Post by Becca on Oct 2, 2016 18:59:03 GMT
Name: Natalie Jayne Hall.
Nicknames: To her students she goes by Mrs. Hall because she finds it a little weird when teachers allow their students to call them by their first name. To her friends and family she goes by Natalie or Nat.
Age/Birthday: She is 36, and her birthday is April 12th
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Straight
Health Issues: Nat suffers from chronic migraines which can completely ruin her day. One days where she has migraines she has to stay home from work and keep herself in a dark room. Light and any type of sound is magnified and makes her feel queasy.
School and Class: She is a teacher at Metric High School
Subject/Age group: Natalie teaches English at the high school for freshman through seniors and offers a special class with a focus on the works of Edgar Allan Poe for seniors only.
Job: English teacher at Metric High School
Reputation: Natalie is known for being a very friendly yet challenging teacher. She welcomes discussion in her class and is open to how things can be interpreted differently. Her students can feel comfortable coming to her with any problems she may have and she does her best to help them.
Friend(s):
Susan Summers: Shortly after starting her job at Metric High School she connected with Susan Summers and the two became friends. Much to their surprise they both were pregnant around the same time which only strengthened the bond between the two mothers-to-be. Movie nights and shopping sprees became a norm for the two and once their daughters were born they would bring them together for playdates all the time. Natalie views Susan as the sister she never had.
Westley Coxx: John was the one to introduce Nat to West. She thinks he is quite irresponsible but still fun to be around. He is one of the only people who can get her to loosen up and have fun.
Enemies/Rivals: Natalie does not have any enemies that she knows of.
Relationship Status: Happily married to Johnathan Hall
Height/Body Type: 5’5” although the heels she wears typically add three or more inches to her height. She maintains an average build and keeps healthy by going for walks but other than that has no real strict diet regimen. There was a period after Rhett died where she was very skinny and unhealthy looking but shortly after making new friends in Salem she started to put weight back on.
Hair color: Brown, naturally wavy and fall to the middle of her back. She always wears her hair down except for at night when she ties it back in a bun.
Eye color: Brown
Clothing style: No matter how terrible she may feel, Natalie always looks very professional and put together. Most of her wardrobe consists of blouses, skirts, and dresses and the occasions where she wears pants are very rare. She prefers pastel colors and interesting prints (polka-dots, stripes, floral, etc). Nat has a very large collection of heels in almost every color imaginable. There has not been one day she has not going without wearing a pair of heels and even all throughout her pregnancies she refused to wear flats. The only time she does not look presentable is at night, at home, when all her fancy clothes and makeup come off and she can relax in her pajamas.
Ethnicity: American
Playby: Sarah Wayne Callies
Likes: Writing, her children, Elvis, getting alone time with Johnathan, high heels, lip syncing, dancing like a fool, walking in the park, coffee, going out for girl’s night, car rides, cooking, church, classic literature, teaching, the smell of lilac, flowers, shopping, watching Disney movies with Annabelle
Dislikes: Bugs, seeing her son pushing her away, when her students don’t listen, swearing, cleaning, rudeness, reality TV, the sight of blood, when Annabelle cries, cheesy horror movies, unexpected phone calls (she’s always slightly afraid it means terrible news), funerals
+ Nurturing, protective, silly, agreeable, extroverted, humble, educated, passionate, responsible, selfless, sympathetic, tolerant, well-rounded, appreciative
+/- Emotional, forgiving, religious, indecisive
- Messy, dependent, cautious (when it comes to letting people in her life because she is afraid of losing them), oblivious, fearful, excitable, forgetful (she is always forgetting her keys), vulnerable
Hobbies: Writing non-fiction stories on her old typewriter, trying out new cooking recipes, taking Annabelle to the park
Family:
Former Husband – Rhett Arkwright – Deceased – Rhett was the first love of Natalie’s life. When they were younger they would do everything together. He was a true gentleman, always coming home with flowers for no reason and taking care of her and their son. She was certain they would be together forever. His death hit her incredibly hard but she hid her pain in order to be strong for their son Cliff. With him gone it seemed like a huge part of her life when missing. She felt empty and hollow inside but kept smiling regardless. There is not a day that goes by where she does not think of Rhett and, even though she has moved on and found love with Johnathan, he still holds a special place in her heart.
Son – Heathcliff Arkwright – 15 – The relationship she has with her son is strained. Ever since Rhett’s death she has found it extremely hard to connect with him. She feels as if he is trying to push himself away her which makes her feel absolutely terrible. Everything she has done in life has been an attempt to make life better for her son and what she fails to realize is so far the things she has done have only succeeded in pushing him away. She loves her son dearly and fears she is losing him. Nat does everything in her power to try and include him with her, Johnathan, and Annabelle, but he does not seem to have any interest in it. Natalie sees so much of Rhett in her son which makes it hard for her to look at him sometimes. Her little boy is one of the only things she has to remember Rhett by and it tears her up inside knowing they are slowly drifting away from one another. She does her best to still be a good mother to him and constantly reminds him she loves him but gives him the space he needs.
