Gael Torres

Gaél Javier Alejandro Gabriel Torres (8 December 1979 - 18 November 1998) is the eldest son of Consuelo and Fausto Torres. He is the middle child of three, born three years after his sister Maria and four years before his brother Bernardo. Growing up in Thorn, Surrey, he became practically inseperable from his friends Alan, Geoff, Adrien, and Mel and like them soon developed a bad rapport with Mel's brother Ben and his friends. At sixteen, he revealed to his friends and family that he was gay, though he kept his longtime crush on Alan more or less a secret. In early 1998, he left school with high very A-Levels, with the intention of beginning a programme at St. George's Medical School, London, in the Fall of 1999. However, on November 17, 1998, Gael was picked up by Roger Bishop and John Hill, two young men who had long bullied him, bound to a tree on the Fairchilds' estate, and badly beaten. Left for dead, Gael passed away at around 3 AM, November 18th.

Early life
Gaél was born in Thorn, Surrey on December 8th, 1979, the second child of Consuelo and Fausto Torres, who emigrated to England from Mexico in 1975 for the sake of Fausto's job at IBM. Gaél and his brother and sister grew up in a bilingual household, learning to speak English and Spanish fluently. Though the family was Roman Catholic and very religious, Gaél's parents were rarely strict with their children.

From the time he was about three, Gaél spent a great deal of his time with his friends Alan, Geoff, Adrien, and Mel. Together the five of them attended Thorn Primary School from 1984 to 1990. As small children, he and his friends were frequently bullied by Mel's older brother, Ben, and his friends (in particular, Roger Bishop and John Hill), though at the time the animosity was much more playful (at least from "The Swaciteers'" end). Things quickly grew tense when, in the Spring of 1988, Ben accidently broke Alan's arm. From that point on, the bullying was regarded far more seriously. Teen Years

Education
Bright and studious as a teenager, Gaél attended The Ashcombe School with his friends from 1990 to 1995. At the age of sixteen, he sat his GSCES, earning As in ten subjects. His grades earned him a place at the prestigious Thorn Hill School, where he, along with his friends Alan and Nik, was made a prefect. At school, Gaél played football (as goalie) and rugby (as a back). He sat his A-Levels in 1998.

He speaks English and Spanish fluently, as well as some French.

Participation in the theatre
Out of his five friends, Gaél was the one least involved with the theatre, though he did play parts in three of the productions there.

Repertoire

 * Les Miserables - Spring, 1995 - Enjolras
 * West Side Story - Fall, 1995 - Chino
 * Phantom of the Opera - Spring, 1996 - Raoul

Coming out
Gaél began to notice a very distinct lack of attraction to girls at around 12 and a very distinct attraction to Alan at around 14. In the summer of 1995, Lena Moreau arrived in Thorn, immediately befriending Gaél, who was annoyed and rather confused as to why his friends were rendered incoherent by her very presence. He understood that she was attractive, but clinically, and shared these thoughts with Lena one afternoon while they were watching Mel and Adge rehearse.

Lena asked if Gaél would like to talk about it, but having never come this close to outing himself and remembering just whose girlfriend Lena was, Gaél opted not to.

He finally came out to Geoffrey in August of 1996, accidently revealing his crush on Alan in the process. Though Geoff promised to keep the crush a secret, he was able to persuade Gaél to come out to the rest of their friends, all of whom handled it well.

Having grown up in a Catholic household, Gaél still felt extremely anxious about his sexuality and though Alan, whom Gaél attended the same church with, was able to ease Gaél's personal guilt, he was still very nervous about telling his parents. Though Gaél had seen his friend Rufus' parents handle similar news well, he'd also seen Nikolaj Sorensen's parents beat Nik and throw him out of the house for coming out. Gaél told his sister Maria first, who helped prep him to deliver the news to his parents. His parents took it better than he had expected, though things were extremely awkward between him and his father for the first year or so.

