Post by hayden marie rhodes; on Feb 4, 2012 3:11:40 GMT -5
HAYDEN MARIE RHODES, NINETEEN, EVER SINCE WE MET - MAKEUP ARTIST, STRAIGHT, SHY "Ewww, stop calling me that! It's so...masculine." Hayden. Typically a guy name, but in the twenty-first century, can you really find a clear line to firmly distinguish something as masculine and feminine? But the whole thing is seen from a different perspective when you're the one with a guy's name. Someone says it, and then people turn and expect to see a boy but see a short, petite brunette instead. Having such a name has always been a thorn in her side, therefore she prefers to be called Hayes. "Oh, god, is that a microphone? Please, please, please don't point that thing at me. I'm not good at talking about myself!" A lot of people are shy. It's normal. Hayes? She takes it way overboard, and she can't help it. There are moments when she gets so nervous when talking that the words simply don't leave her throat, and she feels embarrassed that all she can to is act mute. She has very little confidence in herself and constantly wishes that she could just fade away into the background or perhaps melt into the ground. Anything to keep people from noticing her. In essence, you could call her a wallflower. There's not much that stands out about her and she likes it that way; when people roam with their eyes, it's extremely easy to just completely look right past her as if she weren't there. "I'm sorry. Please squirt me with some water. Maybe I'll just melt into the ground like the witch from the Wizard of Oz. I just can't do this." Aside from being painfully shy, Hayes is self-conscious and critical of herself. She strives for perfection and does her best to be an overachiever, but her lack of determination and work ethic often leads her to quit while she's ahead of the game. There isn't much that she sees through to the end as a result, and on the same side of the coin, she also lacks the ability to confront others. Quiet and sheepish, she either goes with the flow or she flees to find sanctuary elsewhere. Though she says that she's a pacifist, the truth is simply that she's mostly a wimp who wants to avoid conflict. "Really? Really, really, really? You won't let me down?" As someone jaded by past interactions with people, Hayes isn't too keen on diving nose first into deep and meaningful relationships with others. She prefers to be very careful, and though she can be trusted not to be a blabbermouth, she's not quick to trust and rely on others in part due to lack of faith and in part due to insecurities over her ability to return the favour when the time comes that she's needed. However, when there is someone charismatically strolls along and proves him or herself to be trustworthy, she's extremely excited to meet them. "Would you believe me if I told you I used to be the complete opposite of what I am now?" For those who believe in it, typically, the high school hierarchy is pretty solid and doesn't allow for much movement. And besides, no one wants to go around from group to group anyway because change is hard to adjust to. In rare cases, go-getters can climb from the bottom of the social food chain to be the reigning king or queen, and in more common instances, the seemingly untouchable elite at the top get bumped down because they didn't protect their reputations well enough. The worst disruption is when one must adjust to an entirely new setting altogether. Since childhood, Hayden Rhodes was pretty good at playing the part of a mean girl. She was pretty enough and had a bad enough personality to match. In elementary school, she would deem one person her right-hand man, and when she grew bored, she would toss her unlucky lacky aside for someone whom she believed was more useful. As far as she was concerned, the world revolved around her, and other people existed on the planet to act subservient to her. By the time junior high rolled around, she liked to think of herself as a queen bee. She was one who traveled at the head of a pack, and she would be more than happy to pick away at someone's flaws just because she could. It was fair to say that she had very few friends, and the few guys that she was willing to date liked her more for her popularity than her "charming" personality. In return, she only dated for appearances because there was no way a guy existed who was good enough for her. The unfortunate news came at the end of junior high when she was just about to begin her freshman year of high school. Her father's job relocated the family to an entirely new state, and all the progress she made at building up her reputation fell to pieces. Originally, the idea didn't seem so bad. Sure, she'd have a clean slate to polish up again, but she was sure that she would adapt and climb the social ladder. She was amazingly talented like that. Quite evidently, the rest of the school had other plans. From the get-go, she wasn't very popular due to the arrogant air she exhibited on the first day of school. She was a new student and a freshman, yet she had a holier than thou attitude, and the idea irked some people to no end. In a sort of domino effect, her peers began to give her the cold shoulder and ignore her, and any attempts she made at conversation resulted in harsh replies and insults. A few months of being treated in such a way was bad enough, but the ultimate blow came when the small group of friends she had also got up and left her in the dark. Though originally upset, she found that interacting with people was wearisome and never resulted in anything positive, so her conclusion was that she wanted nothing to do with others anymore. She wanted to fade into obscurity because all that people had to offer was cruelty, and she couldn't be bothered to deal with it anymore. It was ironic that not too long ago, that was how she had treated others. Lacking the social life and friend group to go out and have fun like other teens her age, Hayes took up an interest in fashion. It was something to keep her busy, and it was interesting enough that it could keep her busy on most occasions. Besides, it really wasn't very bad for her to get to experiment with her own look by mixing and matching all sorts of outfits and make-up combinations to get a new result every time. To her, it was fascinating that tiny changes could make huge differences, and she wanted to know more and more about how an appearance worked to convey and certain impression. As she withdrew more and more into her own little shell, socializing with others grew increasingly difficult. There was always the pressure that others would judge her before they knew what she was like. Though people were always surrounding her, a fear had taken root that they would easily shun her in a split second. As a result, she preferred to keep to herself as a wallflower, and she'd always say that the loneliness wasn't so bad once a person got used to it. By that point in time, she had faded off the social radar, and her peers no longer quite remembered how they were supposed to act around her or why. They shrugged off their previously merciless behaviours and treated her as just another student in the hallways, but she always remembered how beaten down and defeated she felt from being bullied and kept her distance. Years dragged along and she finally sprung the get-out-of-jail-free card. Glad to be away from the same faces she had known and stayed away from in high school, she eagerly attended beauty school for a year before being employed by Ever Since We Met. With a whole new group of people to interact with, she felt a bit like a free bird and looked forward to seeing how she could help others look a certain way through something as simple as make-up. Admittedly, the memories of her bullies keep her from flitting around like a social butterfly (not that she really wants to), but with acting polite feels easier and more non-consequential. She's found that her earlier decision to be reclusive has stuck and continues to make her feel a little alienated, therefore she likes the safety of being a wallflower and keeping quiet. PIXIE, INFINITELY OLD, TELEPATHY |
