#annarborintro

As the only child of two very wealthy parents, Thea’s family held high expectations of her from the moment she was born. Mostly raised by nannies until she was old enough to feed herself, Thea made up for her vacant home life by attempting to excel and anything and everything she could outside of it - school, sports, popularity. She made casual friends quickly and easily, and she was good at just about anything she tried.

FULL NAME: Beatriz Reyes Bernal NICKNAME(S): Bea PREFERRED NAME(S): Bea BIRTH DATE: 16th March 1997 ZODIAC:  Pisces ☀, Gemini ☽ , Sagittarius ↑ AGE: 27 OCCUPATION: Admin at UMMA NEIGHBORDHOOD: Kerry Town

BIRTH PLACE: Bay City, MI HOMETOWN: Bay City, MI SOCIAL CLASS: lower class EDUCATION LEVEL: high school diploma FATHER: Sandro Reyes MOTHER: Yaime Bernal SIBLING(S): 2 BIRTH ORDER: Beatriz, Camilo (17) & Caridad (17) CHILDREN: one daughter, Inez (3) PET(S): she and her roommates all have a cat together

Biography:

tw for parental neglect & lung disease

Was born in Bay City to parents who were uninterested in raising her - her mother often absent and her father focused solely on providing material needs. Her mother’s presence was sporadic, creating a sense of impermanence in Bea's life.

When she was nine, her mother’s became pregnant and the house took on a bit more stability. Her mother's but her care and nurturing for the new twins remained minimal so it was Bea who assumed the caregiving role, determined to provide her siblings with the attention and emotional support she lacked.

Her mother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis when Beatriz was sixteen, further increasing her caregiving responsibilities. Despite managing school, household duties, and caregiving, Bea hid how overwhelmed she was for the benefit of her siblings.

A year later and her aunt visited, Bea finally breaking down about the past year and her aunt quickly making arrangements for the family to move to Ann Arbor once Bea had graduated high school.

With her aunt now financing the care her mother needed and looking after the twins, Bea was finally free to focus on herself. She took a few stumbles but eventually chose to embrace life, making some friends and moving in with them.

When she was 20 she finally thought about school, applying to Stamps School of Art and Design, surprising herself when she got in. But she enjoyed college, taking a job at U-M Museum of Art.

Before she could focus to much on life after college she found out she was pregnant after a nameless one night stand. To her surprise she found herself almost excited to be a mother and so despite having her doubts, with the support of her roommates she went on to have her daughter, Inez.

She graduated a few months before Inez was born and in the three years since she's worked at UMMA and has had her friends to help her when needed. Her relationship with her parents is slowly improving, letting them spend time with their granddaughter.

Personality:

In general Bea seems the perfect optimist, always full of smiles and never short of a quip when needed. She decided a long time ago to see the good in the world and so being upbeat is now something of a coping mechanism for life. Adaptable, empathetic and intellectually curious she enjoys people and the world around her. Never slow to say yes to a new adventure and keen to explore all of what life has to offer she's generally outgoing and happy to talk to new people. She has a tendency to dodge or brush over topics she'd rather not dwell on, switching them out for something she'd prefer. Most people will only get warmth from her but she's not afraid to call out anyone she thinks is being unfair or an asshole.

Wanted Connections:

Roommates - there will be a proper official wc v soon but they're basically her family and she loves them all v much

Neighbours - anyone who lives in Kerry Town too, she'll have made a point to get to know them and have a good relationship

Fellow parents - in general she's nailing the whole parenthood thing (at least that's what she's told ) but doubts still creep in. Just others who understand what it can be like and them supporting each other.

Something casual - she doesn't really have time to date and doesn't really want to but having something without any pressure, just two people enjoying each other's company with no expectations of one another

That one ex - not long after moving to Ann Arbor she started dating someone and it was good but all a little too much for her at the time. She was still trying to adjust to life and they hit a little too close to home, with her calling it all off rashly after an argument about their future.

Artistically minded - Bea tries to go to as many of the art events and classes in town as possible when she can. So just someone that she keeps bumping into there. Or alternatively someone she keeps seeing around UMMA.

Coffee shop run ins - her days work best when she can keep Inez and her on a set routine and so she's usually in the same place at the same time. Casual run ins could spark more etc etc

Four legged friends - Inez is at an age where she is obsessed with animals and will always beg Bea to stop when they're out and about. As they generally stick to a routine there's likely some people Bea has had to ask on more than one occasion if Inez can pet their dog.

Honestly anything and everything!!

Ethan Sutter was Ann Arbor's golden boy once— the kid with a full-ride swimming scholarship, a future paved in Olympic gold, and a last name people actually remembered. He spent years in the water, years becoming someone, only to have it all slip away thanks to a shoulder injury that didn't care about his dreams. After a long, bitter stretch of pretending he could still be that guy, Ethan finally did what his mother had been telling him to do for years— he came home.

Now, he's a high school coach, standing on the pool deck instead of in the lanes, trying to figure out if he still loves the sport of if he just doesn't know how to walk away from it. He tells himself it's fine. That this is fine. But there's a difference between settling in and settling, and he still can't quite tell which one he's doing.

Henry Eaton's fatal flaw is that he has never gotten over a single thing that has ever happened to him. The kick? Not much has. He was born to a mother that wanted nothing more than to be a mother, and though his father never really understood him - or sought to - he has a cordial enough relationship with him, the two bound by their love of Mrs. Eaton. As an attending ER physician, he's got a full life of work and leisure. The only thing missing? Romance. And until recently, Henry preferred it that way - part of him thinks he still might.

Henry's longterm love left him abruptly years ago, and though he's tried, he's never quite been able to get closure on the entire thing - she never explained herself, and essentially ghosted him. That sort of thing does a number to the ego, and Henry took some time licking his wounds before he decided - at his mom's urging - to get back out into the dating game. He's currently on Hinge, but doesn't get much beyond surface level with most people - and he's fine to pretend that he's above it all, and that he's already so fulfilled. The truth, however, is something much more vulnerable: he pictured the rest of his life with one person, and doesn't know how to reframe something new.

additional info:

grew up playing hockey, roots for the Red Wings

sucker for a romcom (his favorite is You've Got Mail)

big fan of fun socks

Hannah Ashmore has always been the type to do everything right. The good student, the loyal friend, the supportive wife. The kind of person who made careful choices, built a stable life, and trusted that happiness would follow.

She met her husband, Gabriel, in college, fell in love, and waited for the life they planned to fully take shape. But somewhere between the years of waiting, the late night spent alone, and the quiet realization that love doesn't always mean fulfillment, Hannah started to feel like she was standing still while the rest of the world moved on.

Grace, or "Gracie" to those that know her best, is the designated man of the house eldest daughter of the Goodwin family. Though she isn't an Ann Arbor native, her family's wealth - along with her father's role as the pastor of the local megachurch until a devastating stroke - allowed her to assimilate quickly following their move from Georgia when she was in middle school. She attended Huron Academy growing up, and, after graduation, went to UMich for elementary education, eventually obtainging her masters; this degree is put to use in her role as the music teacher of Burns Elementary.

Grace spends her days juggling her fathers' health with her career and, notably, her relationship with Caleb, to whom she recently became engaged. A recent downturn in her dad's condition, however, has unmoored her, forcing her to be much more hands on supporting both her ailing father and her histrionic mother - and making her call her younger sister - her first baby, really - back into town. While Grace is generally endlessly idealistic, she's recently become paralyzed by the idea that it's all going to have to get worse before it gets better.

Other useful facts:

too embarrassed to do karaoke but has her song picked out just in case

the Mom Friend