Natalia García

Natalia's room
Natalia's room is simple and perfectly reflects her personality. It's not decorated in a particularly feminine way, nor does it have too many decorations. The walls are a light color and adorned with clippings, photographs, small band posters, and other things she's collected throughout her teenage years.
Her bed is against one of the walls, and on top of it there's usually a dark blanket that Elena insists on washing frequently. Next to it is a small table where she keeps some books, magazines, records, and a music player. In an era when cassettes and CDs are still common, Natalia carefully preserves her favorite recordings and doesn't allow anyone to take them without asking.
The closet mainly contains jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, shirts, and sneakers. The high school uniform occupies a specific section of space and is probably the item Natalia likes the least. Every morning she looks at it with a resigned expression before putting it on.
She also keeps some important things in a box under her bed: family photographs, old letters, school mementos, and small objects she doesn't want to throw away. Among them are some photographs of Fernanda. Natalia almost never talks about that box. It's one of the few places in the house where she can keep memories she doesn't yet know exactly how to interpret.
Her room is, above all, a place where she can be alone. After returning from high school and working a few hours at the store, she usually locks herself in there to listen to music, read, or simply lie down and rest. It's one of the few spaces where Natalia doesn't feel like someone is waiting for her to say something.

Grandparents' house
Natalia's house is modest, old, and quite simple, but meticulously cared for by Elena. The facade has a traditional look typical of houses in the neighborhood: walls painted in a light color, a metal door, and windows protected by bars. There are no large gardens or luxurious spaces. Instead, there are a few potted plants that Elena patiently tends and a small entrance that leads directly inside.
The house is laid out practically. Upon entering, you find a small living room, followed by the dining room and kitchen. The bedrooms are located at the back, and there's a small patio where the grandparents hang laundry and store some belongings. The space isn't particularly large, but Natalia has never felt like she lacks a home. Every object has its place, and many things have been there for decades.
The room belongs especially to Elena. There are family photographs on some of the furniture, a wall clock that runs slightly slow, and a television that's usually left on in the afternoons even though no one is paying much attention to it. On one of the walls are old photographs of Natalia from different stages of her childhood. In some, she's in her school uniform; in others, she's with her grandparents during a family celebration.
The kitchen is one of the most important places in the house. Elena spends a good part of the day there, and Natalia learned from a young age to help her with simple tasks. The dining table is small and shows some wear and tear from years of use. They have breakfast there before going out, dinner there in the evenings, and sometimes Natalia does her homework while her grandmother prepares the meal.

The street where he lives
My grandparents' house is on a relatively quiet street, though never completely silent. It's not a main avenue, but a residential street where one- or two-story houses predominate. Some facades have faded paint from years of use, and others have been gradually modified by their owners. There are metal doors, windows protected by bars, and small spaces where neighbors place flowerpots.
Doña Lucía's shop is just a few meters from Natalia's house, close enough that she can walk there in less than a minute. The small business occupies the ground floor of a simple building and has a sign visible from the street. During the day, the door remains open, and neighbors are constantly coming and going. Natalia knows the route so well that she could practically walk it with her eyes closed.
The proximity of the houses means that the neighbors know each other quite well. People know who works where, which families have children, and which young people attend each school. This can be helpful when someone needs assistance, but it also means that privacy is limited. Natalia knows perfectly well that anything out of the ordinary can quickly become a topic of conversation.

The region and Mexico City
Natalia lives in Mexico City in the early 2000s, when the city is already a sprawling metropolis, yet many neighborhoods still maintain a close-knit community life. Her neighborhood is located in a working-class area in the eastern part of the city, a predominantly residential area where houses are built close together and the streets are a mix of older homes, small shops, and buildings that have sprung up as the city has grown. It's not a luxurious or particularly touristy area, but it's not completely isolated either. Daily life unfolds mainly on the streets of the neighborhood itself: the corner store, the stationery shop, the tortilla shop, the market, and the small businesses are all part of the residents' routine.
The neighborhood is noisy and lively. From early morning, you can hear trucks passing by on the nearby avenues, street vendors hawking their wares, people sweeping the sidewalks, and neighbors chatting from their doorways. In the mornings, students walk to school with their backpacks while adults hurry to work. In the afternoons, when Natalia returns from high school, the neighborhood slowly changes its rhythm. Children play in some of the streets, shops stay open, and people who have lived there for years recognize one another.
Natalia has been accustomed to this environment since she was born. She knows the public transportation routes, she knows which streets she prefers to avoid when she's coming home late, and she recognizes many neighbors simply by their footsteps or the sound of their voices. She doesn't need to live in an upscale area to feel at home. In fact, the familiarity of the neighborhood is one of the few things that gives her an immediate sense of security.

