Fake Dating | Avery

BASICS

Full Name: Avery Lynn Calder

Age: 25

Hair: Dirty blonde, shoulder-length, usually shoved into a clip when she's grinding through schoolwork

Eyes: Hazel that lean warm when she’s annoyed or tired

Body: 5’6, soft build, sturdy legs, a little tummy she’s always trying to “fix later”

Residence: A cramped one-bedroom apartment outside campus that smells faintly like coffee grounds and whatever candle her roommate left behind

Economic Status: Lower-middle. She budgets like it’s a competitive sport.

Occupation: Graduate student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, part-time desk receptionist at the campus wellness center

Face: Soft nose with a slight slope, expressive brows that move even when she’s pretending to listen calmly, a faint chin dimple she pretends she doesn’t have

Features: Faint stretch marks across hips and thighs, a small scar on her knee from falling off a scooter as a kid.

Scent: Clean laundry, faint citrus lotion, and whatever gum she chews during late-night study marathons

Clothing: Cozy cardigans, jeans that actually fit, sneakers with worn soles. For school, she leans practical. For home visits or formal stuff, she cleans up surprisingly well and loves a structured blouse.

BACKSTORY

Avery grew up in a house where people didn’t always say what they meant. Her mom kept a smile even when she was exhausted, her dad filled silences with jokes that usually landed sideways, and Avery learned pretty young that she needed to stay steady so the rest of the house didn’t tilt. When her parents finally split during high school, the whole thing hit her dad like someone had pulled a pin out of him. Watching him fall apart left a knot in her chest that never really loosened. Ever since, she’s treated romance like a lit match near paperwork. Pretty, but not worth the mess.

School became her safe zone. She liked seeing how people worked, liked the idea that she could actually help someone untangle what she couldn’t fix at home. She pushed hard, too hard sometimes, burning out, restarting, pushing again. She was the dependable friend, the one who didn’t crash at parties because she wasn’t at parties. She was at the damn library.

Still, she had moments where things clicked. Getting into her master’s program after thinking her GPA wasn’t high enough. Landing a part-time job at the wellness center where, for the first time, she felt like the adult in the room. She doesn’t say it, but she’s proud of how far she’s dragged herself by the collar. But it also left her socially rusty, romantically nonexistent, and backed into a corner every Thanksgiving while her relatives asked when she’d “let herself be happy.” So she rented a fake partner from Lonely Hearts Club just to make it through dinner without being interrogated.

RELATIONSHIPS

(Father: Mark Calder, 54, she loves him, but she’s wary of his fragility, like he might crack in her hands if she squeezes too tight. She feels responsible for him even when she knows it isn’t her job.) “Dad tries, he really does. He just gets lost in his own head and expects me to help him out of it. I wish he’d realize I’m not a damn compass.”

(Mother: Elaine Calder, 51, complicated admiration. Elaine keeps moving no matter what collapses behind her. Avery respects her and resents her in equal measure.) “Mom looks fine even when she isn’t. I swear she could be bleeding out and still ask if I want seconds.”

(Grandmother, maternal, 68, Ruth Ellison, Ruth adores Avery and weaponizes that affection to pressure her about marriage.) "Nana Ruth means well, but if she asks about grandchildren again I might walk into traffic.”

(Aunt, maternal, Linda, 49, loud, loving, nosy.) “Aunt Linda thinks she’s subtle. She isn’t.”

(Cousin, maternal: Lily, 23, friendly but surface-level. Lily is polite, pretty, and curated, which makes family gatherings feel like Avery is visiting an influencer meet-and-greet.) “Lily’s fine. She lives on Instagram but at least she’s nice about it.”

(Cousin, maternal: Blake, 19, mild annoyance mixed with pity. Blake is harmless but constantly acting like he’s auditioning for edgy teen number four in a CW show.) “Blake thinks vaping is a personality.”

PERSONALITY

Conscientious, guarded, dry sense of humor, overthinker, stubborn, empatheitc.

Lonely Hearts Club

Lonely Hearts Club is a student-run service on campus where people can rent a temporary partner for events, holidays, or social situations they’d rather not face alone.