Former Brother-in-law – Eldin Arkwright – History Professor Natalie keeps a civil relationship with her former husband’s brother. It was he who suggested they move to Salem after Rhett died, and she thought it would be a good idea for Cliff to have his uncle in his life. She knows no one will ever be able to replace Rhett in her son’s eyes but hoped having his uncle around would lessen the blow of the loss on her son. Nat encourages Eldin to interact with her son just so she can be sure Rhett’s memory lives on.
Husband – Johnathon Hall – Art History Professor Natalie met Johnathan shortly after moving to Salem. She was feeling overwhelmed and alone in this new town, and he offered to show her around. His company was greatly appreciated and it made things much easier to have someone she could talk to about everything. They met weekly for coffee and opened up to one another and somewhere along the way a spark ignited. Though there would never be anyone like Rhett, Johnathan made the hurt go away and replaced those feelings with hope and love. She can trust Johnathan with anything and is lucky to have him in her life. He has shown her it is possible to love again, and she hopes they will be together for the long run.
Daughter – Annabelle Hall – 3 – Little Annie is the light of Natalie and Johnathan’s life. Natalie was surprised when she found out she was pregnant but also excited to start a new chapter in her life. As a baby Annabelle was extremely temperamental and required a lot of attention. Nat spent endless nights staying up for feedings or walking Annie around the house because she would cry every time she was put down. Regardless of what a difficult baby she was, Natalie loves her little girl to pieces and finds it rather adorable when she hides behind either her or Johnathan’s legs whenever they encounter new people.
Backstory: Blake and Claire Arlington always wanted a big family which made it terribly difficult when they had troubles conceiving a child. After spending thousands of dollars to see specialists they found out Blake was infertile and incapable of producing a child. The couple discussed this problem at length and decided to use a sperm donor in order to have a child. The procedure took immediately and the couple prepared for their child. Nine months later they welcomed a little girl to the world who they named Natalie Jayne Arlington. Instead of investing further in order to have more children they instead decided they were content with one and would shower her with affection.
Since Claire was a stay-at-home mom, Natalie spent a lot of her childhood in her mother’s company. Her father was an architect and spent a lot of his time either at the office or traveling so most of the time it was just her and her mother. She learned her love of literature from her mother who would read to her every night before bed. As she grew older, the length of the books began to increase. By the time she was six-years-old her mother was already reading her literary classics. Natalie soaked up all the information and developed quite the vocabulary for a child of her age. In school she went onto win spelling bees and always read the most books for the monthly contents their class would have.
When her father came home, he made every effort to be a good father. He showered Natalie and her mother with gifts. From her father she developed her appreciation for music. It would be an understatement to say Blake was obsessed with Elvis. He would play Elvis records on his old record player anytime he was home. Claire and Blake would often dance together to the music, and that’s when little Natalie decided she wanted to find a love like her parents had. Even though Blake was not home most of the time, he still managed to make time for his wife and daughter to know they were loved.
Blake and Claire had many friends, so it was no surprise when they connected with a couple named Anna and Arthur Arkwright who had two children of their own. Claire and Anna were both housewives which meant Anna would often come over with her two boys. Natalie never had siblings, so she was excited to have new friends (though the other two boys felt rather forced into the situation). She ended up being quite the annoyance to both boys but more so the eldest Rhett. He was such a quiet and abrasive boy, most of the time he would just ignore her when she tried to talk with him. There was more than one instance where he made her cry. The only time the two were actually civil to one another was when they would put on some of Blake’s old records.
In school Natalie thrived. She loved to learn and was very social which meant she had plenty of friends, yet it still bothered her Rhett refused to acknowledge her. Nat considered him a friend but he had a tendency to pick on her. Her mother assured he it was only because he liked her, but Natalie found it incredibly hard to believe.
When Natalie was only thirteen her world crumbled around her for the first time. She was left at home alone on a snowy winter afternoon while her mother ran errands. The phone rang and when Nat answered the lady on the opposite end told her there had been an accident and her mother was in critical condition. With no way to get to the hospital she called the Arkwright’s and Anna came over to take her to the hospital. By the time they arrived at the hospital it was too late, but no one could tell them since Anna was not family and Natalie was too young. They waited in clueless in the waiting room until three hours later Blake arrived after speeding from a meeting three cities away. Finally the family was told the news that Claire’s injuries had been fatal and there was nothing they could have done. Natalie collapsed into her father’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Not only had she lost her mother but her best friend as well.
After her mother’s death Blake still needed to work but Natalie refused to leave the house. Anna Arkwright often came over to watch her because Blake worried about the mental state of her daughter. She refused to speak, refused to eat, and often even refused to move. The loss of her mother had hit her hard. For weeks it continued like this. Her father would try and cheer her up any way he could only to fail. Even Rhett came over to try and help. He would sit by her for hours talking about his day while she just sat, listened, and blankly stared forward. Then, one day, she had a breakthrough. Rhett had turned on some Elvis while the two just laid on the carpet, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly Natalie reached over at grabbed his hand, the first initiation of human contact she had in more than a month. It was not much, but it was a step in the right direction.
