FUENTES, Mikaela Valentina

[mikaela valentine fuentes]

MIKAELA VALENTINA FUENTES

FULL NAME: Mikaela Valentina Fuentes.
NICKNAMES: Mik, Mikki, Miks.
AGE: Twenty-three
GENDER: Female
SEXUALITY: She says straight, but there’s been a girlfriend in the past.
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Student.
GRADE: Freshman.
MAJOR: Veterinary Science
JOB OCCUPATION: Six Feet Under Bartender.

HAIR: Brown, and long. She loves to play with her hair, occasionally trying a light blonde look, but she always goes back to her natural colour.
EYES: Brown.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: None.
TATTOOS: She has the outline of a heart on her left pinkie finger. She’s got a paisley tree symbol on her right foot. There’s a thin black cross on her right wrist. She has two blossom flowers on her left ankle; one in red and one in black, along with the letter G for her Poppa. She has a red heart on her left wrist. Finally, there’s a pattern of colourful hearts on the back of her neck, often hidden by her hair.
PIERCINGS: Her ears three times.
PLAY-BY: Eiza Gonzales!

LIKES: Animals, talking with old friends, dancing, chokers, the colour black, lipstick, witchcraft history, water rides, Spanish cooking, sleeping in, men’s sweaters, banana bread, cats, San Francisco, gothic architecture, children, being in a relationship, indie movies, baking bread, high heels, fresh bedding, pomegranate juice, classic rock & metal music, oreo cookies.
DISLIKES: drunks, gossiping, being alone with her own company, bad dates, whiskey, passing out when she has plans, cemeteries, being compared to her father, heavy shopping bags, sleazy guys, too much caffeine, pulled pork, clown masks, sports, people making excuses, stubbornness, late night phone calls, iced coffee, pine scent.
FEARS: Losing her dreams, clown masks, being associated with her father in the years to come.
SECRETS: She was heartbroken by her dad’s passing, because he was her dad, but a part of her was also relieved that he was gone. She hasn’t told anyone because she feels awful that a piece of her even felt that way..
PERSONALITY: Mikaela is a grounded girl, very down to earth. She had to be, really, but it stuck with her. She’s sensible when it matters, but at the same time, she can let her hair down and have fun with her friends. Friends are very important to her, and she’s loyal above all things; loyalty is important to her, and she can’t abide those who backstab or gossip. Mik is humble, and not a fan of the spotlight, which is why she’s keen to keep her head down and get away from the drama or the whispers. She likes to keep to herself and isn’t the kind to be the centre of attention if she has any control over it. Miks is caring and even when she wants to walk away she often struggles to turn her back on people she once cared for. Independent, Mikki has looked after herself since a young age and as such she struggles to rely on anyone else for a lot of things, but she does enjoy the companionship of a relationship; for the company of someone else, since she isn’t overly familiar with not being alone. She’s strong, but she’s not afraid to be emotional. That doesn’t mean she won’t bottle a few secrets and feelings away, but at the same time if she’s comfortable with people she’ll cry or rant, and feeling fine about doing it; she’ll welcome them doing it back, too. She is a mostly level-headed young woman, but push the wrong buttons, and Miks will blow and go on the offensive to fight back for herself and anyone else she thinks may be threatened. She’s a romantic who likes the companionship of being with someone else; the cute and the weird that she can let out there. She likes her dates to be bold, but she does not like arrogant men who think they’ve won her like some kind of prize.

MOTHER: Daria Luna Fuentes, deceased.
FATHER: Gregorio Carlos Fuentes, deceased.
SIBLINGS: N/A.
OTHERS: Eva Haley Kirkdale, 23, ex-girlfriend & friend.
PETS: Aphrodite, a kingsnake!
HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, New York.
HISTORY: Gregorio met Daria shortly after he joined the US Army. She was a barmaid in the local bar where all the men either snuck off to, or celebrated when they had their few hours of freedom. He flirted with her every single time he found her there, and she was quickly charmed by him. One night of passion and she was soon telling him that she was pregnant – right before he was due to be deployed with his squadron. They had a shotgun wedding and two days later parted ways. He wrote letters to her the whole time he was away, and Daria gave birth to Mikaela when he was still gone. He came home when she was three months old, and had the shortest amount of time with his family before he was due to leave again.

For six years, Mikaela knew her daddy through letters and short visits, photographs and stories. At first she couldn’t understand, but soon she became proud of her father serving and boasted about it to anyone who would listen. That changed though when she was just shy of her seventh birthday. Gregorio was injured, severely. He would survive, but he was honourably discharged from the army, and a lodged but of shrapnel that was too dangerous to remove lest he risk being paralysed, left him in constant bouts of pain and frustration. He couldn’t pick Mikaela up, or bend down to play with her on the floor. His anger at himself pushed him to drink. And drink, and drink. Gregorio was never an abusive drunk. His anger was at himself. He might tell Daria she was better off without him, but besides that he was neglectful. He might leave a door unlocked, or do something careless without thinking about his wife or daughter, but he never intentionally meant them any harm. He did love them, but the alcohol numbed all of his pain and he quickly became dependent on it. Ultimately, he paid a terrible price for it when Daria fell down the stairs and broke her neck trying to help him to bed one night after seven drinks too many. His anguished cries woke up Miks, who was eleven at the time. It was a terrible tragedy – an accident, ultimately, but it pushed Gregorio deeper into the darkness.

