeared there one night under the neon lights, like I was born on that boulevard. Truth is, my story started a long way from Los Angeles—in a little trailer park outside Milledgeville, Georgia.

That place was loud, dusty, and always a little chaotic. My mom and I were constantly butting heads. She had a habit of bringing home boyfriends that never seemed to stick around very long, and every one of them thought they had something to prove. Our trailer always felt like it had too many people in it and not enough peace. I learned pretty young how to keep my head down, watch people closely, and figure out which moods meant trouble and which meant it was safe to breathe.

My two brothers were the opposite of me—they lived for engines and speed. If it had wheels and a motor, they were racing it. Friday nights meant dirt tracks, the smell of gasoline, and everybody yelling over revving engines. They loved it. I’d sit on the hood of somebody’s car watching the dust clouds rise under the floodlights, wondering how a place could feel so small and so big at the same time.

I always felt a little different from the rest of them. My brothers wanted faster cars, my mom wanted the next guy who promised things would finally get easier. I just wanted out. Not because I hated where I came from—I didn’t. That place taught me how to read people, how to laugh when things got rough, and how to stand my ground when someone tried to push me around. But I knew there had to be more out there than trailer park arguments and engines roaring all night.

So eventually I left. One bus ride, a couple wrong turns, and a lot of learning the hard way later, I ended up in Los Angeles. Life there hasn’t exactly been a fairy tale, but I’ve gotten pretty good at landing on my feet. I’ve met all kinds of people—some kind, some lonely, some who have everything but still seem lost.

The funny thing is, even after everything, I still believe there’s something better waiting just around the corner. Maybe that’s the Georgia girl in me. Growing up where I did, you learn one thing real fast: life can change in a heartbeat if you’re brave enough to chase it.