Flo bent over, rummaging through her bag in front of the university library. She had tried going to sleep, forgetting about the diary until she could look for it the next day. Tossing and turning in bed, sleep never came and so she got dressed and left her dorm. That was how she found herself in the position she was in now: standing outside in the cold at 3 am. With a sigh, she groaned, tugging at the strands of her blonde hair. “Come on.” The door was locked, but she tried it again. That was when a light flashed on, flooding her view. “It’s not what it looks like.” Florence held her hands up in the air, spinning around to show that she wasn’t hiding anything. “I promise…well, actually…what does it look like?” She asked.
“it looks like we both had the same dumb idea.” birdie sighed, turning her phone’s flashlight from the blonde to the locked door. deciding to walk to the library in the middle of the night would be a questionable decision at most times, but doing it when the whole town was descending into panic? she felt like she deserved a prize for thinking that would somehow work out. “please tell me you’re not trying to break into the library? because that would be dumb.”
“No way. I’m not going out there today. My mom would lose their shit if she found out I was wandering around right now. I’m telling you we’re much safer just hanging out inside today.” Amanté shook his head. He’d grown up with stories of the shady side killers. Some nights his moms still woke up screaming.
“well, i need to go to the dorm and there’s no way i can afford an uber. so you can stay here and feel horribly guilty if i end up dead or… you can walk with me. safety in numbers, right?” there was a mischievous smile on her face, the clear signs birdie was trying to play things off as a joke. even though she was slightly (or maybe terribly) afraid. walking alone after the most gruesome crime in years wasn’t on her bucket list.
hey watch your back! that’s sterling “birdie” andrews. people say she has lived in sunnyvale for 1 year. I heard they are a 21 year old student and museum guide. don’t you think they look like elle fanning? they remind me of worn down roller skates, books filled with scribbles and doodles, summer rain, vanilla flavored drinks, pink lipstick on someone else’s cheeks.
THE BASICS
full name: sterling andrews
nicknames: birdie, by everyone.
age: 21 years old
hometown: shadyside
current location: sunnyvale
gender: cis woman
pronouns: she/her
sexuality: bisexual
occupation: fine arts student at sunnyside university; museum guide
playlist
B I O
it starts as any other story: boy meets girl, the seasons change, and suddenly there’s a house, a baby and a future. henry and eva andrews are the epitome of possibility, a bright eyed young couple, born and raised in shadyside, believing they are the future of the town. for a couple of years, sterling lives in a fantasy world, a reformed farm house filled with books, baby toys and colorful flyers. but fate always has a funny way of chasing after people.
eva andrews dies when sterling is barely two. there is no big accident or mystery, just an unexpected heart attack that transforms her childhood into a murky place. at times, birdie remembers the golden afternoons, her father teaching her how to ride the bike, climbing trees with friends, cheap ice cream sandwiches and laughter. at others, there are only bitter winters with screaming matches and a loneliness that seems incurable. henry andrews drinks some fingers of whisky every night with a sad little grin, and they never talk about the ghost that lives with them.
birdie learns the piano because that’s what her mother played, but she’s only ever decent with it. she plays at the little league because it makes her father smile, gets the best grades in class, works her ass off in a shitty diner. for at least sixteen years she is a chronic people pleaser, hiding her more rebellious tendencies with smiles and pleasantries. the only thing she allows herself to have selfishly are sketchbooks filled with paint, charcoal and the angsty musings of a teenager.
after a gap year of working and torturing herself with the weight of the future, birdie submits her sketchbook to sunnyvale university. she gets a full ride scholarship to the fine arts program. birdie packs her bags and doesn’t dare to look back, because she knows it would make her come back running to the only place that’s ever been home (as fucked up as it could be at times).
T R I V I A
has an one eyed black cat named meowbeth siddal. siddal is generally a ball of love and purring around birdie and a menace to anyone else. beware.
her father is a middle school math teacher. her mother used to be an union organizer.
though birdie loves working on her own pieces, which are a mix of disturbing and romantic, she intends on becoming an art restorer, since the work (and the paychecks) allow for more stability.
carries her father’s old film camera everywhere. if you’re her friend there’s probably some pictures of you hanging around her room.
her favored method of transport is going around in her beat up roller skates.
W A N T E D C O N N E C T I O N S
childhood best friends - they were always sneaking to each other’s houses, climbing trees and exchanging books. most likely someone from shadyside who grew up and went to school together. their relationship might be rocky since birdie moved to sunnyside.
first sunnyvale friend - the person who took her under their wing when she first moved.
