— BASICS.

NAME. tessa hayes. NICKNAMES. tess. AGE. forty. BIRTHDAY. october 12th. HOMETOWN. redford, tx. GENDER. cis female. ORIENTATION. heterosexual. OCCUPATION. rodeo/lifestyle photographer. NEIGHBORHOOD. main street district. POSITIVE TRAITS. self-possessed, two, three. NEGATIVE TRAITS. guarded, two, three.

— HISTORY.

daryl hayes worked as a ranch hand for the deckers up until he retired a few years back and his youngest daughter, tessa, grew up climbing over fence posts, running the ranch every moment she wasn't in school. she could ride a horse before she could walk. at least, that's what daryl would tell anyone who'd listen. and as tessa got older, it became clear that she was naturally gifted at riding. so much so, that her dad scraped together every bit of extra money they had to pay for lessons. at six years old, tessa competed in her first barrel racing competition on a borrowed horse named jacks. they didn't place, her overall rank landing somewhere in the 200s. but, she was hooked. the next year she ended the season in the 50s. every spare moment was spent training, pushing herself and jacks to be their best. eventually, the deckers gifted her the horse and she didn't look back. in 2009, at 24 years old, tessa hayes became a world champion barrel racer, clearing the barrels in 13.57 seconds. this was her proudest moment, launching her into a completely different world. one of sponsorships and brand deals. she was the face of WPRA and spent more time on the road, away from redford, than ever before. there were many days she missed home, but she loved it, the pageantry and recognition that came from her hard work. in 2010, unbelievably, she did it again; becoming a back-to-back champion. and then, without a word, she walked away from it all. she retreated quietly to her hometown where, less than a year later, she welcomed her son, trevor. trevor was a result of a celebratory one-night-stand. it was never meant to happen— but it did, and tessa never once tried to pretend otherwise. to most, it looked like she'd just cracked under the pressure, unable to sustain the same level of success. tessa never commented on it, and declined every request for an interview. only those closest knew the truth. adjusting to motherhood took some time. trevor's father wasn't in the picture and so, it was just the two of them. she poured every ounce of who she was into raising her son, but she wanted something for herself too. tessa slowly reentered the rodeo scene. this time as a photographer. it began as a hobby, but a passion bloomed. she was talented at capturing the moments of rodeo — both the show of it all and the quieter moments that existed right before a gate opened, when a cowboy readied his horse. now, fifteen years later, tessa still works as a rodeo and lifestyle photographer in redford. though she does travel to shoot the bigger events from time to time. trevor is a teenager, and things aren't always easy between them. he's rebellious and stubborn, and well, she is too. these days, it seems they bump heads more than anything else, and tessa doesn't know what to do. but she's never been one to walk away from something that matters. not really.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS.

THE BROTHER — ( open. ) thick as thieves, these two. he saw tessa's grind, the obsession, the way she pushed herself and he was always there cheering her on. and when she walked away, he was right there by her side then, too. all other details completely up to player.

TREVOR'S FATHER — ( open. ) it was never supposed to be more than one night, but then tessa got pregnant. i envision him to be someone from the rodeo world, probably on the circuit. he could have known about trevor the entire time and is only just now showing up for whatever reason, or he could have never known about him and something else has brought him to (or back to) redford and surpriseeeee !

THE BEST FRIEND — ( open. ) lifelong best friends, there at every turn. even when tessa left (or they both left), they stayed in touch. probably the only person she's consistently soft with. they call each other on their bullshit, but protect each other fiercely. and they definitely don't hold back on their opinions of each others' lives.