I'm pretty out of practice writing up characters so hopefully this is okay haha

[hider=Beth]
Name: Beth Brown
Age: 31
Occupation: Motel worker 

Appearance: An unassuming looking woman with a soft face and body. She wears poorly fitted floral dresses and loose cardigans that are largely unflattering, and she keeps her hip-length ginger hair tied back in a simple plait. Her expression defaults to kind, although her eyes often give away an underlying anxiety. 

Personality: Previously an ambitious and extroverted woman with a love of music and travel, she now does her best to push down any feelings that could try to push her outside of the safe world she has built. She is helpful and friendly with those she interacts with, if largely quiet, but carries a slight air of unease that can be off-putting to those perceptive enough to detect it. 

Background: Beth grew up in a middle-class family in Wales. Her parents were loving but controlling, and when she decided to apply to study at university they pressured her to attend a poorly-ranked local institution so that she would be close to home. On her first day she met Talia, an American student in her final year, and they entered a whirlwind relationship that took over Beth's life. But coming out to her parents led to fury and, unhappy with her life, she agreed to follow Talia back to East Coast USA. The relationship quickly became abusive, and with no college education and very little freedom Beth settled into a life of miserable monotony. After eight years of worsening treatment she decided to flee, taking the car in the middle of the night and driving aimlessly. She found herself several states away in Havenwood where, as she was passing through, debilitating exhaustion hit. She booked a room at a motel and never left. Four years later she works a job in the motel she first landed in and rents a small, grubby apartment by the main road. 

The Touch: Nothing ever looks quite real, as though the moment she stepped into Havenwood everything became too flat and too vivid, like the world is a picture. The more she tries to remember what 'real' looks like the more panicky she feels, so she tries to ignore it. She puts it down to the Kansas sunlight.

Weaknesses: Her biggest fear is that Talia will find her. To maintain emotional stability she generally avoids thinking about the past or the future, and is terrified of facing her emotions. She often resorts to food and alcohol to help in this avoidance.

Motivations: She wants above all to have a stable life. She is working towards buying one of the small houses in a nicer part of town, and has her eyes set on a promotion at the motel. There's a stray cat called Billy who she's been working on befriending. Her life is small but safe here, and she can convince herself that she's beginning to fit in; if she left she'd lose all of that. 
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