Mary Anne Spier AU Bio for SHS2012

[mkrobinson]

 Name: Mary Anne Spier

Nicknames: None really, though Sharon sometimes calls her Mary Annie. Only Sharon, and occasionally her father. 

Age: Mary Anne is seventeen. Her birthday is in September.

 

Family: 

Mother: Alma Baker Spier (deceased)-Mary Anne does not remember her mother, and would prefer not to dwell on that, thank you very much. It isn't that she doesn't love her mother, because of course she does, but she has enough on her mind without perpetually mourning the long dead. 

Father: Richard Spier-Mary Anne and her father are very close, and she wants desperately to please him, though he simply wants her to be happy. Richard is still a lawyer at "Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream" and occasionally still has to travel for work, though not as often as he did her eighth grade and freshman years. Though one would assume her, well, issues would have increased his protectiveness, he seems to understand that that is not what she needs. He is in his early forties.

Stepmother: Sharon Spier-Mary Anne considers Sharon to be more than a stepmother, which her stepmother encourages, and she is so glad she and Dawn got them back together. It was odd that having Dawn and then Jeff move back to Stoneybrook [and of course the minor breakdown Mary Anne had the summer before sophomore year] caused Sharon to become suddenly more organized, but she has to admit she's a bit relieved that she simply loses things like her keys now and has stopped putting library books in the running dishwasher [the once was enough, though she did find it somewhat funny after the fact]. Sharon is a Realtor, having discarded the idea of becoming an architect soon after the fire.

Stepsister: Dawn Schafer-Dawn is a few months older than Mary Anne, and alternates her time between her father's house in Palo City and her mother's house in Stoneybrook. Dawn is one of Mary Anne's best friends. Though Dawn is more outgoing than Mary Anne, and tends to not understand that Mary Anne can't help herself in how she acts, they're very close. Sometimes Mary Anne wonders if her sister meant it when she said she was back for good. Dawn has, well, toned down her health food obsessed ways [to Mary Anne's relief]. She doesn't like to talk about why she left Palo City, and Mary Anne doesn't dare press. Mary Anne dreads the day when they go off to college, because she doubts they'll be together. She'd cry about it if she had any tears left.

Stepbrother: Jeff Schafer-Though Jeff and Mary Anne don't have the double-bond that she and Dawn have of being best friends and stepsisters, they've grown to love each other. She suspects that Jeff has a bit more patience with her than Dawn does, and she likes having a little brother to protect her. Jeff occasionally forces her to have fun, which she needs. The sad fact is that Mary Anne needs Jeff around: this would be slightly less pathetic if he was the older brother and not the younger one, but she just can't help it. Her father and Sharon tend to not bring things up to her, and Dawn is content to let her flounder half the time because Mary Anne has an awful habit of not listening to her, but she feels she can't let down Jeff. He's her baby brother, after all. 

Step-grandfather: Charles Porter-Sharon's father, who doesn't understand the extent of her pain, but at least attempts to have some sort of relationship with her.

Step-grandmother: Rita Porter-Sharon's mother, who treats Mary Anne like she's her actual granddaughter.
 

There is also Carol and Jack, who had the pleasure (she doubts very much that they considered her one) of having her visit Dawn and Jeff the summer after Alex, after the nervous breakdown, when Doctor Reese and her parents thought seeing her siblings would do some good. She still feels badly for them and Gracie. Mary Anne should have never been their problem.

And then, well, there's Verna. Mary Anne really isn't supposed to speak to her, because Verna only makes everything worse, but technically Verna's her grandmother.

Pet:

Tigger: Mary Anne's cat is named Tigger, and he is a grey and white striped cat. He is five years old.


Appearance

HEIGHT: Mary Anne is the same height she was in eighth grade.
HAIR COLOR: Mary Anne's hair is mouse brown with some blondish highlights
EYE COLOR: Mary Anne's eyes are chocolate brown
SKIN COLOR: Mary Anne is still somewhat pale
SCARS: Mary Anne has a few scars, none of which she prefers to discuss.

Mary Anne is still a petite, preppy girl. 

She has medium length brown hair, brown eyes, and a big wide smile (when she wants to show it). 

