{ NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO, 21, GENDER NONCONFORMING, SHE/THEY } Is that ALETHEA PIERCE? A SENIOR originally from SAVANNAH, GA, they decided to come to Ogden College to study DANCE. They’re THE DRAG-ALONG on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.
no one ever really likes me for more than just a couple weeks...
NAME: alethea ivy pierce NICKNAMES: none, thea to a select few BIRTHDAY: february 23, 2002 ZODIAC: pisces sun, scorpio rising, aquarius moon SEXUALITY: bisexual RELIGION: ceo methodist (christmas & easter only) THREE POSITIVE TRAITS: idealistic, hospitable, wholesome THREE NEGATIVE TRAITS: paranoid, indecisive, timid THREE SKILLS: fluent in french, calligraphy, detailed-oriented ENNEAGRAM: 9w1 MYERS-BRIGGS: intj EXTRACURRICULARS: ballet company, tri-del (member)
AESTHETIC: pink painted nails, tucking hair behind your ears, off-distant stares, shy smiles, hollowed looks, books in tote bags, quiet giggles, leaning in when intrigued, earbuds, furiously scribbling in journals, waking up with tears, monsters chasing you in dreams, warm tea and milk, a cookie crumbling in your hand, barefoot on hardwood floors, watching the sunset alone
CHARACTER INSPO: nina sayers (black swan), georgiana darcy (pride & prejudice), jaz sinclair (caos), betty cooper (riverdale). myrtha (giselle), daisy buchanan (the great gatsby), juliet capulet (romeo & juliet), lady edith crawley (downton abbey), betty elms (muholland drive), andy bernard (the office), harriet smith (emma)
LIKES: ballet, taylor swift, dresses, gin and tonics, daydreaming, sparkles, quietly reading, the wind through her hair DISLIKES: stares, having to answer questions, being alone, being in crowds, people yelling, being judged
FAVORITE MOVIES/TV: the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, shrek, black swan, the secret life of walter mitty, gilmore girls, dance academy, big fish, all the boys love many lane, fleabag FAVORITE BOOKS: six of crows, the invisible life of addie larue, on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, pride and prejudice, the uglies series FAVORITE ARTISTS: halsey, taylor swift, lizzy mcalpine, nicholas britell, hans zimmer, chelsea cutler, phoebe bridgers FAVORITE BALLETS: giselle, firebird, la sylphide, carmen
FAMILY: mother - jennifer tiner pierce (katheryn winnick) father - carl sile pierce (daniel wu) younger brother - hu jacob pierce (kazuma mitchell)
pinterest here, playlist here.
WHEN ALL THE BRIDGES HAVE BEEN BURNED:
jennifer pierce expected the best of her children. she gave them the best so of course they had to return the favor. she had inherited her father’s business, and was excelling so much her husband took her last name. it wasn’t a feminist thing, but a money thing you see. alethea grew up without a want, but the truth of the matter is she never knew what she wanted. her mother made those decisions. from what she wore, to how she cut her hair, to who her friends were and what activities did. her entire life was planned to a t, and alethea never questioned a moment of it. how do you question something that you didn’t know was an option?
her brother jacob was doted on, and grew up with a grin and popularity. this was easy to him. this was painful for alethea. she smiled and waved, and the only matters of relief she found were in her ballet classes. going professional hadn’t been her mother’s first plan, but seeing the natural talent her daughter was, and just how feminine she was, allowed this small change in the over all path forward.
jennifer and carl met at ogden, and she knew that was where her children were to go. there was no exception, and jennifer would do whatever needed for her kids to follow her legacy. the major was flexible, but they would go to ogden, they would find suitable spouses, and they would carry on the family legacy. it was picture perfect, and she never heard a single word of complaint from either of her children.
