character :: Mariah
'Some people say you never forget your first love but those people must not be high enough. With enough drugs, you can forget anything - just ask Jak. I'm not sure he even knew who I was at the end.'
If it can be fucked up, Mariah will be the one to fuck it up.
The Morelands were a middle class family in Ponca City, Oklahoma but for Mariah, their only daughter, the town was boring and she needed excitement. During her early teen years, she found herself mixed up in a group of addicts and outcasts that would rather shoot up and smoke than go to school and Mariah? She liked that. From this group of friends, Mariah met Gage and Jak and together, they did everything they could to make the sleepy town fun, all while Mariah's parents worried themselves sick over their daughter's downward spiral. Things only worsened when Mariah announced that the badboy, drug addict Jak had asked to marry Mariah but her parents forbid it so that was Mariah's answer: the two would have to elope in California. Just outside of L.A, the young couple found themselves living paycheck to paycheck but it was all they needed: just enough for rent and drugs. But the 'good' times weren't to last.
Jak's spending on drugs had worsened all while Mariah struggled to keep the two of them afloat, until their relationship was nothing more than a constant fight and a money well that was drying up fast. And the worst was yet to come. Following a slew of experimental drugs, Mariah was nearly unconscious when she realized that Jak wasn't breathing and despite multiple attempts from paramedics, there was nothing that could be done. Mariah's husband, Jack Swanson, was dead.
Within six months, loneliness had set in and Mariah was on the hunt again and luckily for her, across the bar, a handsome man named Anderson captured her attention (and later, her bed). The two had a friends with benefit relationship that is further complicated by Anderson's boyfriend, Seth but an unexpected pregnancy rocked the unfaithful couple and sends Anderson crawling back to his boyfriend, leaving Mariah to care for her new baby alone. Cody, her son, is developmental disabled due to Mariah's heavy drug use which worsens her stress and sends her drug use it's worst point yet. Because of her addiction, Cody is given to his father (Anderson) and Mariah has to return to her hometown, defeated. During this time, she becomes reacquainted with a blast from her past- Gage and the two start a hesistant relationship that forces them both to face down their addictions. After sobering up, Mariah contacts her previous ex, Anderson where Mariah hears of a band that Seth is involved in that is looking for a drummer and Mariah's mind immediately goes to her boyfriend Gage. The two return to California and practically overnight, Mariah's story goes from a nightmare to a happily ever after.
Suddenly, Mariah is surrounded by a new child of her own, a large group of supportive friends she never expected to have and a church that she finds solace in. Life is not what she expected and truth be told, that's the best damn thing she could have asked for.