#privvera

VERA LOPEZ ➝ FOURTH SIBLING

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

❖ FULL NAME: Vera Anastacia Lopez. ❖ PRONOUNS: She/Her. ❖ AGE: 19. (January 17th). ❖ BIRTH ORDER: Fourth. ❖ GRADE: Sophomore. ❖ MAJOR: Communications and English. ❖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual. ❖ ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heteromantic. ❖ FACECLAIM: Lindsey Morgan.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

Vera had always felt the pressure of being perfect. She knew that she had to do well in school, had to get into an ivy league school, and had to fulfill her parents expectations. And she enjoyed the pressure. She found books, and school fascinating, and it was rare to find her without her nose in a book. In fact, it was her love for school so much that drew her into tutoring. She was determined to help other students feel the same love and passion that she felt. And more than anything, she loved the sense of pride she got whenever someone she tutored finally began to understand their coursework. And she was stubborn, she could never give up on someone she was tutoring, she’d explain things 300 different ways until there was finally a way for them to understand.

It was this passion that had originally given her the idea to become a teacher, however, that dream changed quickly. While she thought being a teacher was a fantastic path, and she could see herself being undeniably happy in that role, there was something else tugging at her attention. Underprivileged schools. Schools that could not afford the tools that she’d always had at her disposal growing up; schools that could not even afford books in some cases. After tutoring a pupil from just such a school, she was drawn into charities to try and help raise money for educational programs. And it was a short jump from there to education reform and local politics.

While she dreamed of making a real positive change in her very own community, she knew there were definitely obstacles, mainly her insecurities. She often got so nervous before public speaking, that she’d get physically ill. A trait that was disappointing to her parents who both loved being in the public eye. Fortunately, most times, once she finally got over the stage fright, she’d have an outward appearance of grace and charisma, even though on the inside she’d be terrified. Vera just hoped that after enough practice, this would change and she could grow more comfortable in front of a crowd.

She had high hopes for this, solely because of the realization that even just looking back to her childhood, she’d grown much more outgoing than she had been as a child. She was quiet, and unbearably shy. Her first grade teacher actually suggested having her tested for learning disabilities, and getting her into speech therapy, solely because she almost never spoke. Her parents knew what those tests would say, however, and that was that she was quite smart, advanced for her age, even, and that she was just quiet. Then, as a teenager in high school, while she was still not nearly as out-going as her siblings, she was able to speak up in class, and she had a rather solid group of friends, which was all she really felt she needed.

Things seemed to be going very well for the girl, she had her group of friends, she had her dreams of the Ivy League and even knew what she wanted to do after, but of course, things don’t always work out they way we want them to. Like many teenage girls, Vera met her first love during high school. Things were wonderful at first, he was completely supportive of her dreams, and they were genuinely happy. Her friends liked him, as far as she knew everyone liked him, and why not? He was wonderful to her, and no one seemed happier for her than he did when she was accepted into Yale, her dream school.

After they had been together for an entire year, just shortly after graduation, Vera knew things would be hard for them, especially since they’d be going to different colleges. He didn’t have the same money her family did, nor did he have the grades that she did, and though he’d been accepted to a few schools, he couldn’t totally afford them, but he was going to a respectable community college and would be working and she vowed to come home and see him every chance she got. Still, she finally decided that she was ready to sleep with him a few nights into summer vacation. He talked her into letting him take some pictures of her during it all, for memories, he’d told her, and she’d agreed, wanting to make him happy, and trusting him a fully. A huge mistake, as it turns out, as it was just a few days later that somehow those private, memory pictures had ended up in the hands of a tabloid reporter. And then they were everywhere.

Vera was devastated. She didn’t understand how this could happen, how anyone could have gotten access to those photos, and her loving boyfriend wasn’t answering her calls. After almost a week of humiliation, and barely being able to leave her own house, she finally got a text from him, explaining that he was sorry, but that he’d sold them for tuition money to go to a better school, and that they were over. Vera didn’t know what to do, she was completely heartbroken, and betrayed, and left to question if he had ever really loved her, or had been trying to use her the whole time. After that, her insecurities just grew, especially after reading some nasty comments about her own body online, and she built high walls around herself, finding it difficult to trust anyone.

Her troubles didn’t stop there, though. Vera had hoped that she’d be able to slip away from all the drama and to school in the fall, but after all of the stories about her had circulated, Yale revoked her acceptance into their school, not wanting her scandal to drag down their prestigious name. She thought her heart couldn’t break anymore, and yet it had. She felt the disappointment from her parents everyday after that, and could barely look them in their eyes. She needed to get away from them, and PSU was her only choice, it was the only school who didn’t care about her ordeal because almost everyone there had something in their past. And while she still hoped to get into politics eventually, she couldn’t help but fear that she’d never be able to live this down. So for now, Vera tried to find a new dream, taking classes in anything and everything trying to find anything to strike her passion the same way her old dream did.

BABY, THERE'S NO OTHER SUPERSTAR

Vera tries to stand out as little as possible. Her hair is long and generally down, she wears very light make up, if any at all, and dresses to blend in. She likes jeans and comfortable shirts, generally dressing more conservative, and covering herself. She knows that in general many people have seen most of her body, so she hides as much of it as she can.

YOU KNOW THAT I'LL BE YOUR PAPARAZZI