AND ALL THE TABLES HAVE BEEN TURNED BY ME:
growing up without decisions meant college was terrifying for alethea. she had to pick her classes, find friends that her mother couldn’t approve of, and suddenly had free time that wasn’t planned out for her? it was paralyzing. but during the second week of classes greer spotted alethea across the way and took her under her wing. she showed her what the world could be, and she still fit under that approval from jennifer pierce. greer wasn’t just her best friend, but she was a bit of a savior for her.
this whole time there has been a gnawing in her chest. a desire for freedom, a petition to let the real alethea out and run free. but who was she? alethea couldn’t answer that, not honestly. just who her mother had manufactured her to be. but this confusion, this shyness, this quietness played into a different picture of alethea. it allowed her to be whatever anyone wanted her to be, they could paint their own ideas of her. she could be mysterious, she could be all they ever wanted. and she could be a dream.
and it was through this exploration that alethea slowly stepped out of the pillars her mother had built for her. first came the time greer dared her to kiss another girl during spin the bottle, and alethea realized that she might have enjoyed it more than her mother would have liked. and then came the time greer put her in a suit instead of a dress, and she liked the way it looked on her. and that maybe she wasn’t a girl after all, but something that could be shed. and so they started to pick up new pieces of theirself, putting them together to form a whole new journey. was ballet even the career they wanted? did they even like ogden? who were these people that had been decided as their friends? the questions became overwhelming.
WHO WILL BE LEFT TO LEAVE? JUST ME:
and now greer is gone. and it’s noticeable the change in alethea. it began before her disappearance of course, but could it somehow be correlated? alethea willingly goes out, sometimes alone, now. they are keeping greers friends, they are speaking up and out, they have a bite to them that hadn’t existed once upon a time. what does the future hold of alethea? are they becoming who they really are, or are they once again pretending, shedding the quiet role they had lived into for all their life for one that looks a little more like their now missing friend…
GREER:
during freshman year at ogden, alethea was absolutely lost and in-over her head. she had never been the rebellious type, her parents had been too strict to allow non-sense in their house, and so alethea was overwhelmed with the freedom college could allow, and she had no idea how to deal with it. her mother had always taught her to seek out the ‘right’ people to befriend, and it was just her luck that greer extended her own friendship to alethea. she brought them to the parties, encouraged her to flirt with whomever was necessary in order to go after who she wanted, and overall guided alethea through college. they doesn’t know if she would have been able to survive any of it without greer. there was little jealousy on alethea’s side at the beginning - she was just grateful for what greer could offer her through her friendship. and alethea was not a threat to greer. but as they’ve grown older there has been a tension living in the friendship, the reliance upon each other that might not be as necessary anymore. alethea was not anymore outgoing or less shy, but now her shyness was being interpreted as mystery, making them a bit more intriguing to others and perhaps sparking some jealousy on greer’s side.
THE DRAG-ALONG:
you know that girl that was always a few steps behind greer and the fallen princess? the one with wide eyes and a quiet demeanor? they never seemed to talk much, but even in their silence never seemed to be entirely so observant that you had to watch what you were saying. really, she just seemed like a little pet to the best friends, a third they allowed to follow them around.
and that person? that was alethea, taken under greer’s wing during the first weeks of school freshman year but never brought too close. it was the kind of relationship where alethea was sure to call greer one of her best friends, and greer might hesitate, only referring to them as a simple friend. but wherever the fallen princess and greer were, alethea was there. fingers picking at each other, posture both immaculate and slouched. each semester they seemed to get a bit bolder, inching their way up next to the other two, but still never find herself as an equal.
extra:
previous tasks found here
they have their septum pierced that they flip up whenever they go home and hide from their mother
her room is usually incredibly clean
often found walking around campus as if they are in their own world
junior year recap:
g told alethea to start a fight at greer's birthday party so she picked a fight with heni who pushed her in the pool
found polaroids with monty in their chalet during the winter ski retreat black-out
told heni about the polaroids (it was their chalet after all)
thought they saw greer in the hall of mirrors during the spring carnival
g set them up with lola in the library before the rave, did a poor job looking for g when tempted
suffered from smoke inhalation during the fire in the commons trying to escape out of the back
went mia for a bit over the summer
