What's in a Name?

Nayelie Molina

Nayelie Molina- Puerto Rican ancestry; Nayelie Molina is the bossy, talkative, melodramatic, and stubborn childhood frenemy of Rafe Nichols, to whom she was acquainted through mutual family friends. The daughter of a retiree who had enlisted in the Navy, her address is 564 North Homerest, which is in the same street that Rafe and his older sister Naomi live in, causing their families to get together frequently. Despite their mothers' close friendship, she often disliked Rafe growing up and rejected him due to his sensitive, more complacent personality. She developed a distant relationship with him despite their closeness in age due to perceiving him as "wimpy" and a "tattle-tale", and her father currently works as a mailman. Highly active and energetic, Nayelie is tomboyish and fiercely competitive, often trying to outdo others and prove her worth by demonstrating her various capabilities. She often tried to appear outgoing and sociable from an early age and clashed repeatedly with Rafe due to their differing temperaments. Her personality was slightly more aggressive when she was younger, with her being much more susceptible to changes in mood and occasional tantrums. This was evident when she was forced to do something she refused to do, such as "forcefully" interact with and play with Rafe when she preferred to pursue other friendships. Nayelie is also considered more of a "doer" than Rafe is, preferring to live and actively engage in the moment as she seizes opportunities as they come. Despite giving the false impression of being well-mannered to adults, she can also be headstrong and domineering, if somewhat manipulative. She tended to speak in a masculine, brash tone as a child and could be very rude and hot-tempered when things did not go her way. With her strong, assertive personality, she also had a habit of pursuing her own interests on impulse regardless of how her actions would affect others.

There have also been occasions where Nayelie has refused to take responsibility for things that were entirely her fault for the sake of preserving her pride. She can be something of a show-off according to Rafe's sister Naomi, who always noted her desire to be focused on and call attention to her strengths, virtues, and triumphs. She has a knack for being friendly towards those she likes however and can be very particular about whom she lets into her social circle. She can be incredibly loyal to those she chooses to let in, yet antagonistic against those she dislikes or envies, often ignoring that individual. Nayelie has proven to be rather sharp-tongued in throwing snide remarks and insults at said person. and has proven on several occasions to be rather cruel in her wording of statements. She went as far as referring to Rafe as "pathetic" at one point when they were 10 and silently envying Naomi by referring to her as "Ms. Perfect". She is also very determined, perhaps even restless, and can become a bit frustrated if she doesn't have an immediate talent or strong ability for a certain task or skill, which can make her appear to be somewhat of a "sore loser". Regardless of her outwardly arrogant and narcissistic tendencies, it is shown that she is very insecure about herself and her appearance, being prone to periodic anxiety attacks that she will often façade beneath a nonchalant demeanor. Nayelie has some self-esteem issues regarding her weight due to her naturally larger frame and will often go great lengths to make her more attractive features more prominent by wearing significant amounts of makeup and concealer. She secretly feels less attractive than other girls, particularly her slight-framed close friend and god sister Aleida Robledo, and she often tries to exaggerate her abilities due to her hidden inferiority complex. She has struggled with ovarian cysts since the age of 11, causing her discomfort, yet she finds solace for her anxiety through her spiritual beliefs, having turned to Christianity in recent years. 

She becomes involved with her local church group to strengthen her faith and form lasting friendships, in addition to being an excellent singer and drummer. Nayelie has an interest in swimming as well and began to volunteer as a lifeguard during the summers beginning her sophomore year, in addition to babysitting the children of family friends from time to time. She also has an interest in horses and often accompanies her family to see the local horse races live and considers her favorite foods to be the Tripleta sandwich, arroz con maiz and piononos. She has a girly side with her enjoyment of fashion and makeup and noticeable interest in the opposite sex, having had many short-lived relationships with several Caucasian boys from her school and church. These dating patterns often brought much confusion to family, most notably her mother, considering their Hispanic heritage. It is hinted that Nayelie is not too proud of her Hispanic roots and often tries to compensate for them with the people she chooses to date. She has a soft side however and will try to help her close friends if they are having a big problem, showing sympathy and acceptance toward Rafe when he admitted to being gay. She is also close to her brother Santiago, who has Down Syndrome and is referred to by everyone as Santi out of endearment. While she originally felt embarrassed at the prospect of having a sibling with a disability, she will quickly come to his defense when he is being taunted by bullies at school. Nayelie will often bond with Santi by playing video games with him and offering him swimming lessons at the local pool during the summertime. It pained her considerably once her family's longtime pet, a toy poodle named Cloudy, passed away from complications caused by old age as well. He had been her most faithful companion ever since she was 3 years old, and she attended hula school and her hobbies include the photography of obese tourists, talking about creatures from horror and sci-fi movies, and idolizing Buddy Holly. 

She is also a big fan of the singer Prince Royce and considers one of the best songs to be "El Amor" by the Puerto Rican singer Tito El Bambino. Nayelie and Aleida go on a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando with their families and photograph themselves with the Lego Friends, commemorating their close friendship. She considers her favorite store at the mall to be EarthBound, where she can find interesting mementos, and she also visits Victoria's Secret and Spencer's. Because of her past struggles with anxiety and depression, she is similarly an advocate for those with psychological disorders and openly tries to bring awareness to the stigma of mental illness to help those in crisis. She has shoulder-length naturally dark brown hair that she sometimes highlights or dyes a medium chestnut shade, tan skin, and almond-shaped dark brown eyes. Nayelie also has a large, boxy build and a somewhat chunkier frame, with broad shoulders and what many of her Hispanic relatives would refer to as a "panza" with her chubby belly, and facially, she is said to look like the standard Latina. She is around half a year older than Rafe at age 14 and attends eighth grade at the same middle school as him, but mostly interacts with him, albeit half-heartedly, when their moms get together at each other's houses. Neither Rafe nor his sister like her much, meanwhile his best friend Olivia keeps her at arm's length, although Rafe tried befriending her in his younger years. He simply gave up on trying to pursue a deeper friendship with Nayelie and instead treats her with tolerance, admitting to himself that "not every person has to get along or like each other." Nayelie goes on to try to fulfill her mother's dream of becoming a registered nurse in the future, but after failing out of her nursing program in college, decides to attend a local community college instead and pursue a career as a paramedic. 

Her rebellious nature also leads her to make a series of poor life choices once she chooses to elope to Tennessee in her early twenties with a white soldier that she met online named Kurt. She went against her mother's wishes, leading her to have a pregnancy scare and eventually part ways with him once their relationship proved to be increasingly toxic through their frequent arguments and failure to communicate. She realized she lacked the maturity level to handle a living arrangement with a person she barely knew, having only been with Kurt for three months prior to their sudden marriage. Nayelie later admitted that she didn't much appreciate the military lifestyle or the thought of being separated from her loved ones through constant travel. As a result, she separated from Kurt just a month shy of their one-year anniversary and briefly moved back in with her parents as she tried to reset her priorities. She later declares her bisexuality to her family and finds happiness in pursuing a romantic relationship with a nice mixed-race African American girl named Dijonay Griffith. She first meets her during the time that she is volunteering at her local park and is eventually promoted to AEMT by her mid 20s. Nayelie comes to develop a strong sense of duty as she ages that can sometimes puts her at odds with the people around her. Despite this, she is generally seen as a great leader to his peers as they show no problems with having her to lead them. As time goes on, she becomes more compassionate and relaxed, no longer taking her friends' jokes too seriously, and even making some herself. She is seen as a very caring and protective person, both to the people he loves and to the friends he treasures and is more patient in voicing his opinions, being careful of her word choices during sensitive situations when needed. ESFP 8w7