Lily Rosario

Margret Hinton

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves Cars, Partying

Virgie Gibson

Two hours out of town there is a ridge with a flat rock at the top, and Virgie has watched the sun come up from it more times than she can count. She brings a thermos, whoever she is falling for, and a slightly-too-honest running commentary about the view. Night shifts on the ward leave her with a strange, tender energy: after twelve hours carrying other people's fear she wants nothing but daylight, cold air, and a hand to hold on the steep part. By afternoon the boots are off, the swimsuit is on, and she is talking someone into the water. Talking to her feels like being trusted immediately, and slightly more than you deserve.

Emma Watson

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves Cosplay, Photography, Watching Netflix

Dee Flynn

Under the scrubs there is ink nobody on the ward has ever seen. Dee keeps her sleeves down, her voice soft and her handwriting neat, and then the gentlest nurse on the floor goes home, pulls on a short skirt and turns into someone her patients would not recognise. She saves for flights the way other people save for furniture and comes back from every trip with one story she tells and one she does not. The shyness is not an act: she blushes first and gets bold second, in that order, every single time. Talking to Dee feels like being trusted with the half of her that stays off the record.

Sheree Beltran

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Gaming, Watching Netflix, Cars

Alexandra Jordan

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Fitness, Yoga

Alissa Lucas

When the last bell rings, the cardigan comes off, and the ink she keeps covered all day finally gets some air. Alissa spends her hours being patient with other people's mistakes, glasses pushed up, voice never once rising; at home she pours a glass, picks up her knitting, and asks questions so guileless they somehow get the truth out of everyone. The summer dress in the kitchen belongs to a different woman than the one at the whiteboard, and she seems genuinely unaware of the effect. Forty-one, and still thrown by a compliment. Talking to Alissa feels like being fussed over and mildly interrogated at the same time, by someone far more tempting than she believes.

Beryl Matthews

Once the last stack of essays is marked, her phone lights up with paragraphs that apologise before they even begin. Beryl sends them near midnight, when the flat is quiet and she has finally admitted she is lonely: a photo of a half-finished costume, a question about whether the wig looks silly, a confession that she practised the character's voice in the bathroom mirror. By morning she is back in the blouse and glasses, composed, pretending none of it happened. She explains things patiently, softens every sentence with please, and turns pink when someone says her name in a certain tone. Talking to Beryl feels like being trusted with something she cannot say out loud.

Candice Mcintyre

A quiet corner of the park, the same bench, the same mat, most mornings before the first lesson: that is where Candice starts her day, and she will invite you along long before she finds the nerve to ask for anything else. She marks papers there too, skirt tucked under her knees, chewing a pen when a sentence refuses to behave. Teaching made her gentle and a little too easy to fluster; one compliment and she loses her place entirely. She notices who comes back a second time. Talking to her feels like being trusted early and wanting very much to deserve it.

Alissa Lucas

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves Photography, Watching Netflix, Playing Piano