Gaél was able to keep his sexuality a secret from the Scions for about four months. Once Ben and the others found out, their bullying of him became far worse. The worst of it came from Roger Bishop and Noah Logan, while Ben kept his down to a cold disdain (probably because of the threats of a severe beating and banishment to the sofa levelled at him by Lena).

After Graduation
Gaél left school in 1998 with four A-Levels (Biology, Chemistry, Further Mathematics, and English) and the intention of taking the recommended gap year before beginning his medical programme at St. George's in London. He was the only one of his university-bound friends not to be attending King's College, and though this worried him, he was glad that they would all at least be in London together. Gaél was thoroughly looking forward to university, not only to begin his higher education, but also because he saw it as his long overdue chance to be in a bigger city, where he had a better chance of finding acceptance and a realistic romance (though he still harbored strong feelings for Alan).

In the meantime, he was glad to spend his last summer in Thorn with his friends, working at the grocery to earn money to help with his tuition.

Death
On November 17th, 1998, "The Swaciteers" decided to journey to Saunton Sands, a beach in North Devon, once more before the snow came. The trip was for Alan's fast-approaching 19th birthday, but Gaél, who'd already taken off far too much time from his job, decided to stay behind, despite the efforts of the others to persuade him to come. His friends dropped him off at the grocery where he worked before taking off.

Come nightfall, Gaél opted to walk home, taking the road that cut through the woods as he had many times before. After not too long, Gaél noticed he was being tailed by a car. Inside were Roger Bishop and John Hill, who insisted they give him a ride. Ignoring them, Gaél continued down the road, only to have the car pull along side him and then in front of him, blocking his path. He was then forced into the car and driven to Thorn Hill where he and his friends often played as children. He was dragged to the oak tree atop the hill and bound there. Roger and John then took turns beating him with cricket bats, before leaving him for dead.

During the attack, Gaél sustained a serious skull fracture from the back of his head to just above his right ear, as well as dozens of lacerations around his head and neck, a broken arm (humerus), four broken ribs, and internal bleeding. He passed away at around 3 am, November 18th, 1998. The cause of death was determined to be an epidural haemorrhage.

In the summer of 1999, Roger and John were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in Wandsworth Prison.

Physical Description
At 5'5", Gaél is the shortest of his friends. Of Hispanic descent, he has tawny-brown skin, brown eyes, and dark, nearly black, hair. He has a slight build and is very quick (making him quite a good goalie). His jaw is slightly squared and he has a strong chin and Roman nose. Though he hasn't much confidence, Lena describes him as being attractive.

Personality
Gaél is naturally quite gentle and soft-spoken. Studious and quiet, he is probably the most introverted of his friends. Though he easily opens up to his friends, he is painfully shy when it comes to romance (though this probably has a great deal to do with coming to terms with his sexuality in such a small town). He has a bad habit of internalizing his feelings, especially romantic ones. Though generally kind-hearted, Gaél has a dry sense of humor, holding his own when snarking with Geoff.

Parents
Gaél had a very warm relationship with both of his parents, though he was very worried about coming out to them because of their religion. Both of his parents accepted his sexuality quicker than he suspected they would.

Fausto and Consuelo were completely devastated by his death.

Siblings
Gaél shares a close relationship with his older sister, Maria. She is the first in his family that he came out to and the only one he was completely confident would not be upset.

Nearly four years his senior, Gaél was looked up to by his brother, who was left deeply conflicted after Gaél's death.

Alan Hart
"Ooh, Alan. I think Torres here would like you to help him find God. As in... Mmm, God..."

- Noah Logan, doing what he does best... being a complete shit.