The resemblance Mary Anne once shared with her mother has lessened over the years, much to her relief (who wants to know you remind your father of his deceased wife, after all), and indeed, she looks like a mixture of both her biological parents. 

Ironically, when she is with Sharon, complete strangers are of the opinion that they are truly mother and daughter, and she finds she doesn't mind. In fact, she likes it, because she's not 'poor Mary Anne whose mom died' but rather 'Mary Anne whose mother happens to have blonde hair' and you can imagine which one she'd rather be thought of.

She now has pierced ears (Sunny Winslow insisted during one of her visits, and her father and Sharon gave her permission), though she often chooses understated earrings. She drew the line at the navel piercing, and especially at the tattoo Sunny had thought would be wise. 

Mary Anne is happy to blend into a crowd. She only wants to look normal, so people will think she is normal.

Relationships

Oh dear, Mary Anne's relationships are often troubled and tortured, which makes sense once you realize that she herself is often troubled. In fact, her relationships have honestly never been successful.

There was Logan: they met in eighth grade on the first day of school, and much to her surprise her father allowed her to date him. For the most part, their eighth grade year was fine, save their occasional breakups, and she loved him. She really did. Then, there was the fire. Logan suddenly became controlling, and she panicked. She broke up with him and she thought that was that. She entertained flirtations with Pete and Cary. And then they went to high school. There was no BSC. Mary Anne was frightened. And there was Logan Bruno, the cute funny JV football player who was there (they do live down the street from each other, after all) and who was familiar and who was willing to date her. Who remained oblivious as she sunk further and further into despair as the year progressed. They had an on and off relationship, when Mary Anne was better, they were on, and when she became depressed again, they were off. It was taxing. She doubts they'll be dating anymore.

There was Alex: yes, the Alex from Sea City, whom she reacquainted herself with the summer after freshman year, when the Pikesneeded a helper at Sea City and her parents had thought all she needed was some fresh air and some time away from Stoneybrook, and they'd had a rather clumsy somewhat physical relationship. He introduced her to alcohol and to heavy petting and she introduced her pillow in the beach house to hot tears every night. 

Then there was Ducky: gay Ducky, Dawn's friend from Palo City, whom she met when Carol and Jack agreed to allow her to visit to 'recover' from her 'mild depressive phase' and she was unceremoniously shipped to Sharon's ex-husband's house for the rest of the summer. Ducky was cute. Hell, Ducky was hot. And Mary Anne wanted him. She'd wanted Logan, and she'd got him. She'd wanted Alex, and she'd gotten him, too. Besides, she thought the 'Alex' he kept mentioning was a broken girl, like she was. Sunny had tried to warn her. She should have listened to Sunny.

Friendships

Mary Anne is still friends with the girls from the BSC, for the most part. 

Kristy Thomas is still her best friend, and she often tries to get her to loosen up, to stop viewing life so seriously, even though they both know Mary Anne certainly can't help it. Kristy's crazy family overwhelms her, so Kristy makes the effort to come over to the Schafer-Spier residence more often than she visits the Thomas-Brewers. 

Of course, there's Dawn. Dawn will never ever leave her. (Occasionally she believes this.)

Stacey and Claudia are each others best friends, first and foremost, but they too are close to Mary Anne. 

Shannon Kilbourne has become a confidant of Mary Anne's, as they are both perfectionists, though she is more of one than Shannon. Shannon usually comes over with Kristy, even though Mary Anne doesn't find the Kilbournes' home to be overwhelming. She knows that Shannon does. 

Right now, she is not speaking to Logan Bruno. Sharon told her that she didn't want her getting hurt anymore, and Mary Anne hates to disappoint people.

Mallory and Jessi? She hasn't exchanged more than pleasantries with them in years. She supposes that they're friends, but not close ones. 

She has become better friends with Abby since high school began, despite the fact that logically they have very little in common.

As for non-BSC friends? She has a few, though not many.

Anna Stevenson is in a lot of her classes, and being Abby's twin and Shannon's best friend, she has found her own niche in Mary Anne's circle of friends.

Mary Anne is also friends with Emily Bernstein, Pete Black, Alan Grey. and Cary Reltin. 

