cassel resident : victor hernandez.
full name. victor hernandez.
age. twenty eight.
birthdate. august 26th, 1992 zodiac. virgo.
gender. male pronouns. he/him
occupation. music teacher at cassel high.
lives in. main street.
He was seven, the first time his dad forgot his birthday.
It made sense, when Victor looked back on it. The last time they’d spoken (Christmas, the year before), Ricardo had informed him that he was to be a big brother for the second time. It hadn’t occurred to Victor just yet that he’d never even met the brother who’d made him one in the first place, only a year after his own birth. By that August, the excitement of it had worn off, as quickly as his mother’s tight smile had as she stood with the phone pressed to her ear, each call to his father going unanswered. It was only a few days later that he finally called with news of his newest child’s birth, no acknowledgement of Victor’s own making its way into the conversation.
It was not Ricardo’s infidelity that’d all but tarnished the relationship between him and his son. That could be chalked up to his near complete disappearance from his life. Despite his initial interest in remaining a part of Victor’s life after the divorce from his mother, this interest was quickly overshadowed by his newfound one in the family he’d accidentally started while away on a business trip, just months after Victor’s own birth. Early memories of his childhood would note that the only time Victor would speak to his father was on his birthday, or Christmas, fed lines of “you sound so big, mijo’’ and “we’ll get you out here next summer” and “you’ll love Florida.” At first, like any boy who loved his father, Victor had believed him. Would hang up the phone and tell his mother about the plans Ricardo had for them, Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center, and like a good mother, Cynthia would sit there and listen and stroke his hair, and do the best to keep the sadness for her son out of her smile.
If you asked Victor though, sad was not the way that he recalled growing up. His childhood, despite (or perhaps due to) his father’s departure from it, was a happy one, marked by the newest additions to his and Cynthia’s own family of two: the woman who would eventually go on to become his stepmom, and the daughter she brought with her. Truthfully, Victor doesn’t remember a time without his stepmom and sister in his life. Every happy memory he had looking back involved them in it: family trips and dinners and movie nights. Looking out into the crowd during school plays or concerts or soccer games and knowing there’d be smiling faces seeking him out too. Knowing that, above else, he got to go home every night to a place so full of love, he never felt the loss from his father’s side of the family. In his mother’s home, it was clear that space did not need to be made. It was just simply there.
It was actually his step-sister who first encouraged Victor to pick up the guitar for the first time. The instrument had sat in the corner of his room for as long as he could remember, a last ditch effort Christmas present from his father. Victor hadn’t so much as spared it a glance since receiving it years prior, but with her prodding, he’d decided to give it a try. Though he could barely play the chords, she would sit and sing along to his pieced together melodies, making up songs as they went. As his playing got better, so did her singing, and the songs they were writing. It was the first time Victor could remember thinking they could make something out of this.
High school, unfortunately, saw the two drifting–his sister’s focus on academics, and Victor’s growing stronger on wanting to make music professionally. He wasn’t the best student, never had been, and though his grades were decent enough and his parents were pushing for college, the desire to continue on with school past graduation never sparked his interest. His rejection from both Julliard and Berklee sure hadn’t helped, nor did the fact that, to this day, nobody even knows he’d applied in the first place. With his sister’s acceptance to her dream school, Victor hadn’t felt right about taking the spotlight away from her achievement…and maybe, perhaps, didn’t want the pity that accompanied it. He was happy for her, even if the thought of being on the opposite end of the country from his best friend stung…but not more than the fact that he was stuck at home, with no idea on where he was going from there.
At his guidance counsellor’s assistance, Victor enrolled in classes at the local community college, just to take a few general credits while he figured everything out. It was there, in one of the only music classes offered, that he met the three guy’s who also shared his dream of making it big doing what they love. And thus, The Bright Ones were born, right there in MUE 110.
Turns out, picking the name had been the easiest part, and that alone had taken months. Their biggest issue had been their range of abilities: three guitarists and a drummer weren’t going to cut it, and Victor eventually was elected to try his hand at bass. There were many arguments, late night songwriting sessions and rehearsals that all but ended in screaming matches, but eventually, they found their groove, and they were good.
Local gigs turned to statewide tours. Their fan base grew, each gig seemingly fuller than the ones that’d come before them. Even back then, Victor hadn’t been able to believe it. The rush of being up on stage, of hearing their lyrics being sung back to them, seeing their faces on handmade t-shirts…even then, it’d been unimaginable. He’d thought himself more than content to spend their entire careers, just like that.
But then came the record deal, the New York producer, the big move…The Bright Ones thrived in the city. Struggled a bit before they did, but once they took off, they were gone. An album turned to a tour, which they spent writing their second album, and then another tour…it was what dreams were made of, that feeling. And if he called his moms a little less often, or forgot to text his sister back, or found himself missing holiday’s more often than not, then they would have to understand, wouldn’t they? He was being given a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he had to make the most out of it.
They’d all changed. It was inevitable. And while Victor hadn’t been entirely oblivious to their worrying habits, or change in attitude, the destruction of their band from the inside out had still felt like a total blindsiding. One minute, they were gearing up for the promotional tour for their upcoming album, and the next…everything they’d worked so hard for, gone. Dropped from their label, down a member, and the remaining bandmates were sent packing for home with their tail between their legs.
It’s been about a year since then, and Victor is just starting to feel as if he’s adjusted to life back home. Having managed to achieve his bachelor’s degree in music, he was eligible for a fast tracked teaching certificate, having started at the beginning of the new semester at Cassel High, teaching music in the very same halls he’d once walked. It’s not where he ever imagined himself, but it paid enough (barely) to get him out of his childhood bedroom and into a place of his own, and for now, it would have to be enough.
New York had been the dream. Now he was awake.
five songs. human ( rag’n’bone man ) / hey look ma, i made it ( panic! at the disco ) / my best habit ( the maine ) / ever since new york ( harry styles ) / freakin’ out on the interstate ( briston maroney )
↳ victor hernandez is faced by tommy martinez and penned by tabitha.
