Post by Shelby on Sept 6, 2017 2:13:25 GMT
Basics
Name/Nicknames || LeAnn Hay Burks. There aren't really any nicknames that come out of LeAnn other than Ann or Lee, but LeAnn refuses to answer to either of those. Though she may not be on good terms with her parents, that was the name she was given, and she particularly likes it. So, if you try to call her by anything else, she'll likely ignore you until you get it right. And she hates it when people spell her name wrong. Yes, the capital A is correct, it's not a misspelling, so spell it correctly.
Age/Year || LeAnn is twenty-five years old, with her birthday landing on Feburary 28th (thank God it didn't fall on a leap year!)
School || She attends Salem College as a part-time Freshman. Never too old to start college, right?
Gender || Female
Sexuality || Heterosexual.
Health Issues || No real heal issues that she really has to worry about. She can't hold her bladder as well as she used to before she was pregnant, if that's any real health concern, though it's not to her.
Quirks/Bad habits || LeAnn has a bad habit of trying to fix up people's appearances when she sees that something is out of place; be it their hair, the collars of their shirts, etc. Most of the time she has to resist the urge to do so, but sometimes it's hard. What can she say; when you have a kid, weird habits kick in. At least she hasn't gotten to the point where she puts spit on her thumb and starts trying to wipe somebody's face off.
Eating Diet || Ever since getting pregnant, she's been sticking to a healthy diet; staying away from fried and junk foods, taking pretty good count of her calorie intakes. Of course the latter of those isn't something she worries about all that much, but wanting to set a good example for her daughter, she eats healthy. Lots of vegetables, fruits, and lean meets, usually only baked, poached, or steamed.
School/Social Life
Job || Since she is only a part time student at Salem College, LeAnn has taken the opportunity to get a job--not that she had a choice in the matter, especially if she wants to be able to support her child. She works as a secretary at doctor's office around Salem. While she had no plans in pursuing any sort of medical career, she's grateful for the job offering that she was given.
Reputation || Having just moved to Salem, she doesn't have much of a reputation yet. She doesn't even know anyone at school and is sort of afraid to get close to anyone because of how jaded she still feels from high school. Not only that, but she feels like she won't have a connection with people because she's only a part time student. But she'll see.
Reason for Enrolling/Major || Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion Major. Since getting on a health kick when pregnant she's been interested in food and all that she can do to learn more about it. With that, she hopes to become a nutritionist. It may take her a while because she's only part time, but hopefully that will change at some point.
Grades || For the most part LeAnn is an A/B student, though since getting into college she's put a little more work into her grades, to make sure that when she gets out she can get a good job.
Relationships || Open!
Relationship Status || Single, and is the farthest thing from looking. Don't even try boys! She's sworn off them for the rest of her life, and is planning on sticking with it. She doesn't need anybody to love. She's looking out for herself and her daughter right now.
Clubs and Organizations || She has none. Are you kidding her? She barely has time to sit down and do her homework, much less get involved in school life.
Appearance
Height/Weight/Body Type || Standing 5"6 tall, LeAnn has a lean body shape, some people calling her too skinny for her own good. But despite her looks, she is healthy, and she's just naturally lanky and skinny.
Hair color/style || A rusty red, obviously, that is naturally wavy. A lot of the times she keeps it like that, mostly because she doesn't have time to do much else with it, but when she does find herself with the time, and want, to do her hair she'll usually straighten it. And yes, before you ask, the carpet matches the drapes. It's a question that she arbors to the highest extent because of what she associates with it (aka, her high school accident).
Eye color/makeup preferences || Her eyes are a light green (not blue, she swears). She actually really likes to wear makeup, and back when she was in high school, despite her mother's pestering, she usually caked herself in it. Now she normally wears it to look profession at her secretary job, never wearing the flashy makeup that she used to--mostly because she would rather her expenses go to something that was more important, like her daughter.
Clothing Style || LeAnn doesn't care too much about what she wears; as long as it fits, it matches, and it doesn't smell she'll wear it. Her favorite kind of outfits to wear, though, are big sweaters and jeans with a pair of bots. But, normally, you'll see her rocking out with a t-shirt and some jeans. When she's working at her job, despite not being a nurse or a doctor, it is protocol for her to wear a scrub, even if she doesn't understand why. So if you see her on campus walking around in some scrubs, no, she's not a nursing student. She also loves to wear beanies! Any color, so many different types; she just loves how they look on her and how they feel!