Of all his friends, Gaél has the most in common with Alan. Both played for their school's football and rugby teams, both were Catholic and attended church together, and both planned on becoming doctors once they reached university. They were also the most alike in temperament - generally shyer, sweeter and more studious than their other friends. By the age of fifteen, Gaél had developed a massive crush on Alan (something he grudgingly admitted to Geoff, much to Geoff's somewhat sadistic delight). Alan was extremely supportive of Gaél's decision to come out and very helpful at aiding Gaél to reconcile his Catholic guilt over the entire situation, giving him a cross pendant on a string of turquoise beads he'd gotten in America and ensuring Gaél that there was no reason to think less of himself.

Gaél wore the necklace obsessively until his death.

Despite the fact that Gaél's feelings for Alan quickly grew into love, he refused to reveal this to Alan and swore those who knew of the crush to secrecy. He simply saw no point, he explained, in risking his closest friendship for something he knew for a fact was never going to happen. Still, his pining (and the endless awkwardness in the locker room) began to emotionally wear on him after not too long, only becoming worse when Alan began to show interest in Gaél's cousin Gina. For their sake, he tried to put on a brave face, not wanting to interfere in their relationship.

Gaél died before ever letting Alan know of his true feelings.

Geoff Hewitt
Gaél and Geoff have a very brotherly relationship, constantly teasing and riffing with the other. Though Gaél was wary of Geoff's ability to keep secrets, he trusted him enough to come out to him first. As Geoff was the first to learn of Gaél's feelings for Alan, he became more or less Gaél's confidante.

Mel and Adge
Gaél sees Mel and Adge as a sister and brother, respectively. He admires their artistic abilities and enjoys watching them rehearse their dancing. Of the two, he is closer to Mel, whom he always feels he can confide in.

Lena Moreau
"God, I am so glad I wasn't reading this aloud like Geoff wanted me to (I think he finds it unjust that I receive letters from pretty French girls given my recent revelation)."

- Gaél, in a letter to Lena

Lena and Gaél bonded almost immediately during her first trip to Thorn in the summer of 1995. Despite his dislike for her boyfriend, the two became very close over the course of her stay, Lena becoming the first to learn of Gaél's sexuality (though he did not explicitly come out to her). After she left, the two remained pen pals and were always happy to see each other whenever Lena visited from France. Like, Geoff, Lena took it upon herself to try to infuse Gaél with confidence.

Gina King
Gina is Gaél's first cousin, on his father's side. The two got along very well, being very close in age and temperament. Like Gaél, Gina was level-headed and studious as a student and was named as a prefect.

In 1998, Gina and Alan began to show a very marked interest in each other. Though this devastated Gaél, he did his best not to come between them. Gina quickly picked up on Gaél's feelings for Alan and, after Gaél's death, it was this guilt that most likely led to her and Alan's breakup.

Rufus and Nikolaj
Gaél identifies with Rufus and Nik's sexuality and admires them for their honesty about it. He looks to their relationship as a shred of hope that finding happiness is possible.

Scions
As a racial minority and a homosexual, Gaél exemplifies everything the Scions dislike. Throughout his childhood and teen years, he, along with his friends, was bullied by Ben's group of lackeys. Despite being intimidated by them, he isn't afraid to stand up to them when it really counts, notably defending Alan from his cousin Noah (even though Noah positively dwarves Gaél by a good eight inches). Like Alan, Gaél makes an effort to try to understand Ben (out of loyalty to Mel and Lena), but has no patience for the rest of the group, whom he regards as full blown bigots. Ultimately, Gaél suffers his death at the hands of Roger Bishop and John Hill.

Etymology
The name Gael is of Celtic Gaelic origin, meaning literally "Gaelic, from Ireland". The name Javier is the Spanish variant of the name Xavier, meaning "owner of a new house". In Portugese, the name also means "bright". Alejandro is the Spanish variant of the Greek name Alexander, meaning "man's defender". The name Gabriel has multiple origins, most often meaning "God is my strength". Gabriel is also the name of the high archangel in Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism.

Torres is a Spanish surname, meaning "towers", from the Latin "turris".

Appearances

 * Somewhere A Clock is Ticking