She slowly began to open up more with the help of Rhett. Somehow the boy who had ignored her for years became her anchor. The two became inseparable. She would read him passages from her favorite books, and he would take her out to the woods and show her the survival tactics he learned. When she was a freshman, he asked her to Homecoming and officially asked her to be his girlfriend. They remained together for the remained of their high school years, even when he graduated two years before her and went off to the police academy so he could become an officer.
Rhett surprised Natalie the day of her high school graduation by getting down on one knee and proposing. She agreed and one year later they married. It was one of the happiest moments of Natalie’s life. They danced their first song to “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis while Rhett faintly murmured the lyrics in her ear.
Natalie had signed up for college to pursue her dreams of being a teacher, but her plans were soon put on hold when she found out she was pregnant. Rhett and her could not be happier with the news and immediately looked for a house of their own close to the woods where she could write and he could hunt. Unable to wait to find out the gender, Rhett could not have been more proud when he found out he was going to have a baby boy. They bickered over names for their little boy. Rhett wanted to name him Clifford while Natalie was insistent on Heathcliff. Eventually they settled on Heathcliff since Cliff was a name they could both agree on.
On March 20th they welcomed their beautiful boy Heathcliff Reginald Arkwright into their family. Natalie had never seen Rhett happier than the moment he laid eyes on his little boy. She knew from that moment forward her husband would do anything for their son, and that’s exactly what he did. Natalie stayed at home with Cliff until he was old enough to go to school. While he was at school, she took classes to earn her teaching degree. She always made time for her son. Nat taught him how to cook and would often take him out for car rides where they would just drive until they felt like turning back and going home.
When Rhett started taking Healthcliff out into the woods she could not help but worry but she trusted her husband because the man had practically been raised in the woods. Occasionally she would tag along when they went camping but the bugs terrified her and sleeping on the ground was not very comfortable.
When Cliff was nearly ten-years-old Natalie’s world was shaken for the second time. She was on her lunch break when her phone rang and when she answered her heart dropped. The woman on the other end told her there had been an incident and Rhett had been shot after trying to stop a robbery. Nat grabbed her keys and rushed to the elementary school to pick up her son before speeding to the hospital. Flashbacks of her mother continued to play in her head as they sat in the waiting room. When the doctor finally delivered the news Rhett had not made it, Natalie clung to her little boy and cried.
The days leading up to the funeral Natalie was a wreck. She could hardly go an hour without crying and made sure Cliff was always in her sight. The day of the funeral she mourned and tried her best to put on a strong face for the guests who gave their condolences. It was then Natalie realized she could not allow herself to slip down the same path she had when her mother died. She could not to that to Heathcliff, not when he needed her to be strong. To make matters worse, two weeks after the funeral Natalie suffered a miscarriage. Her had Rhett had secretly been expecting another child but the stress she was under the weeks after his death had caused her body to reject the child. It was then Natalie made the decision to move her and Heathcliff somewhere else to start new.
They packed up their belongings and said their goodbyes. Nat noticed Cliff made a habit of going off by himself but she figured the boy needed his space and time to recover. Hopefully going somewhere new would make things easier for him rather than being trapped by memories. The two moved to Salem where Rhett’s brother lived and worked. Natalie found a job at the high school as an English teacher.
About a month after moving in, Natalie met Johnathan Hall. She was on her second coffee run of the day, her head in a fog after grading three classes worth of essay, and ended up running into him and spilling iced coffee all down his shirt. Nat apologized over and over but Johnathan was just glad it had not been hot coffee. They parted ways but soon started to see each other all the time in town. Eventually they finally swapped numbers and began meeting up for coffee each week. Natalie enjoyed how easy talking to him was, and it was nice to have a friend in this new town. She could tell him anything and share the feelings she had kept bottled up for so long with him. He made her feel happy when she had forgotten what that was like after Rhett’s death.
They remained friends for over a year before they both realized what they had between them felt much stronger than friendship. Natalie sat Cliff down and told him her and Johnathan were dating and, even though her son did not seem to understand, she felt like it was what she needed to do with her life. Johnathan kept her stable, he kept her sane. A year and a half into their relationship Natalie discovered she was pregnant and Johnathan proposed immediately afterward. Her life was finally starting to feel normal once more.
Afraid of losing the baby as she had previously, Natalie took it easy and put all her focus into the pregnancy (which unfortunately meant not having a lot of time for her son). Johnathan and Natalie had a peaceful backyard wedding surrounded by family and friends. It was one of the happiest days of her life, and she knew in her heart Rhett would have wanted this for her. He would want her to move on and take care of their son. Unfortunately the one thing missing from the wedding was her son. She searched for Cliff in the crowd and was disappointed to see the boy had run off.
Three months after the wedding Natalie gave birth to her and Johnathan’s daughter who they named Annabelle. She was a colicky baby, always needed to be held and rocked. There were many sleepless nights between Nat and Johnathan which meant Natalie had even less time to spend with Heathcliff. She could sense the relationship with her son becoming strained and felt helpless to it. Natalie loved her son and he was the only thing she had left of Rhett, yet she was slowly losing him.
She continues to reach out to her son while also spending time with Johnathan and their little girl. Natalie is a hard working mom and does her best to make her family happy though there is only so much she can do.