Ethnicity/Nationality || Irish-American
Playby || Darya Lebedeva
Personality
Likes || Beanies, broccoli, her daughter, sweaters, autumn weather, bonfires, her red hair, healthy nutrition,
Dislikes || Cats (she's allergic), football (bad memories), bees (also allergic)
Nervous Habits || When she's nervous or stressed, she'll start twirling her around one of her fingers and will likely start chewing on any pen or pencil she may find or have in her possession.
Hobbies || You're getting her, right? Taking care of her kid is a hobby if there ever was one. Going to the park, going rollerblading, or just doing what ever her daughter wants to do.
Personality || The rebellious girl turned... Well, maybe that hasn't completely changed about her--in a sense, anyway. While she may not be as rebellious as she used to back in her younger years (as if she's that old), she still has that spice that she was none for. She's snappish, and if she feels like she's being threatened or as if she needs to defend herself she'll instantly get into a defensive mode where she'll do what she can to keep herself from getting hurt. Generally she's pretty closed off now, not as fun living as she used to be. But along with that, she is motherly when with her daughter; she loves the girl to pieces, and a softer, more relaxed, side comes out when ever LeAnn talks about her or is around her. Just don't push her buttons, okay? That way everyone will be... Well, not happy, but okay.
+/- Cautious
-/ Defensive
-/ Snappy
+/ Caring
-/ Jaded
-/ Defensive
-/ Snappy
+/ Caring
-/ Jaded
History
Family ||
Holly Burks - Mother - Estranged || When LeAnn was a young child, Holly adored her daughter. Always buying her the best new dresses, always doing her hair up, dolling her up. LeAnn was her precious child, one that was spoiled, but one that, eventually, turned rebellious. When LeAnn became a teenager and started going against the word of her parents, Holly too it the hardest, and she took it most personally; no, she didn't believe that LeAnn had just been going through a rebellious stage: she fully believed that had daughter had turned into an ungrateful bastard who had no regard for respect. She turned hard and cold on her daughter, always taking things away from her, calling her ungrateful. She was borderline abusive, never hitting LeAnn, but always emotionally degrading her daughter.
When that started happening, LeAnn started going against her mother even more, and the respect she once held for the woman disappeared. Before she was kicked out of the house, the two hardly spoke with one another, especially after it was learned that LeAnn was pregnant. Since leaving, LeAnn hasn't talked to her mother since, and the woman hasn't called.
Kyle Burks - Father - Estranged || Like with her mother, LeAnn was the beloved child to Kyle when she was young. The only difference that stems from her relationship with her dad is that when she turned rebellious he took it as more of a phase and was less harsh than Holly. LeAnn still angered him at times, when he found out that she would sneak out of the house, or when she would be out at all hours of the night without any notice of where she was at, but he always forgave her, thinking that in a year or more she'd get her act together and go back to being their good little girl. He even defended her when Holly berated her.
But such as with life, things change. LeAnn became pregnant, and after that the connection the two had with one another was broken. Kyle didn't trust her, and as much as he wanted to throw her out as soon as he found out about the pregnancy, he kept her under their roof for seven years, until it was too much. With his marriage almost destroyed, and LeAnn and her daughter still living under their roof, it was time for her to go. Since then, Kyle and LeAnn haven't spoken to another, and no calls have been made.
Isabelle Burks - Daughter - 7 || LeAnn's absolute love. Despite the roughness of the pregnancy that came from the emotions that welled through her body and her mind, LeAnn loves Isabelle with all her might. Despite Isabelle being a caught for a lot of the messes in her life, LeAnn doesn't blame her; it's not her fault, and in fact she believes that Isabelle saved her life. After having her daughter, she had to grow up. Fast. No more smoking or drinking. No more sneaking out, going to parties. She became isolated with the pregnancy, but she feels like it only made her a stronger person. The mother and daughter have a strong bond with one another, where LeAnn isn't afraid to tell Isabelle the mistakes that she made in the past, hoping that those mistakes will lead to Isabelle not making them, to being so much better than her mother.
