I’m not who I used to be, I wouldn’t know that girl if she was standing in front of me.
Age: 33
Gender and pronouns: Female, She/Her
Occupation: Event Planner
Neighbourhood: Old Town
tw: death, adultery, car accident
Growing up in Eureka, Adriene Valentina knew that her ultimate goal was to eventually get the hell out of town, and travel as much as possible. Sure, she had embraced all that the town had to offer, but that was just it — she felt she already had by the time she had reached high school, perhaps even earlier. However, there was a part of her that was terrified she was going to end up stuck. That she would fall into whatever ‘normalcy’ her parents wished upon her, based on the expectations her elder sister Carmen had set upon her. The golden child. The reason why Adriene had felt she was very much the black sheep of the family. Whilst her sister and parents were keen for her to fall into college, and seek out long standing education in a field that would get her multiple qualifications, it wasn’t really anything that the blonde found herself invested in. She ensured she went to class for the most part at high school, and didn’t fail anything, which was always a plus, but she was very much the troublesome, mischievous, child of the pair. Causing chaos and havoc where she could. Ultimately, this is what had lead her to tell her family ‘no’, that she wasn’t going to finish college, after her freshman year, and instead decided to take off and travel the world. In doing so, she picked up a hidden talent for bar-tending, which was essentially how she made her living as she continued to head in whatever direction she pleased at the time. Picking up bar-work here and there to ensure her funds didn’t run dry.
This routine lasted a couple of years, before she was expected to return to Eureka, after news that her sister was engaged and due to be wed. Unfortunately, that meant she was forced back into reality for the wedding party, asked to be a bridesmaid for her sister. Hell, she’d never even held a conversation with her soon-to-be husband for longer than five minutes during her time there. Well, all up until the night of the wedding. After a conversation with her mother lead her on a path of self sabotage and destruction, she proceeded to drink too much, and eventually this lead her to making the worst mistake she will ever make. Sleeping with the groom during the reception. People talk about bridesmaids and groomsman having slutty wedding sex in a closet, but she was sure nobody quite pictured that story between the sister of the bride, and the groom himself. The secret was going to go to the grave with her, knowing she couldn’t exactly give her family another reason to feel such disappoint in her, without finding them kicking her to the curb. However, when did things ever stay hidden for long? After sticking around in town for a few years, she figured she was just going to hash it out and stick around for good now, whilst working at one of the local bars; but that was when things decided to take a turn for the worst. With her sister discovering she was pregnant, her husband decided to finally confront his wife about his night of ‘sin’ with her sister. Of course, it wasn’t long before news made it back to Adriene herself, and she was essentially exiled from her family. Her mother wouldn’t so much as give her the time of day, and her father too refused to talk to her, which was saying a lot considering her was the softer of the two.
Adriene did what Adriene did best, and that was run. There was no contact. Nothing. Aside from ‘happy holidays’ and awkward forced introductions to Christmas, and birthdays, the family and her were very much seperated. Whilst her sister made her newfound family work, Adriene was left in the cold, which lead her to continued on the path of picking up and leaving every six months or so in each state she decided to visit next. Never once settling down for long enough to form any true connections, living an incredibly lonely and isolated life. But, life had a way of bringing family together again when tragedy occurs. After four years of essentially radio silence, Adriene was lured back home after news that her sister and brother-in-law had been in an awful car accident, which left her now without a sister, and her sister’s husband holding on for dear life with machines keeping him breathing whilst he was in a coma. Her niece, Marisol, left without her family. And that wasn’t the worst news. The icing on the cake was that, despite everything, Carmen had left custody of Mar to Adriene, writing it in her will that in the unlikely event that both parents were unable to care for the child, she would go to legal guardian Adriene Valentina. Not even her God parents. There was something in there about making sure she ‘grew up’ or whatever, but that was neither here nor there. This poor child was going to be in the hands of someone who still considered herself a child at heart, and in actions for that matter. However, she of course accepted, knowing the little girl had nowhere else to go, and she didn’t want to force her onto her grandparents, as god knew Adriene knew how that worked out for herself.
Thankfully, it was only about five months that her father was in a coma, eventually coming-to, a miracle in itself. Therefore, Mar managed to and live with her father, but unfortunately, they were all still grieving the loss of Carmen, which lead Adriene to offer help and assistance in raising the young girl. Sure, she didn’t know her until five months ago, but very quickly, she became the only other person on the planet that Adriene was willing to lay the world down for. And this was something that the pair have vowed and kept to ever since, as the last few years have pressed on, and life somewhat getting back to normal. As much as it could do, of course. But, after suffering some off messages, and break-ins to her apartment, Adriene felt as though she wasn’t safe at her apartment, and that, tied with a job offer in Seattle, she soon moved to learn the Event Planning business, something that she had accidentally fallen into, mostly due to her own partying and bar-work experiences. Which is exactly where she has been the last few years, only coming back to visit her niece and brother-in-law, knowing she had to make somewhat of an effort, with how much things had changed. Mar was hands down the most important part of her life, and it was very much something that had caused Adriene to learn how to handle certain responsibilities, and helped to mature her, growing up exactly as her sister had instructed. Of course, she’s still very much the same woman, but perhaps there was some growth there.
A few years later, and she has finally decided its time to return to Eureka full time, moving to a little apartment in Old Town, which was definitely an upgrade from her shabby studio place in Downtown the last time she was in town. She had managed to secure the experience she needed in Seattle, learning a lot about the business as a whole, and how to manage her time and make a name for herself in this particular profession. So, upon returning home, she had decided to venture out in a solo project, now a self-employed business woman, able to secure herself and market her work where possible. It’s taken a lot of time to get herself to this stage in life, but alas, she’s rather proud of that aspect. But, this is newfound responsibility that even she hasn’t fully dealt with before, especially now being back in a town with family, and old ties and connections, and learning how to juggle all of which on her shoulders. Not to mention that whilst she’s grown, she’s very much known for making reckless and messy choices, which lead her down difficult and negative paths. It wont be long until old habits are brought back to reality, after all, they die hard, right? Alas, it’s a waiting game now.
ADRIENE VALENTINA has the face claim of NATHALIE KELLEY and is played by YAS.