After that night, Mik grew up fast. She had no choice. Too many mornings started with the smell of stale whiskey and her father passed out somewhere. She had to teach herself to cook, clean, and take care of the house which had belonged to her grandparents. They had passed when she was just a child, but there was no need for it to fall into disrepair because of her father. Miks missed her mother terribly. She couldn’t move her father like Daria could, so Gregorio spent nights at a table, or on the couch, and there were times when he simply didn’t come home from a bar until the very early hours, waking his daughter up when he crashed through the door, carried in by someone who gave just enough of a damn to make sure Gregorio made it that far.

Her father’s frequent state of intoxication meant that Mikki was frequently being talked about at school and by the locals. She had a good, solid group of friends who were quick to support her as a teenager, but she was still not totally safe from the gossip circles whenever her father had done something embarrassing in one of his drunken states, or there had been an incident she had to intervene in. At fourteen she had been walking down to the bars to pick her dad up when someone called. They always felt embarrassed for her, but Miks felt like she couldn’t leave her dad; he was her dad, after all, and she still had such good memories from when she was very little. Part of her still clung to them, hoping that one day her father would find some peace with his demons and they could have them back again. It never happened.

Throughout Mikaela’s life she had never been attracted to girls or considered herself bisexual, but there was one exception when she was sixteen; Eva Kirksdale, one of her closest friends. Eva was there for her through a lot of the tough times over the years, and Miks barely realised when her feelings began to grow stronger for her. She had guys in her class flirting with her often, but it was only after a football game, when she was pissed at some remarks made by the meaner of her classmates, that she was being consoled by Eva and noticed that she felt around her like she did around previous crushes. It was unnerving, but Eva was going through the same confusing feelings. It was a few weeks later before they had their first kiss, and then, slowly, one friend at a time, they revealed their relationship. Neither of them felt an attraction to any other girl, just each other, but they were happy with that. Their relationship was a happy one, but after several long months they were torn apart when Gregorio caught them together shortly after someone told him that Mikaela was dating a girl. She had actively kept much of her life a secret from her father for various reasons. He was drunk and furious, and it was the first time Miks had seen her dad’s anger aimed at anyone but himself. Eva left, and a few days later Miks devastatingly broke up with Eva. She didn’t want her dad hurting Eva if he caught them together again. She loved her, but there was no saying what he might do, and after his volatile reaction to finding them she didn’t want to risk it. Eva insisting it didn’t need to be that way, but Miks wouldn’t take that chance. Things were awkward for a long time, but they remained close friends, but Miks always felt that intimacy between them. Neither dated another girl again, and Miks never felt that pull of attraction to any other female other than Eva.

After that burst of anger from Gregorio, Miks felt betrayed by her father. He had no concern for his daughter’s happiness in that moment, and she had given up so much for him before that. It was the start of Miks leaving plan. Over the final year she lived under the same roof as him, she saw more and more reasons to leave. He would say things in a drunken haze, apologising half-heartedly when she reminded him of his cruelty. She knew he never meant his words, but his disinterest in fixing any of his mistakes bothered her more than anything. After high school graduation, she didn’t look back as she made plans to move to San Francisco. Her plan was to go to school to become a vet, forget New York and make a life away from the gossipers and the backstabbers. It didn’t quite work out like that.

Miks was forced to drop out of school halfway through her sophomore year. She couldn’t fully turn her back on her dad, and he phoned when he needed money. She sent it, because she wasn’t cruel or the type to abandon those who needed her. As such, she was broke when she needed to pay rent or college fees. In the end, she dropped out with the intention to work for a year and go back. She was a waitress when she was scouted by a modelling agency. They paid a hell of a lot more than diner tips. Being a model came with tough choices though. Miks could make more money in more revealing shoots and with her dad’s calls sometimes it was necessary to strip down and do a lingerie or bikini shoot, or pose with strategically placed accessories or props. She was pretty, exceedingly so, and that garnered attention. She got more work, and soon became a bigger name. She shot with bigger magazines and for more things, but Miks never said she enjoyed it. She did it as a solution to a problem; money to get back into school. However, her year out turn into two, three…all because things came up. Offers she apparently couldn’t refuse, a happy relationship that turned sour at the wrong time and she didn’t feel like enrolling when the time came. Money needed to go elsewhere; her car engine blew, she needed to move when her landlord misunderstood her job (a model in her underwear is not a hooker)…there was always something.

Then, she was twenty-three and in the middle of a very risqué shoot, she got a call from New York. Her father had died. He had been at the bar when he had suffered a heart attack, and was pronounced DOA at the hospital. Miks ran to the airport in heels, barely there lingerie and a stolen robe. She was a mess and didn’t even care.

There was a lot to sort out back in New York. She had to plan the funeral, sort through the house which was a state after her father had been alone there for five years. She reconnected in person with the friends she had only seen in video calls and texted with in recent years, leaning on them for support as she learnt of all the things her father had done in recent years, how he had spiralled out of control. Miks was shunned by many for leaving, some for misunderstanding her life, but above all, many didn’t know why she had come home and was making the effort to give her father a proper sending off. Very few came to his funeral. A few soldiers showed their respect, but other than that, it was Miks and the odd friend of hers who had come just to support her. It was then that Mikki decided to stay in the city. There was still a lot to sort through, and the house belonged to her now. Plus, she had missed her friends; Eva was engaged to marry a guy she met in college now. Mikaela wanted to go back to school, to chase her original dreams to become a vet, and she had never enjoyed modelling anyway. She just assumed that it would be another part of her life now that people kept recognising her for; like her father was.

YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: On Pendle Hill.
SAMPLE:

Burn baby Burn!

[kim]