Name: Evangelina “E.V” Hardy.
Age: 25
Gender: Female.
Appearance: She stands at about five feet and six inches tall in flats, five nine in heels, with pale porcelain skin that seems to only have a small smattering of make up to conceal tired eyes and accentuate bright, ice blue iris'. A small amount of lip liner accentuates the shape of her mouth which is already a focal point due to the small, neat beauty mark on the left hand side of her mouth. She has long dyed blonde hair that she leaves to cascade over her shoulders and part way down her arms. While her roots do show from time to time her natural hair colour seems only a few shades darker than the colour she wears. She likes to dress simplistically, wearing shirts, vests or the like in simple colours such as black, white and sometimes red. Often wearing jeans or leggings rather than skirts or shorts. Her shoes are perhaps the most versatile of her wardrobe, ranging from 'biker boots' to dolly shoes, ankle boots to knee high no heel or heeled depending on her mood.
Personality Rundown: Upon first meeting one would assume EV to be a timid and shy woman, she can be quiet and stammers around new faces or when tensions and stresses run high. She is uncomfortable around women more than she is men though is at all times as polite as she can be. She has several nervous habits from walking while on the phone to tapping her feet or fingers when in a crowd. This aside she is a very loyal friend, willing to help anyone in need even if it means she herself would have to go without. She feels guilty when she can't be helpful and goes out of her way to make it up to those she feels she's wronged. She doesn't talk much about herself, diverting conversation to other areas or pretending not to hear the questions.
Bio: Her childhood started out rather happily, she had a mother who loved and doted on her and a father who, when he was home, would teach her all kinds of new things and always bring her presents. Her mother had been a nurse before giving it up to have children with her soldier husband. They always seemed happy to her when she was young, even though he'd be gone for up to two months at a time he would always come home and be okay.
Though then the middle east erupted into war, wars that made it to their Television sets and that's when the first rumbles of disquiet began. They waited until they thought she was asleep before arguing, little rows at first but they got louder and louder. They'd put on the TV just to drown out their bickering and many times the slam of the front door was heard as one or the other stormed out to calm down. By morning they were smiling and laughing but Ev could see the difference even then.
This went on for a year, EV becoming gradually more quiet and shy and her parent's barely noticing the change in their usually bubbly daughter. When her father was away her mother took to having 'friends' over, friends that stayed until she'd gone to bed and always made her feel uncomfortable. It was when asking, innocently enough, about one of these male visitors her mother first raised a hand to her, slapping her across the face, not hard enough to leave a lasting mark, but enough for both to be stunned into an awkward silence that lasted days.
When her father came back he'd give her her gifts and play with her for a while before heading out for the evening. He always came back smelling of perfume or alcohol not that she understood what either of those things would mean for many years to come.
Eventually there was one huge fight, words that a child of her age -around about twelve- had no business knowing, like war and terrorism, adultery and divorce and this time neither kept their voices lowered or cared that their daughter was sat in the room, hiding behind the sofa and crying quietly into a cushion she'd snatched off the seat. There was a smack and not long after the door slammed with a finality to it that managed to get through to her despite her naivety.
Her father didn't come back after that and her mother drank, wept and fucked the night away with whatever man she'd picked up in the bar that night. They lost their house and for months they sofa hopped from place to place until finally the government gave them 'sheltered' accommodation. Ev never liked the people they stayed with and her grades took a downward spiral as she starved herself of sleep out of fear and distrust of her mothers new friends. The home they had was little more than a one bedroom apartment, the wallpaper clung desperately and feebly to the walls of the flat and the carpet was so filthy it was hard to imagine what colour it had been to begin with. At night she could hear rats in the walls and had the constant and uncomfortable feeling that bugs were scuttling across her floor. Though it was home all the same.
Her mother though was not the same, somewhere between the booze and the grief she had grown cold and hard. Often times she turned on Ev and blamed her for the way their lives turned out and often times she would threaten to kick her out only to moments later break down and hold her daughter so desperately it was as if she was scared she'd disappear from her very arms.
While Ev's grades picked up again it was not due to her mother recovering but some very good friends having her over for sleep overs and days out, giving her a normal teenage girl's life rather than one spent trying to get her mother to eat something or to stop drinking. It was these small acts of kindness that helped EV keep her own sanity as her mother's crumbled and while it was intended to be an aide for them both it only caused further troubles.
Perhaps due to the drink her mother started to become paranoid, burning mail for EV before EV could read it and refusing to give her a mobile phone or let her speak on the phone. Her friends parents (Richard and Sarah Chambers) were constantly considered the root of the evil with their daughter Abigail poisoning Ev against her. As her paranoia got worse even the trips out with her friends became more difficult for her, knowing that once she was home she'd face a barrage of insults, accusations and emotions.
It was a Friday night not long after she'd turned Sixteen, she'd gotten back from going to the bowling alley and arcade with Abigail and their friends from school to find her mother half soaked in cheap vodka and still no more dressed than she had been when she'd left her that morning. Immediately threats and accusations began to fly but EV was tired and for the first time she simply sighed and made for her room. The cheap glass bottle hit her square in the back of the head and shattered with a sound that seemed deafening in the little apartment.
It was the second and last time her mother was physically violent with her, not long after the bottle had left her hand she knew what she'd done and knew then, fir the first time, she was sick and needed help. It was a painfully quiet drive to the hospital and an awkward cover story to the nurses in the A&E as hey cleaned and treated the cuts on her head. When they got home her mother went to the kitchen and phoned a psychiatrist and was committed within the inside of a week.
Ev was asked to move out of the flat and was only too happy to do so, moving in instead with Abigail and her family until she landed a job at a bar and signed up to college during the day. There she explored a multitude of courses ranging from sociology and psychology to dressmaking. It was the latter that she found relief in and soon was in the employ of a wonderful, although eccentric old lady who ran a small store filled with her handmade designs. Ev's job was to take in the garments if needed, to fix hemlines or sow detailing so that each item matched the buyers exact needs.
With money saved up and a small charitable gift from Abigail's parents, EV was able to buy a small studio apartment on the ground floor of a new building where she still lives to this day.
Notes: She still works in the pub from time to time to help pay her mother's medical bills.
She and Abigail are still close friends and Abigail's parents treat her like a daughter
If she's deep in thought she will flinch if approached from behind/suddenly.
She is now also a designer but far too shy of her work to show it to her boss.
One of her first major purchases was a piano, her mother had paid for her to have lessons when she was a child.
She still visits her mother every other weekend and spends a whole morning with her, the pleasantness of the visits depend on the drugs she's on. The nurses don't think she'll be getting out for at least another five years after suffering a massive psychotic break.
She still has scars on the back of her skull where her mum threw the bottle, not that it's obvious through the hair line but can be felt with fingers. She doesn't like having her head touched.
Did get back in contact with her father who sends regular care packages with letters.
Has a driving licence but doesn't have a car, can also legally ride a motorbike.
@Serge Thank you, I do hope it picks up again and here's my character concept, let me know if there's anything wrong with it. :)