 

She has a couple friends from the Day School, mainly Greer and Tiffany. She doesn't have much in common with either of them, but she does like them a lot. Tiffany is Shannon's younger sister, and one of Jeff's friends. They share a dislike of Kerry, amongst other things. Greer is Shannon's best friend.

And then, there's Sunny. Sunny and Mary Anne are eerily alike, despite living clear across the country. She likes that. Sure, she's stopped the drinking (that's not very fun with no boyfriend and with no friends who like to party), and she'd never do any of the hard stuff Sunny does, and she doesn't particularly like Sunny's constant reminders of her mother's death, but they have an understanding. She doesn't ask Mary Anne questions, like Carol and Jack did, about the scars on her wrists, about why she wouldn't eat, about why she looked like death warmed over, over why she bleached her hair an unfortunate shade of blonde. In turn, Mary Anne doesn't ask Sunny why she persists in skipping school, why all of her statuses are about parties and getting shitfaced, and she says nothing to anyone about the drunk calls she gets, where Sunny sounds nearly manic, because she doesn't want to have them ask questions.

Enemies

Of course, Mary Anne despises the term enemies, but it unfortunately describes the following people that she is acquainted with:

Kerry Bruno-Mary Anne has disliked Kerry since she set foot on SHS property and joined the cheerleading squad and became part of Cokie Mason's clique. The fact that she is Logan's sister only adds to the animosity between the two of them.

Cokie, Bebe, and Grace-haven't changed at all since middle school, and continue with their childish attempts to make her miserable.

And Logan. She loathes him more than he knows.
 

Some Random Statistics About Mary Anne

 

First kiss: Alex. In Sea City. It was sweet, back when they were both young and stupid.
First sexual encounter: Logan. On the couch. Nothing major, just some fumbling and making out. 
First sexual intercourse: For all intents and purposes, Mary Anne is still a virgin. 

Favorite tv show: Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, The Bold and The Beautiful, Degrassi, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Middle, Modern Family, Frasier. 
Favorite book: Anything Jane Austen, Harry Potter, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Living Dead Girl, Hate List, Hold Still, December, Nicholas Sparks novels, chick lit.
Favorite music: This is a bit embarrassing for Mary Anne to admit, but she listens to Blink 182, Fall Our Boy, Green Day, Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, and Adele, all equally. She is fairly certain that her father has been scandalized by some of the more obscene lyrics.
Favorite movies: A Walk to Remember, Crossroads, Sixteen Candles, New York Minute, The Last Word

Favorite Color: navy blue and yellow, though she does have a soft spot for pink deep down.
Favorite Food: Chinese food.
Favorite place: She supposes New York.
 

Disliked tv show: Jersey Shore, Cougar Town, Gossip Girl, The Chew (it took away One Life To Live and All My Children, after all), 7^th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek (basically all of the things she liked before the fire)
Disliked book: Dear Lord, Mary Anne despises the “Shopaholic” series. She made an attempt to read it because everyone was acclaiming it and it was on the New York Times bestseller list but by the time she was done with the first book she felt like shaking the protagonist and telling her that she wouldn't be in such trouble if she STOPPED SPENDING MONEY!
Disliked music: Rap. She isn't a fan. 
Disliked movies: White Chicks.
Disliked Color: Orange.
Disliked Food: Tofu-ginger casserole-she tried to like it, but couldn't...
Disliked place: her therapist's office
 

Strengths: It's rather difficult for Mary Anne to think of any strengths, try though she might. She's rather proud of herself for standing up to Logan, and Verna, and Doctor Reese; and she's getting very good grades in school, though thankfully she is not going to become the valedictorian (she'd just die, and Principal Walters isn't that dumb); and she is a loyal friend and daughter/sister (she hopes she is, at least).

 

Weaknesses: Mary Anne is clinically depressed. Actually, she has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which manifests itself with nightmares on a frequent basis and flashbacks whenever she has a trigger, as was made evident a few weeks ago in school. Therefore, she is very anxious and tends to withdraw if she isn't comfortable around you. 

