“She doesn’t believe in sugarcoating anything—unless it’s the rim of a cocktail glass.”
Who She Is
Halley is Mira’s best friend. The blunt one. The loyal one. The one who will fight someone in the comments section and bring snacks to your breakup. She has a sharp tongue, a loud laugh, and a heart bigger than she lets on.
She’s the kind of woman who knows how to hold your hand and call you out in the same breath. She sees your patterns. Names them. Stays anyway.
But for all her insight, Halley’s still learning how to let herself be seen. She’s great at giving advice. Not so great at receiving it. She’s fierce about other people’s healing—but avoids the mirror when it comes to her own.
Energy:
💋 Bold truth-teller | 🍷 Ride-or-die friend| 👀 Perceptive but avoidant | 🔥 Protective to a fault
Her Role in the Story
Halley is Mira’s emotional compass and comic relief.
She doesn’t tiptoe. She doesn’t do passive aggression. She says the thing. And she keeps Mira tethered to her power, especially in the moments Mira forgets she has any.
She’s the one who told Mira, after the divorce, to “go have fun.”
The one who held her hair after a bad date.
The one who said, “You’re allowed to want more.”
She’s witnessed all of Mira’s becoming. And yet—Halley’s still standing just outside the ring of her own.
Because while she champions Mira’s growth, she avoids the same vulnerability for herself. She hides behind sarcasm. Flirtation. Busyness. Control.
But when she meets someone who can hold her honesty without needing to fix her, everything might shift.
Spoiler: That person might be Theo. And she’s not ready for that.
Where She’s Been
Halley grew up juggling contradictions: emotional freedom without emotional safety, attention without protection. She was smart. Scrappy. Too grown, too early.
Before she was even fully grown, she fell for a man— much older, charismatic, controlling, and addicted to being adored. At 18, she ran off and married him. For a while, Halley mistook his obsession for love.
It lasted too long.
But when she left with her daughter, she promised herself two things:
She would never be small again.
And she would never trust anyone else to protect her.
So she built a life that was hers.
A life where she was needed—working as a nurse, the one with steady hands in the storm.
And a life where she was free—DJing on the side, spinning stories she couldn’t say out loud.
After that, she loved recklessly. Artists. Activists. People who made her laugh but never made her feel safe. She pretended it didn’t matter when it ended. But it always did.
So she became the funny one. The fixer. The flirt.
The one who leaves first.
That’s when she met Mira. Their daughters were little. Both of them were freshly single, navigating heartbreak and motherhood in parallel. Their friendship began in the trenches: two women figuring it out alone, together.
Mira really was alone. Halley’s co-parent was around—busy, self-absorbed, half-present—but at least contributed a paycheck and the occasional daddy-daughter date. Mira didn’t even have that.
Halley took a long break from dating. A long one. Ten years of space. Ten years of raising her daughter solo, advancing her education, and building something solid.
But Mira has always seen through her. Always known when Halley was protecting a wound by laughing too loud or running too fast.
And Theo…
Well, she’s not ready to talk about that.
Not yet.
What She’s Learning
- That being the strong one can become its own form of hiding
- That love isn’t proof of worth—it’s a choice to stay present
- That sarcasm won’t protect her from tenderness
- That she deserves what she keeps telling Mira to ask for
Favorite Line from Her Story
“You’re not too much, babe. He’s just underqualified.”
💌 Want to hear more from Halley?
Catch her wisdom in:Chapter Four After the Almost
Stay tuned for her story with Theo—if she ever lets herself admit it’s a story worth telling.
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