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   throughout her upbringing, rae was constantly subjected to cultural erasure by her maternal relatives. she wasn't allowed to have nicknames (instead being forcibly called "raegan" by her mother at all times), listen to certain types of music, or use any language that her mother deemed as "too urban". rae was well into her teens before she truly felt comfortable expressing her identity. rae spent her high school years being meticulously groomed by her mother to be a trophy wife, albeit an intelligent one. she took advanced placement classes, was the captain of the volleyball team, and, recreationally, a competitive gymnast. these days, she rarely participates in either but occasionally gets nostalgic and puts on some spandex. she was frequently forced to attend snooty country club brunches where she was subjected to being felt up by whatever future frat boy her mother was trying to pair her up with while she made futile attempts to escape. these days, she has an extremely strained relationship with her mother and rarely speaks to her. when the two do speak, nothing good comes of it. typically, rae will either exit the conversation seething or in a pit of self-loathing and remain that way for a few hours, minimum. at this point, she has given up on their relationship ever being somewhat civil and has renounced that side of her family. for the past few years, she has considered her father's longtime girlfriend, lena, to be the only mother figure that she needs. following a traumatic - at the time - breakup with her high school boyfriend, rae swore off relationships and spent over half a decade of her life sticking to one night stands and frat house sleepovers. during those years, she was unapologetically off-putting to men unless there was sex involved. after leaving home at eighteen in a fairly dramatic fashion, rae stayed with a friend until she moved to portland for college as her father was frequently out of town. she has never regretted her decision to leave home so quickly - or in such a way - as it fueled her to succeed. after graduating from le cordon bleu and using her time in portland to her best advantage, rae made the triumphant return to california in 2013 to open her own bakery, delectable, choosing to set up shop in newport beach in order to be closer to her father. in 2015, she reunited with her high school ex, eddie, and easily fell back into a relationship with him, despite initial reservations.   
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