She's a fun loving girl, a little shy around people that she doesn't know, but she's got a curious, wondering mind. And LeAnn encourages it. Despite her life being thrown into a large change with the move, she's always been hopeful and happy. She's happy to be where she is with her mom.
Backstory ||
Born, and for the most part raised, in Northern California close to the border, LeAnn grew up as a pretty spoiled child. Holly and Kyle Burks were happy to finally be starting a family, and with their one child they figured that they were complete; she had the rusty red hair of her mother and the green eyes of her father with her own perfect little smile that lit up her entire face when she learned to laugh at what went on around her. They bought her toys upon toys, filling up the entire dining room where they even put a four-foot slide in there for her. She had the life, essentially. A happy child, with no complaints to make other than that the brussel sprouts her mother made were disgusting, and that her dad's bread got itchy when he let it grow out to long.
That it, until she finally hit puberty and started learning about the world.
Despite living a near perfect life, LeAnn was sheltered, unaware of the real world that surrounded her and the types of people that were in it. These ideas of the world didn't start to form until she made it to middle school, where the kids were talking about sex, talking bad about their parents, and other things that, at that time, made LeAnn want to cover her ears and run. But she got pulled into the muses that spoke to her. Sex became an interest of hers, and when her parents refused tot ell her about it she got the information from her peers, ranging from girls getting pregnant when they were just kissed, to more accurate depictions of sex and what happened in it, though still wrong. It was scary, but also just so... Intriguing.
There was one boy specifically she sought out when asking questions about the real world; Tyler Mackentire, a boy her age who she had none for most of her life, having gone to the same preschool, elementary, and now middle school with each other, and even living only two blocks away from one another. They formed a bond and grew close, like you see in those story books with two best friends who eventually fall in love with one another and live happy lives. And that was what LeAnn thought the two of them had together.
He taught her his ways, which led LeAnn to opening up, to break out of her sheltered shell so that she could really live and have a life. She started lying to her parents, saying that she was on the debate team and that she had to stay after school for practice, but instead would be at school still except she would be fooling around with a few of the kids there--not in that way. They'd smoke, even at such a young age, when some of the kids had been able to get a hold of their parents' stash, and though LeAnn thought the cigarettes to be disgusting, she got addicted to them after trying to fit in with the crowd, especially with Tyler, who had no qualms in partaking in those activities.
Those simple activities soon turned worse as they got older. Instead of hanging out behind the school they started running the streets, going to the park and into the woods. They started to learn of each other's bodies by the time they were in high school, and by the tenth grade each of them had had their first sip of alcohol after sneaking into a party some seniors were having. Drunk and not knowing what they were doing, that was the first time LeAnn and Tyler had had sex with each other.
It was awkward, but like the cigarettes, had been addicting. But by that time they had been dating each other since middle school, so it was fine. Besides, she wouldn't get pregnant, she knew she wouldn't. And Tyler said that he loved her, with all his being, and she loved him back. They were going to live happily after after, she thought. Each of them started sneaking out out their houses to be with each other, and though there were times when LeAnn had been caught, she didn't care; she was going to do what she wanted, be with who she wanted to be with, because her future was already planned. Tyler was going to be the next biggest football star, and she was going to be his wife, cheering at his side with their two kids; one boy and one girl. Her relationship with her parents dropped. Her and her mother constantly argued, and she bashed her father, thinking of him to be weak. Not a man.
A fairytale. That's what LeAnn would call that part of her life now. A figment of her imagination that she let get too far.
It was the middle of November in her junior year of high school. It was a week before she got out for Thanksgiving break, and though she had been feeling sick lately, she just figured it to be a sign of the changing weather. She came home one day from school to see her mother there--a rare sight--but she didn't think anything of it, and neither did her mother, other than she just wanted half a day of work to rest since she, too, hadn't been feeling that well. LeAnn made her way into the kitchen where her mom was, each eyeing one another before LeAnn turned to grab a snack to eat and then head up to her room, but suddenly her mom spoke, "Are you pregnant?"
The first thing LeAnn did was blurt out a laugh at her mom, and calling her stupid, she answered back no. But Holly wasn't having it. The older woman stood from her seat and went to LeAnn, grabbing her daughter tightly on her arm. LeAnn tried to fight back, but she couldn't. Her mother grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted it up, looking at her stomach and the spread belly button. Anger rose in her face, and before LeAnn could do anything, her face was smacked. Hard. Loudly. Immediately Holly went and made a doctor's appointment, and luckily enough they were able to get one that day, thirty minutes later.
