HARRIS, ARIEL ELENA

NAME: ariel elena harris
AGE: twenty six
BIRTHDAY: july 28th, 1988
SEXUALITY: heterosexual
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: heartbroken & bitter, but still in love with eric wintson
OCCUPATION: interior designer
GRADE (if applicable): graduate
FACE CLAIM: chloe bennet

HAIR COLOUR: chocolate brown
EYE COLOUR: dark brown
TATTOOS/PIERCINGS: ear lobes pierced
SCARS: an eight inch long scar on her right side, just below her last rib from a nephrectomy (kidney removal)
HEIGHT: 5'4"
WEIGHT: 121 lbs

LIKES (10 <): colours, dancing, designing, baking, cooking, eating, exploring, adventures, hiking, staying active, finding the "i'm possible" in impossible, laughter, lazy sundays, children, socializing, her family, city life
DISLIKES (10 <): being stuck, boredom, doing the dishes, thinking inside the box, mismatching things, being limited, slow things/people in general, conflicts, deadlines, being forced to do things, scary movies, microwaveable food, routines, drugs, giving up, nosy people, unhelpful people
FEARS (3 <): being forced to go back to arrow, colorado; losing eric for good, giving up her dreams
ASPIRATIONS (3 <): own her own interior design firm, travel a lot, to make a difference in someone's life
PERSONALITY (overview in any form):

selfless: ariel would do anything for anyone. she has a heart of gold, and she wears it on her sleeves most of the time. she's the girl who will give you all she can, no questions asked. like, for example, her nephrectomy was because she was a kidney donor. she had done the procedure for a little girl who needed it to survive. she knew she only needed to survive with one kidney, so why not give someone the things she has extra?
adventurous: she is the kind of girl who lives for the thrill. she loves the adrenaline rush, and she loves finding new things. she's not the type who likes to idle around and do nothing. in fact, she hates it. she hates having nothing to do. her lives needs to be filled with excitement and things to do. she would try anything that she thinks would be thrilling. however, she can be easily entertained, so for her, something thrilling could entail going to a furniture store and finding things she could put in a show home. 
silly & quirky: she never takes herself seriously, and would take any chance to be weird and goofy. she'll laugh at inappropriate times, dance out of nowhere, and make comments that she shouldn't make out loud. more often than not, she wonders why people still let her out of the house due to this characteristic of hers. however, she is often a comic relief during tense situations. she's not the biggest fan of conflicts, and would do anything to make sure people listen to what the other has to say, and that by the end of it all, everyone walks away with a smile. 
stubborn: ariel is stubborn as hell. once she's got her mind set on something, there is little to no way you could change her mind. she wants things done the way she wants, and she will make sure it's carried out that way. if she's designed something, and perfected it the way it's supposed to look, it would take a lot of convincing for her to make even the slightest of changes. she doesn't give up easily. not on her ideals, and definitely not on her dreams. this trait is probably one of her biggest flaws. her stubbornness makes her seem self righteous and egotistical. it also makes her seem like a cold bitch because she refuses to even let love stop her from giving up her dreams. 
creative: this girl can find inspiration in almost anything she finds. because she's so easily distractible, she has spurs of memories of things she's seen or found. this trait comes in handy with her career, but it also helps in her people skills. she's always finding new ways to do things and coming up with new ideas. she's not the kind of person who's interested in routines. she craves to do new things and looking through new perspectives. 

MOTHER'S NAME, AGE & OCCUPATION: daniella tsang, 52, bakery owner
FATHER'S NAME, AGE & OCCUPATION: warren harris, 53, architect
SIBLING NAME(S), AGE(S), OCCUPATION(S): n/a
PET(S) - SPECIES, BREED: comet, bichon frise shih-tzu mix/teddy bear breed, 2 y/o
CHILD(REN) NAME(S), AGE(S): n/a