 

School: After three years of watching their middle child throw herself in the most difficult courses that Stoneybrook High School has to offer, Richard Spier and Sharon Spier put an end to it for her senior year, the one that mattered most to Mary Anne. She didn't want to be seen as a slacker, after all. Couldn't they have complained when she was an underclassman? She would have not done a double foreign language for three years! She wouldn't have taken all those classes at SCC and SU. Despite her pleas, they refused to budge. For the first time in her life, Mary Anne is only in two AP classes. She despises it. She feels like a failure. 

 

College: Mary Anne will likely be attending SU, though she actually did apply to other colleges, as if she was actually a normal senior. She applied to three schools in California (Dawn applied to them as well) and she applied to two other Connecticut schools, and three schools in NYC. 

 

Job: Mary Anne is a babysitter, and frankly she's surprised that her parents allow her to do that. She likes being a babysitter, though. At least she's good at it.

 

The Elephant in the Room: Mary Anne Spier is messed up. On some level, she always has been, but the fire made everything worse. All of her anxieties-the ones about having two new siblings and a new mother, the ones about her relationship with Logan, the lingering effects of each conversation with Verna-were suddenly compounded by a new, real, fear: that of the fact that her house could burn down. She has several triggers: seeing pictorial evidence of a fire, smelling smoke, smoke detectors, and the apple tree in her yard. Ironically, she can hear people talking about such things-that doesn't bother her-nor do such things bother her when she is drunk. She is a wonderful drunk, because she is finally Mary Anne, sweet normal Mary Anne. 

 

The summer between freshman year and sophomore year, after the trip to Sea City, Mary Anne completely broke down. She doesn't really remember much about the actual breakdown, all she really remembers is fragments: Doctor Reese's office; her parents' phone calls to California; all of the texts from Alex she couldn't respond to. The first thing she clearly remembers is her and Sharon on a plane to Palo City, where she'd be 'spending a month of fun in the sun with Dawn and Jeff and wasn't it wonderful?' Wonderful was not quite the word to describe the trip. Jack and Carol knew the whole story of why she was there, Dawn knew it too, only Jeff seemed oblivious, like it was totally normal for his mother to give up their month in Connecticut so out of the blue. (Though he was a bit surprised when she numbly played video games with him and almost suggested a game of baseball before she realized what she was saying.) There was Sunny. Sunny was fun, she was wild, and for some bizarre reason her parents and Jack and Carol trusted her. They let her go out with Dawn, and Sunny, and Maggie, and Amalia, and Ducky. Dawn tried...but Mary Anne liked to drink. It made her forget. Forget why she was in Palo City. Forget why she had the marks on her wrists. Most importantly, it made her forget about the fire.

 

And then she came back to Stoneybrook and to the barn-house and the apple tree and she remembered again. 

 

It was in junior year when she had her second breakdown. Logan had been pressuring her, a bit, for things she wasn't entirely ready for, and when Dawn showed up in town for 'good', well, Mary Anne may have convinced her parents that she no longer needed therapy. Her sister was back and that made her happy enough to go on. Sharon of course thought it was so sweet that Dawn had 'cured' everything that was wrong with her younger daughter (at this point that was what Sharon was calling her) that she thought her plan was a great one. She'd known that would be the case. And in the beginning, it was true. Dawn and her were inseparable. She was really, truly happy. She'd even been half calling Sharon Mom, and it felt nice. She finally had the mom she'd always longed for. And sure, school was challenging, and Logan was being pushy, but that stuff didn't matter because Mary Anne was actually happy. And then Verna showed up. She ruined everything. All of the things that Mary Anne had achieved, all of the tenuous happiness that she'd gained, she ruined it all. Suddenly Verna made her feel like shit for calling Sharon 'mom', and she hated that she didn't want to come visit her in Iowa (she thought that the visit to Palo City had been for fun!), and when Jeff had moved back to Stoneybrook halfway through the visit from hell she somehow offended Verna for having missed him. Her brother. That lived out in California. And Mary Anne just snapped. There had been a party at someone's house-she couldn't remember whose-and there had been Logan and booze and Mary Anne had just broken and she entered a poorly hidden downward spiral that she still hasn't gotten out of. This time, everyone noticed. She hated it.