What they found out was that, yes, she was indeed pregnant, but by that point it was too late to do anything about it: she was already five months along.
What followed next was a war in the house; Holly wanted LeAnn gone, LeAnn shouted that she had no idea about this, that she didn't have any place to go, and Kyle was lost, a despairing look in his eyes. In the end LeAnn was able to stay in the house thanks to Kyle, but he couldn't look LeAnn in the face. They demanded to know who the father was, but she wouldn't tell them.
The house was dark, loathing after that. Her parents constantly argued, LeAnn arguing with them, and she just felt so... Lost. The only thing she felt hopeful about was Tyler. He'd still love her. He'd take her away, and maybe she'd even be able to live with him.
But he denied everything when she told him.
It had been after school, and instead of heading home they went to the park, where Tyler expected sex from LeAnn, but she wanted to talk. And she laid it all out for him; that she was five months pregnant, hadn't known about it, and that her parents were losing their fucking minds over it. They could be happy, she told him. This could be the start of their new lives together. They could raise the baby, be happy with each other, and once he made it big in football then they wouldn't have anything to worry about.
Instead of being as happy and as excited as she was, Tyler got anger. He accused her of lying, or trying to tie him down. He said that he was only a high schooler, that he didn't want a kid now. He told her to get an abortion, no matter what, but she said no, and when she did he pushed her and walked away. She chased after him, grabbing onto his shoulders that he tried to violently shake off. This is your problem too, she told him. You did this to me! But he denied it. Saying that it was probably somebody else, knowing her. She was offended. She said that she would never cheat on him, and that was true. She had been faithful, loving. Put he pushed her off.
She didn't stop her pestering him, so angry, furious with him. She blew his phone up every day, followed him around school. One day he blew up. In the middle of the hall way, during the time when classes were changing, and he yelled at her that he didn't love her, that he had been cheating on her for years now and that he had been planning to leave her behind once he got big. He didn't need her. She was just a pretty face.
It broke her. Tore her to pieces. God, looking back on it now, LeAnn knows that her life sounded like a bad straight to tv movie, but it was really happening. She was pregnant, the father wanted nothing to do with her, and she was alone.
Before he could walk away from her, she punched him square in the nose and walked away. The officers in the hall called out to her, took her to the principles office where she was suspended. But after that day, she never went back: she dropped out of school at seventeen, not even making it through her junior year. She had to, at that point. Her mother said that they weren't doing anything for the baby, or for her, any longer, so she had to pay for things herself. She got a stupid little job at the local supermarket, where constantly she saw her old friends come in and out of, but after hearing the news of her pregnancy, they only gave her pitying looks. She figured out who her real friends were then: none of them.
The rest of the pregnancy had been hard. Though she never grew that big, it was a burden on her; as well as being in the environment that she was in. Her mother threatened to kick her out if she didn't put the baby up for adoption, but that made LeAnn want to keep the baby even more, even if she knew that she couldn't do this, even if she knew that she couldn't be a good mother for this child. But she wanted to be vindictive. To keep the child around town, so that Tyler could see it and maybe feel guilty. To keep it to piss off her parents. She didn't even take the time to consider the life of the baby. She had no life, barely an existence. She just felt... Empty.
That was, until the baby was born. As cliche as it sounded, when she first laid eyes on the baby, she knew that she would never be able to give her baby girl up. She was so beautiful, with pale skin, red hair, pert lips. This was her baby. Her baby.
The next three years of her life were the hardest that LeAnn had ever experienced. Coupled with constant fighting from her parents and being fired from her job at the supermarket because they couldn't have someone on staff who had to miss so much work because of a newborn, most nights LeAnn couldn't go to sleep, and instead of sleeping she cried. There had been so many times when she thought about putting the baby up for adoption, but she couldn't. She just couldn't do it.
Her mother never spoke to her granddaughter. Never got her, or LeAnn, anything for their birthdays or Christmases, and her dad stopped doing so after a year. He was getting tired of his daughter and his grandchild. The baby would scream all night, and because LeAnn had no job they had to pay for things for the baby--well, Kyle did. It was a strain on everyone, and one day they told LeAnn to take the baby and get out.