BIRTHPLACE: arrow, colorado
FIRST FRIEND (small paragraph): arrow, colorado was a small town. everyone knew everyone, so it was no surprise that ariel's first friend came in the form of her neighbour. the boy's name was ryder. he was everything that she wasn't, and they obviously had clashing personalities, but somehow, it worked. it helped that they were the same age. they walked to and from school together, and was always hanging out at each other's houses. from video games, to back yard adventures. the fields were their playground, and it became anything and everything they could think of through their imagination. more often than not, the both of them would go back home with muddy boots and dirty hands. 
FIRST LOVE (small paragraph): she had never thought she'd fall in love with her best friend. mainly because he was a bad boy in ever sense of the word. she has known him since she was a toddler, and they know things about each other that no one else did. but she had fallen in love with him, and surprisingly, ryder loved her too. people thought they were too young to be in love. they were only thirteen after all, but they didn't know him like she did. he made her happy. his personality was consuming and powerful. he intoxicated her. she craved his adventures. however, this bad boy just got worst. he got into bad crowds, hung out with the wrong people. he started to dabble in drugs and alcohol. she had tried everything possible to get him off the drugs, to be his companion. she tried to get him help, but he just kept pushing her away. she eventually gave up, of course. she was so young at the time. didn't know what kind of difference one person made. they fell out of touch with one another until he showed up on the news a few months later. he was found in an alley, overdosed on heroine. 
FIRST MEMORY: sleeping in bed with her dad on one side and her mom on the other. her dad would tuck her in and her mother would start telling her a bed time story. every night was a new one. every once in a while, her father would input his own creation, twist the story a little bit. it was not different this one night. they told her of the story of a princess who was stuck in her castle, but dreamed of leaving and explore the world around her. but obstacles stood in her way, and she had to battle different monsters to get to her destination. she fell asleep that night between her parents, a smile on her face.
BEST MEMORY: community events were not a small thing in a small town like hers. they were extravagant, and everyone went. it didn't matter who you were, what you did. everybody attended to support one another. the christmas parade was her favourite. it wasn't particularly fancy like the bigger cities, but it was her favourite time of the year. seeing christmas trees, the decorations, the bright lights and the overall christmas cheer just made her randomly happy. however, what made it more amazing was the first snowfall. it was everything she thought it would be. cold, slushy, but most of all, it brought snowball fights and face washes. she made the biggest snowman she could, made forts to protect from the snowball attacks, and right down to the snow angels. 
WORST MEMORY: it was supposed to be the happiest day of her life so far. finally something interesting. she loved her family here, don't get her wrong, but the small town life was never much for ariel. she's always dreamed of more. more than just loving neighbours, high school drama and running into everyone you know at the grocery store.  arrow consisted of a small population. the kind of population who knows you your whole life. not one person was out of the loop. so, of course, when you tell them that you were finally moving onto bigger things in los angeles with your long time boyfriend, they all come to see you off. excitement was an understatement for how she felt. everyone knew she didn't belong in this small town. ariel wanted to say she hadn't saw it coming, but she did. she had an inkling. eric had started distancing himself from her. she thought maybe he just had the jitters about leaving. he liked the small town, she knew. but she had asked him on more than one occasion if he was sure he wanted to leave for los angeles with her. he had told her he was. she hadn't thought he'd actually change his mind. she had packed everything in the car, and she was ready to go. and then he had changed his mind last second… in front of the entire town. it was the most embarrassing moment she has ever experienced. but it wasn't the embarrassment that did it. it was what came after when she was driving away. it was the black mascara tears that ran down her face, the twisted feeling she felt in her guts, and the way her heart clenched. 
HISTORY (overview): ariel was born to an interracial couple. her father was italian and her mother was chinese. it was a controversy in their small town. mixed couples were not a common thing in arrow, but despite the disapproval from both families, they still stayed together and became one of the most looked up to couple in the town. her parents named her after the little mermaid; based on the book by hans christian andersen, not the movie. she grew up as an only child to the harris family, and was her parents' most prized possession. she was not an easy child to take care of. she was always moving, always touching things and moving things. she was an active child that found wonder in everything. even as a child, she was constantly redecorating things - especially her barbie playhouse. she was constantly doing arts and crafts, making little cardboard wallpapers for barbie's room. she would move anything that wasn't permanently attached to the dollhouse. she had always been good at making things, decorating and rearranging the house. her room was designed every half a year to her liking despite her parents objection to the changes. 