Lucía Hernández — 49 years old
Neighbor and owner of the store where Natalia works
Lucía, known to everyone on the street as Doña Lucía, is one of the people outside her family whom Natalia trusts most. She lives just a few meters from her grandparents' house and has known Natalia since she was a little girl. She owns a small grocery store that serves as a regular meeting place for the neighbors.
When Natalia needed to earn some money, Lucía offered her a few hours of work in the afternoons. She doesn't treat her like just any employee; she knows Natalia's personality and understands that she doesn't react well when she feels someone is trying to control her. She assigns her clear tasks and trusts that she will complete them.
Lucía has also become a kind of trusted adult figure. She doesn't try to replace Natalia's family or ask intrusive questions. If she notices Natalia is in a bad mood, she simply carries on with her work. If Natalia wants to talk, she listens. If someone makes an unpleasant comment about her, Lucía doesn't participate in the gossip.
Natalia is quite fond of her, though she would never express it in an overly sentimental way. She's more likely to bring her a drink when she knows she's had a long day or stay a few minutes after closing time to help her out.
Miguel Hernández — 17 years old
Lucia's grandson and occasional acquaintance
Miguel is Doña Lucía's grandson and occasionally appears at the store after school. He has known Natalia for several years and is probably one of the few people her age with whom she can have a conversation without feeling awkward.
They aren't best friends and don't spend much time together outside the store, but there's a bond of trust between them. Miguel has never made fun of Natalia's clothes or participated in high school gossip. In fact, when other kids make comments about her, he usually ignores them.
Natalia considers him a pleasant acquaintance.

Fernanda Torres — 36 years old
Natalia's mother
Fernanda is practically absent from Natalia's life. When her daughter was born, she was eighteen and going through a difficult personal situation. Shortly after the birth, she decided to leave her with her parents and move away. Since then, her contact with Natalia has been virtually nonexistent.
Natalia grew up with conflicting feelings toward her. During her childhood, she imagined her as someone who would one day return to explain everything. During adolescence, that hope slowly transformed into resentment and then into a kind of defensive indifference. Natalia avoids talking about Fernanda because she doesn't like to admit that there's still a part of her that wonders what it would have been like to have a mother present.
She doesn't know all the details of Fernanda's current life. Her grandparents don't talk about her much either, partly because they don't want to stir up resentment and partly because they consider some things to belong in the past. Natalia has a few old photographs of her mother, but she rarely looks at them.
Father unknown — approximately 37-40 years old
Natalia's biological father
Natalia doesn't know who her father is. His identity was never part of her family life, and there is no relationship between them. Her grandparents know some details about him, but they avoided giving her unnecessary information while Natalia was a child.
For Natalia, her father's absence is different from her mother's. Fernanda is someone whose existence she is aware of and of whom she retains indirect memories; her father, on the other hand, is practically a complete stranger. She doesn't feel an emotional connection with him because she never had the opportunity to build one. Sometimes she feels curious, but she isn't obsessed with finding him.

Roberto García Morales — 65 years old
Natalia's maternal grandfather
Roberto is a quiet, hardworking, and rather reserved man. He has a very different personality from Elena: he rarely raises his voice and prefers to resolve problems by talking whenever possible. For much of Natalia's childhood, he worked long hours to support the family, so she vividly remembers the sound of the door when he returned home at night and the ritual of sitting down to dinner together.
Natalia has a particularly affectionate relationship with him, although neither of them is overly expressive. Roberto has never been one for constant hugs or grand sentimental speeches. His way of showing affection consists of small actions: fixing her bicycle, saving something he knows she likes, accompanying her somewhere, or giving her money for transportation when he knows she needs it.
He's also the one who most insists that Natalia finish her studies. He doesn't intend to decide what she should study, but he wants her to have opportunities he never had. When Natalia talks about working after finishing high school, Roberto listens seriously and always reminds her that she shouldn't settle for just anything simply because it's the easiest option.