Isabelle was three by that point and LeAnn was twenty. Her habits of smoking and drinking had vanished, and she started getting her life together. When they told her to leave, she didn't understand why. She didn't argue with them any longer, and she was getting her act together, trying to be a better person, a better mother. But they had had enough. She had to go. LeAnn, for the first time in years, cried and begged to her parents to let her stay, because she had no where else to go, but they said no. Her things were already packed for her, and she just had to go somewhere.
That was the end of her connection with her parents. They were so willing to let their daughter and granddaughter out into the streets, so what the fuck was she still doing there. She knew of one place where she could stay.
She found herself at her cousin's doorstep. He had an apartment three hours away from where her parents lived, and since she hadn't called him ahead of time, he was surprised to see her standing at his door with bags and a baby. She asked for a place to stay, just until she could get on her feet, and he agreed, only because he expected her to stay for only a week, two at most.
She ended up staying for four years. But in the four years, she didn't slack off. Not after the first three months. The first three months LeAnn's finally came to realize the situation she was in. Homeless with a three year old. It was another point in her life where she thought about putting Isabelle up for adoption, but she was stopped once again. But that didn't pull her spirits up. She had no parents, no friends, no money. She had nothing. She became depressed, hardly able to take care of Isabelle, and becoming a nuscience to her cousin. He was the one that brought her out of her, that kicked her into gear. He told her that she needed to get up and do something, to get a job, or go back to finish school, or she'd be out on the streets again, because he couldn't continue to pay for everything for her, especially if she wasn't even going to try.
A month later, she started trying. She thought about going back to school, but knowing that she needed money more than anything, she decided to look for a job. She ended up working at a retail clothing store. What helped best was that Isabelle was able to be put in a daycare center; not only did it help her sociability skills, but it also allowed LeAnn to have some time for herself, to actually work without having to worry what she was going to do with her and just... Feel like she was being more productive. She started helping her cousin around the place; cleaning it every day, washing and folding clothes, and she started making dinners every night, which stemmed her love of food and started getting her to be more healthy. Not only for herself, but for her daughter. No more processed foods for her, or foods that were incredibly unhealthy!
For three years it was a steady process. She saved up some money, but still lived with her cousin. She was twenty three, Isabelle was six and heading into kindergarten, but she was stuck in a rut again with what to do. Her cousin brought up the idea of getting her GED--no, telling her that she needed to get it so that she could get a better job and leave. The only reason she had been able to stay so long, he told her, was because of Isabelle. He loved the both of them, but he wanted his own space back. And LeAnn understood.
It was difficult, but she worked towards getting her GED, and when that graduation day finally came, she couldn't have been happier. She was so... Proud of herself, and to see how proud Isabelle and her cousin were of her, she felt like she could do so much more with her life. More opportunity started opening up for her, and she ended up getting a few scholarships to schools; one of them being a place in Salem, California, about a few hours from where she was, which gave her the biggest.
She had never before thought about going to college. In high school she thought she was going to marry Tyler and be the wife of a football player, not needing an education since they'd have so much money. But there it was, an opportunity to go, to do better for herself and for her daughter. For Isabelle.... That was the most important thing for LeAnn.
Before accepting the money, she researched the place, looked around to see if there were any job openings when she found that a doctor's office was looking for a secretary. She applied, and got a skype interview with them; luckily, she qualified, and they liked her, so, if she came to Salem, she was hired. She took the job, told her cousin about it, and applied to Salem, where she was accepted and then... Well, the rest happened.
She moved to Salem, California with Isabelle and everything they had, into a small apartment that LeAnn had found. It wasn't the worst place around, LeAnn opting to not be caught in a lower end part of the town with a daughter. It cost more... But she knew she had to do it. She may have to miss a few meals, or do something to get some extra money to save up, but hopefully with time her new job would be able to give her enough money to pay for it. It's one bedroom, and Isabelle has the bedroom with LeAnn sleeping on the couch. The two share the closet in the bedroom. It's small, but they make it work.
Now it's time to get out there and see what she can do. To be a nutritionist and be better for her daughter; that's all she wants. Isabelle deserves it.