she grew up to a relatively normal childhood. she didn't have many friends, but she had a select few that she hung around with. ryder was the one she saw most often though. the two were often playing in the big fields and the forest behind her house. from hide and seek to building forts with mud and wooden boards. each day was a different adventure for them. they grew up together, and getting closer with each passing day. when they finally got together in a relationship, they got mixed feelings about the young couple. half the town was all for it because they had seen it coming. they were perfect together. the best friends turned lovers. they were a walking cliche. the other half of the town opposed it because the two were much too young to start a relationship. they were just starting high school and they couldn't possibly know anything about love, but ariel did love ryder. in every sense of the word. he knew everything about her, and yet, he never let her flaws deter him from loving her. for a long while, it was great. their friends envied their love. anybody could see how happy they were together. but it was high school, and despite the small town, drama never lurked too far. they had their bad crowds. the kids that the town never supported. ryder started hanging out with the crowd of kids who did drugs, drove around drunk, and were all around troublemakers. 

of course, ariel didn't approve of his new group of friends. tried to warn him of the dangers that could come along with that kind of group. he didn't listen, of course. she watched him start to dabble with drugs, and then become addicted to it. she had tried pulling the girlfriend route, then the friendship card, and eventually, she had dragged his ass to get the proper help. she had even tried to get him into rehab, but nothing worked. he didn't want to change. it was a torturing process for her, watching him deteriorate like that. they were constantly fighting, mostly about her need to help him. he had told her he didn't need her help. that the drugs did just fine for him. soon, he started to purposely put her down with her downs. kick her down when she was already feeling down. she felt suffocated. she didn't want to deal with his verbal abuse anymore, so she gave up. she broke up with him and avoided all types of contact with him as much as possible. she would ignore his calls, his texts, and any time he tried to contact her because she knew he wouldn't be sober. she hadn't realized he was trying to reach out to someone who would help him. he had realized too late that he had pushed away the one person in the town who would care enough to help him. and she, young and naive, thought that ignoring him would make him realize what he had done. that staying away from him was the only way to help him. 

eventually, he stopped trying to contact her. and she didn't think anything of it because she had started to move on with her own life. with new people. new friends. she thought maybe he dropped out and skipped town. wouldn't have been a surprise since that group of kids were known for jumping from town to town and always somehow finding their way back. in fact, he had even almost slipped her mind until she saw the newspaper one may morning. it was front page news. ryder gibbs had overdosed on heroine. he was found in a back alley of the local diner. the news had shocked her. shook her to the core. she knew deaths happened all the time. it was only natural. she wasn't that naive. but to think that someone she knew and cared deeply for had passed away at such a young age was not something she could even begin to comprehend. no matter what she told herself, she would never stop loving him. and the worst of it all was that she knew she could have done something about it. she could have tried harder to help him. she should have never given up on him. she should have never ignored him because she knew she could have saved his life. she was the only person who had cared enough to bring him to rehab. they had a connection. a bond that no one could replace. but she had just abandoned him. she had given up. and now he was dead. she could only blame herself for not sticking by his side.

ariel fell into depression for months, ridden with guilt. her parents had to put her through therapy, to get her to talk to someone. to get over ryder's death. it wasn't easy, but she did slowly start to leave the house more. started to talk to her old friends more. began to establish better relationships with people, but she never got over the guilt. she just knew how to deal with it. how to handle how she felt. however, she would never forgive herself for what happened to him. she supposed that's where she developed her stubborn streaks. the need to not give up on anything or anyone. she knew how short life was. she knew what it was like to give up on someone. on her dreams. 