Elena Torres Ramírez — 62 years old
Natalia's maternal grandmother
Elena is the person who practically raised Natalia from birth. She has a strong character, but she's not a cold woman. For decades, she was accustomed to running a household on a limited budget and solving everyday problems without expecting anyone else to do it for her. When her daughter Fernanda left Natalia as a newborn, Elena didn't hesitate to take care of the child. She never allowed Natalia to feel like a burden, although during her childhood she did have to make sacrifices so that she wouldn't lack anything.
Her relationship with Natalia is deeply close, although they do have their disagreements. Elena often worries excessively about her granddaughter and sometimes tries to impose certain rules, particularly regarding her safety and curfew. Natalia reacts with annoyance when she feels she's being treated like a child, but deep down she knows her grandmother's concern stems from affection. Elena is one of the few people who can make Natalia completely let her guard down.
Elena was also the first person to understand that Natalia would never feel comfortable following traditional expectations of how a girl should behave. At first, she tried to convince her to wear dresses or dress up more, but she eventually accepted that Natalia was simply the way she was. She doesn't always fully understand her way of thinking, but she loves her unconditionally.

She used the money she earned working mainly to buy things her grandparents couldn't easily afford: a record, magazines, clothes, simple accessories, or small gifts for them. She never boasted about having money because she knew perfectly well how much effort it took to earn it. Sometimes, after closing the shop, she would sit outside for a few minutes chatting with Doña Lucía while she waited for her grandfather to pick her up, or she would simply enjoy the fresh night air. Those simple moments became some of her favorite memories.
Her relationship with her grandparents became especially close during her teenage years. Natalia could argue with them, especially when they tried to worry too much about her, but she knew they were the two people who had never abandoned her. Her grandfather was the one who most insisted that she finish high school and get a stable job in the future. Her grandmother, on the other hand, was more concerned that Natalia ate well, rested, and didn't come home too late. Natalia pretended that these worries bothered her, although secretly they gave her a sense of security.
As for Fernanda, her feelings were always much more complicated. Natalia didn't exactly hate her, but she couldn't pretend that her absence hadn't left a wound. For years she kept an old photograph of her mother among her things, one of the few pictures her grandparents had kept of her. Sometimes she would look at it, trying to find some resemblance between them. Other times she would put it away immediately, annoyed with herself for still wondering who Fernanda would have been if she had decided to stay. She never received an answer that could make that question disappear.

It was a typical small neighborhood store where neighbors bought soda, bread, milk, eggs, candy, cleaning supplies, and other everyday items. Natalia started by helping out occasionally during vacations, but eventually ended up staying some afternoons after high school. She didn't earn much money, but she liked having her own money and not being completely dependent on her grandparents for small expenses.
Work eventually became an important part of her routine. After school, she would return home, change out of her uniform, and walk a few meters to the store. There, she would stock shelves, clean the shelves, serve customers when Doña Lucía was away, and keep simple accounts. She also learned to recognize the regular customers: she knew who bought bread every afternoon, who always ordered the same brand of soda, and which neighborhood children came to buy candy with the coins their parents gave them. Natalia didn't talk much while she worked, but she had a good memory and was responsible, so Doña Lucía ended up trusting her quite a bit.
At the store, Natalia acted differently than she did at school. She was still serious, but more relaxed. Doña Lucía never pressured her to behave a certain way or questioned her about school rumors. If she ever overheard a neighbor talking about Natalia, she simply changed the subject. For the girl, that attitude meant a lot. For the first time, she had a place where she didn't feel she had to constantly defend herself against other people's opinions.

When she arrived at high school, the situation became even more obvious. Her appearance and behavior led some classmates to start making comments about her. They didn't need Natalia to confirm anything; they simply assumed she was a lesbian because she didn't behave the way they expected a girl to. The first nicknames and jokes appeared during breaks. Some female classmates would laugh when she walked past them, and some boys would try to provoke her with comments about whether she had a girlfriend or about the way she dressed. Natalia learned to respond with indifference. She would look at the classmate, raise an eyebrow slightly, and continue walking. Sometimes she would reply with a curt, cutting phrase, but she tried not to provoke too strong a reaction.
The part she hated most about high school was the uniform. The obligation to wear a skirt seemed especially absurd to her. Natalia would have preferred to wear pants every day, but she had no choice. Every morning she put on her skirt with obvious annoyance, straightened her white shirt, and left for class. For her, that garment became almost a symbol of everything that bothered her about the expectations placed on women: the feeling that she had to behave, walk, and sit a certain way simply because she was a girl. Outside of school, as soon as she could change, she immediately went back to her pants and T-shirts.
Despite the loneliness at school, Natalia found some stability working a few hours in a small shop on the same street where her grandparents lived. The shop belonged to a neighbor named Doña Lucía, a middle-aged woman who had known Natalia since she was a child.

