Welcome to Aurora Bay, [CELESTE ZHAO]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO]. You must be the [TWENTY-NINE] year old [BARTENDER AT THE REEF BAR]. Word is you’re [RESILIENT] but can also be a bit [DISTRUSTING] and your favorite song is [RETROGRADE BY MAGGIE ROGERS]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
Celeste was raised by her single mother, jumping around from crappy apartments and motels in and around Chicago for as long as she could remember. Her entire life she’d only been told one thing about her father: that the man had cheated on her mother and had abandoned them when Celeste was only a few weeks old. And with that being the main focal point of Cel’s relationship with men, she grew up not really trusting them, her mother’s bitter voice always ringing in her head: giving your heart away will always lead to heartache.
And her mother’s bitterness definitely helped form the type of person Celeste had turned out to be. As a child she had been sweet, had been one of the friendliest girls in school and always willing to help someone with their homework or give a hand in studying, but sometimes that kindness was used against her, people taking using it to their advantage and making her outright do assignments for her) but as someone who grew up being told she’d been given up, Celeste was willing to take any sort of ‘friendship’ or validation, willing to be a people pleaser if it meant having people in her life.
Especially since her life back home wasn’t exactly as pleasing.
Her mother had turned resentful at losing her husband and her life ending up going nowhere, and at times she even put the blame for it all on Celeste, saying she was to blame for her father leaving them since she’d never been a planned pregnancy. Her mother oftentimes would be drunk at night, passed out on the couch, or wouldn’t come home at night at all. Celeste never got absolute confirmation, but one could put two and two together as to why her mother would come home after a day or two with wads of cash. So whenever she was at home, Cel stayed in her room, turning to books and writing and art as her comfort. Soon enough she had a canvas in the corner of her room, paintings strewn throughout. She’d never be caught without a sketchpad, or without paint stains on her clothes. It was an escape and something that she was truly good at and was hers. But with the way her mother was, and how fake the ‘friendships’ she’d has was, Cel herself had started to turn more cynical. More closed off and bitter. She couldn’t truly trust anyone, and sure as hell couldn’t depend on anyone, so as Celeste got older, she got more closed off, which is how she still is now. Never let them close enough to have the chance to hurt you.
But despite her home life (or lack thereof) Celeste did pretty well in school, graduating high school with decent grades. She couldn’t afford college though--hell, they could barely afford to keep a roof over their heads. So instead of going to school, Cel just started taking odd jobs once they’d settled again into a little apartment, bartending and waitressing, anything that could pay the bills. Life went on like that for years until finally now, Celeste has had enough. She wants to start actually living her life for herself. So much so that she applied for programs in New York for art school and when she actually got accepted into one, she quit her job in Chicago, gathered up what little money she had and finally left home, and her mother, behind. Celeste lived in New York for about a year too until she felt like that too didn’t quite fit. It was there that she heard of the little beach town and, wanting to go somewhere completely new, she flew across the country to California, and arrived in Aurora Bay, quickly getting herself a job as a bartender (since it’s what she’s good at) and getting herself her own little apartment, ready to start fresh--because after all, where better to go to start your life over again than paradise?
extras:
full name: celeste anne zhao
birthday- september 26, 1996
nicknames- cel, celly
she often writes or paints at night as the house was quiet then growing up. big moon lover because of it
is fluent in mandarin along with english
big believer in crystals and the properties they wield
aesthetics: scribbled notes on napkins, worn-in converse, moonlight reflected on the water, sleepless nights lit by candlelight, red wine splatters on hardwood, hair picked up by a pen, crystals hidden in pockets
connections
pinboard
appearance:
long dark hair almost always picked up
height: 5′5
eyes: dark brown
usually wearing older clothes (jeans, converse, plaid shirts over tank tops)
she wears glasses to read or when writing or painting.
@aurorabayaesthetic