but people knew her dreams were beyond arrow. she was meant for bright lights and big cities. she was always smart, but the small town was never enough to quench her need for adventure. not only that, ariel just wanted to leave everything behind. forget ryder. leave him in arrow with her memories. but… someone else had done that for her. the someone else came in the form of eric wintson. the complete opposite of ryder. and it was everything about eric that annoyed her to no ends. she had known him most of her life like she had known ryder, but they had never been friends. in fact, if there was one person she hated in the small population that was arrow, it would be eric. it wasn't particularly anything that he did, but it was just him in the general sense. couldn't stand being in the same room as him. just being around him made her blood boil. and she knew, for certain, that the feelings were mutual. they disliked one another equally. never could. anytime she spoke with him, it was always a heated debate. they disagreed about everything. it was a surprise to the townsfolk that they haven't killed one another yet. nobody understood why or where the hate came from. even ariel didn't know or understand it. but there were just people who rubbed you the wrong way, and that person was eric for ariel. ironically, she supposed. eric and ariel. the little mermaid. he was supposed to be her prince. just like the fairytale. except she knew how it ended. at least the book version. ariel dies and eric marries another woman. that sounded more realistic than the disney version of the story. because she knew that happily ever afters didn't exist. if it did, ryder wouldn't have died at such a young age. 

somehow, their hate for one another turned into something less…. intense. she wouldn't be able to tell you what exactly happened because she couldn't even explain it herself. maybe it was the sexual attraction. she knew he was good looking, but that never made up for the fact that he was always getting on her nerves. eventually, she just couldn't deny it. the attraction. there was just a strange pull that she couldn't shake. and she guessed he felt the same because before she knew it, they started dating. something that surprised everyone around them. they hadn't expected it. she certainly hadn't. but somehow, it worked. they had their rough patches, and they certainly had their fights. they wouldn't be them if they didn't fight, but they dated for years. throughout high school in fact. and even though ariel never thought she'd ever love another person, she did. she fell madly and hopelessly in love with eric. he was her person. he was patient, and mostly put up with her weird quirks. they were the cute couple their friends envied and hated at the same time. just because their love was not the most conventional. they had a love hate relationship, but were still happy with one another. it was a weird relationship to say the least. her parents had expected them to get married. they had dated all through high school and university. they had even talked about moving together. he had always known that ariel wouldn't stay here forever. she had always planned to leave for the city when she was done school and had her degree. 

everyone knew she wouldn't stay. couldn't if they even tried. ariel knew her parents wanted her and eric to start a family in arrow though. but they also knew that there was no chance that would happen. they wouldn't be able to tie her down in the small town of theirs. she had promised that if she ever did start her own family, they'd visit arrow every christmas. but in the mean time, she would just focus on getting out of arrow. after graduation with her shiny new interior design degree, ariel made the plan to move. eric had been skeptical at first, cautions even, but he had agreed that he would move to la with her. something that sent her over the moon because she would finally get to live the life she wanted and she would have her best friend there with her. nothing could go wrong. but as the day drew closer, eric started to distance himself. she thought it was the nerves. it was normal to be nervous about leaving the life you're so used to. she didn't think much about it because she was nervous too, but also excited. she had packed everything within days and had even started putting things into the car. on the day that they were set to leave, the town had showed up for their farewell. she was set to leave. but then eric had decided last minute that he wasn't ready to leave. that he wanted to stay in arrow, colorado. she had just stood there, shocked, at first, but then she had just forced a smile on her face and nodded because she had seen it coming. she had a feeling that he wouldn't have left arrow with her. 

so she left. alone. she got most of her things shipped to los angeles, and eventually situated herself in a small shared condo to split the expensive rent. for the first six months she had been stuck working as a waitress, unable to find a firm that needed an interior designer. but after some persistent searching, and using some creative strategies to impress the companies, she found herself in one of the biggest companies that not only had their own interior designers but dealt with every aspects of a building. they had their architects, the finance departments, their sales ladies, and the multiple designers that worked strictly with the architects. of course, she had started as a junior designer, but after four years, she worked her way up to one of the senior interior designers. the company did mostly condos, but every once in a while, they got to dabble in the business district, which was always a challenge. however, it was a challenge that ariel would never pass on. the city life was everything that she's ever dreamed of and wanted. this was what she was meant for. this was the kind of life she was born to live. the only thing missing was eric, but she refused to dwell on him. he was the past. he was just someone in her memories. he had left her brokenhearted. and he had scarred her enough for her to never ever want to get in a relationship again. she was all about her job and finding new adventures.