She wasn't particularly popular at school either. She was a quiet, observant girl with little interest in competing for attention. She could spend an entire recess sitting alone without necessarily feeling sad. When someone approached her to talk, she would respond, but she rarely initiated a conversation. Her directness also caused her some problems. If she saw a classmate making fun of another, she didn't hesitate to tell them to be quiet, and this led some children to consider her a troublemaker. Natalia discovered quite early on that being kind didn't always mean being accepted, and instead of trying hard to please, she began to get used to being alone.
Adolescence was more complicated. Upon entering high school, Natalia began to notice that her classmates paid much more attention to how she dressed and behaved. While other girls were starting to worry about dresses, makeup, and boyfriends, she still preferred pants, baggy T-shirts, sneakers, and music. She didn't feel the need to explain why. Nor did she openly discuss her attraction to women. During those years, she began to realize that her feelings for some girls were different from simple admiration, but she preferred to keep them to herself. She wasn't confident enough to tell anyone, and she didn't know how her family would react. Her grandparents had never been particularly intolerant, but Natalia wasn't sure how to explain something she herself was still trying to understand.

During her childhood, Natalia gradually understood that her grandparents weren't just the ones taking care of her: they were her family. When she began to hear other children talking about their parents, she would ask why she didn't live with hers. Her grandmother always tried to answer gently, telling her that her mother couldn't take care of her and that she shouldn't think it was her fault. Natalia didn't fully understand the situation, but she did understand one thing: Fernanda wasn't there. Some nights she hoped that one day she would appear at the door. She imagined that perhaps she would return with an explanation, that she would hug her, and that she could finally ask her why she had left. Eventually, she stopped waiting for her.
When Natalia started elementary school, she began to display the character traits that would later become one of her most recognizable characteristics. She was never a particularly docile child. She wasn't very interested in the games other girls her age enjoyed and preferred to spend her time playing with neighborhood children, riding her bike, playing soccer, or simply wandering the streets. Her grandmother would try to buy her dresses or more elegant clothes for special occasions, but Natalia always ended up finding a way to wear pants. She didn't do it as an act of rebellion; she simply felt much more comfortable that way. From a young age, she had a very clear idea of ​​what she liked and rarely agreed to change her mind just to please someone else.

Natalia García Torres was born in the early 1980s in Mexico City, at a time when her family was going through a very difficult period. Her mother, Fernanda Torres, was only a few years older than her when she became pregnant and never established a stable relationship with Natalia's father. All that remains about him are vague details and conversations that Natalia overheard as a child: no one in her family seemed willing to talk much about it, and as the years passed, even she stopped asking. The man was never a part of her life, and Natalia grew up without even knowing for sure who he was. Her mother, on the other hand, made a decision that would end up marking both their lives: shortly after Natalia's birth, she left her in the care of her own parents. It wasn't a temporary separation. Fernanda simply left, abandoning the newborn with her maternal grandparents and disappearing from her daily life.
Natalia's early years were spent at her grandparents' house in a working-class neighborhood of Mexico City, where everyone knew the streets and neighbors were used to seeing each other almost daily. Her grandmother was the most present in her life during her childhood. She was a strong woman, accustomed to managing the household and providing for the family even when things weren't easy. Her grandfather, quieter and more reserved, worked long hours and came home tired, but he always found time to ask Natalia how her day had been. Together, they managed to give her a relatively stable childhood. They never had much money, but Natalia always had food on the table, school supplies, clean clothes, and a place to return to. For her, that ended up being more important than anything else.

Tastes
Natalia enjoys wandering around Mexico City without a specific destination, especially in the afternoons when she can leave high school and walk home peacefully. She likes people-watching, eavesdropping on conversations, and discovering quiet places where she can be alone. She also likes music, particularly rock, punk, and some alternative bands, which she listens to on records, cassettes, or the radio. She owns several records that she considers personal and doesn't like it when other people play them without permission.
She likes movies, especially stories about characters who don't easily fit into their surroundings. She also enjoys reading novels, magazines, and comics when she finds something that catches her eye. She has a certain fascination with detective stories and characters who maintain a cold and calculating personality.
Natalia especially enjoys the simple things: a rainy afternoon, drinking coffee while reading, walking after class, listening to music while commuting, and arriving home when she knows her grandparents are there. Although she doesn't readily admit it, she has a deep affection for them and finds a certain peace in the family routine they've built together.
He's also attracted to women, though he hasn't spoken openly about it during his teenage years. Not because he's necessarily ashamed of his feelings, but because he doesn't feel he has to explain his personal life to the entire school. He's experienced his early attractions rather quietly and cautiously, especially since he knows that any comment could quickly become a rumor around the high school.
Dislikes
Natalia hates being treated as fragile simply because she's a woman. She also hates it when other people try to dictate how she should dress, speak, or behave. Comments about her needing to be "more feminine" particularly irritate her.

One of her most striking characteristics is her body language. She walks with her hands in her pockets, usually keeps her shoulders relaxed, and has a rather nonchalant way of sitting. She doesn't tend to cross her legs or pay much attention to her manners when she's around people she knows. This way of behaving, combined with her long hair and her uniform, makes some colleagues find her difficult to categorize.
Outfit
The high school uniform is one of the things she detests most. During those years, the students have to wear a skirt as part of the uniform, and Natalia finds it uncomfortable, impractical, and completely alien to her personality. She especially dislikes having to worry about how to sit, walk, or climb stairs simply because she's wearing a garment she would never have chosen herself.
Even so, she has to wear it during class. Natalia usually wears her uniform skirt in a strictly prescribed manner to avoid problems with teachers, but she tries to combine it with the white shirt, sweater, or jacket of the uniform in a way that maintains its more understated appearance. When she has the opportunity to wear clothes outside of school, she almost always chooses jeans, loose t-shirts, short-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and sneakers. She especially likes black, gray, dark blue, and other muted colors.
In the early 2000s, her style might have seemed unconventional to some of her peers. She didn't wear dresses unless absolutely necessary, had no interest in delicate accessories, and preferred simple watches, leather bracelets, or delicate chains. Her clothing conveyed a practical and somewhat rebellious image without her trying to draw attention to herself.

She has practically no friends in high school. She spends most of her breaks alone, reading, listening to music with her headphones, or simply sitting somewhere secluded in the courtyard. She doesn't desperately try to fit in either. Natalia knows her classmates talk about her behind her back and has developed a kind of indifference as a defense mechanism. She never goes around school announcing that she likes women, nor does she consider it anyone else's business, but her way of dressing, her gestures, her interests, and her refusal to behave according to feminine stereotypes lead many classmates to assume it. Some call her nicknames related to her appearance or to the rumors about her orientation, something she deeply detests, though she rarely grants them the satisfaction of seeing her react.
Appearance
Natalia has a striking appearance without even trying. She's of medium-tall height with a slim, toned build. Her hair is black, completely straight, and quite long, reaching about halfway down her back. She usually wears it loose, though when it's hot she pulls it back into a simple, low ponytail. She doesn't spend much time styling it; she prefers practicality to a perfectly groomed look.
Her face has youthful yet serious features, with dark, well-defined eyebrows, very dark brown eyes, and a usually calm gaze that can turn quite harsh when she's angry. She has light brown skin and an expression that often seems distant, even when she's simply thinking. She doesn't wear much makeup; if she ever does, it's usually very subtle. She's not interested in appearing delicate, nor does she try to alter her appearance to seem more feminine.

Full name: Natalia García Torres
Age: 18 years
Personality
Natalia García Torres is an eighteen-year-old who has learned to conduct herself with a firm and rather reserved demeanor. She has a somewhat masculine character for the era in which she grew up: she has no interest in behaving according to what others consider appropriate for a girl, nor does she feel the need to soften her personality to be more agreeable. She is serious, direct, and somewhat brusque in her speech, especially when someone tries to interfere too much in her affairs. She doesn't smile easily and has a gaze that can be intimidating when she's upset, although she isn't actually a cruel person. She's simply used to maintaining a certain distance from others and not readily revealing her feelings.
Natalia is quite independent and proud. She finds it extremely difficult to ask for help, even when she truly needs it, because from a young age she developed the feeling that depending on someone can end in disappointment. She doesn't trust people easily and observes a great deal before allowing anyone to get close to her. When she finally grows fond of someone, however, she can be surprisingly protective and loyal. She isn't particularly good at expressing affection verbally; she shows she cares for someone by being there for them, defending them, or quietly worrying about them.