Colleen Kilroy

Colleen Kilroy is a barista and Odette Caplan's best friend since middle school. As a Devoid, she knows nothing about Brakebills or the magical community. She is in a relationship with Fang Yan, the CEO of Pretty Peach Cosmetics.

Background
When Colleen was eleven, her mother revealed that she had wanted to abort her.

''It was during one of the ten-thousand fights she had with her mother over the course of her young life. Colleen had neglected to clean her room, and instead of reacting in a rational manner, Marian Kilroy instead decided to toss her favorite lamp -- it was shaped like a frog, and had been a unique purchase at a local thrift shop -- out of the window. Twenty minutes of crying and screaming later, Marian finally said the magic words: "You wouldn't be so fucking ungrateful if you knew you were only alive because I decided not to fucking abort you that day!"''

''Colleen had always suspected her mother didn't want her, and that it had been the intervention of her dad that had saved her life as a fetus. Really, it shouldn't have mattered, shouldn't have fucked her up more than anything else in her life. She had been born into a terrible situation -- Marian was a fading model who resented her own existence and body shape after giving birth, and Christoph was a young, stupid, and weak man who didn't realize he hated his wife until it was too late to leave her, since he relied on her for everything. So, Marian took it all out on Colleen (not sexually, but psychologically and physically so it basically felt like rape half the time anyway) and Christoph drank and drank and hid, only offering his daughter comfort when the beast had slithered back into her lair.''

''At first, Colleen figured she could make her mother love her by being perfect. She learned how to be beautiful and desirable from a very young age, and this gave way to some pretty messed-up rumors in elementary school, about how she fucked like a porn star (she was a virgin because it was FUCKING ELEMNTARY SCHOOL) and only got good grades because of it.''

''These rumors, and her sometimes-lovely-sometimes-angry attitude came with her to middle school. This is where she met her literal savior, Odette Caplan. At first, Odette avoided her, afraid of the rumors...but when confronted about it, Odette realized that Colleen was just a person, and Colleen realized that Odette wasn't trying to be mean, she was just ignorant. From then on, they were inseparable. Colleen loved that Odette was always there to take care of her and listen to all of her problems, and Odette was happy to help.''

''Their friendship, as I said before, literally saved Colleen's life on two occasions. She tried to kill herself twice, both through pills. The first was about a year after the abortion reveal, and the next two years later. Both times, she called Odette to tell her, and both times, Odette rushed over to get her help.''

''Colleen could also see the slight darkness inside of Odette, that little part of her that liked to break the rules and cause trouble. They snuck into clubs, did drugs, drank...of course, Odette always held back a bit more than Colleen, since she had to make sure her friend would be okay at the end of the night. Colleen knew she was a burdensome friend, and probably put a lot of bullshit on Odette's shoulders, but she loved Odette more than anyone in the world. Odette got her through her suicidal thoughts, her eating disorders, her terrible relationship decisions. After all, Odette could do NOTHING wrong.''

''On November 7th, 2012, Colleen was staying with Odette and Alexander Caplan for a few days after a particularly bad blowout between her parents, when they were visited by the police. Christoph, apparently in an act of self-defense, had taken a cast-iron skillet and bashed Marian's brains in.''

''Yeah, sure, Colleen hated her mom, but she didn't want her to be MURDERED. Okay, maybe she dreamed about doing it herself (poison, something subtle and drawn-out to make it look like an accident), but the ideal scenario would be a stranger breaking into the house and stabbing her to death, or choking her. Colleen didn't actually think it would happen, and not from her weak-willed father. In a way, this made her love her dad more. Okay, yeah, he'd killed someone, but at least he had the balls to actually do it.''

''All of these feelings mixed with the incredible guilt of being happy her mom was dead, and it sent Colleen into the worst depression of her life. Surprisingly, she didn't try to kill herself again, but she certainly got very close to cocaine addiction, and nursed a few STDs from bad hookups. Odette, of course, was there the entire time...well, less than usual, but that was okay. Odette had school to go to. Besides, at this point, Colleen had met someone.''

''Fang Yan had radiated confidence, beauty, and excellence from the moment Colleen laid eyes on her. A CEO from a young age, trying to establish her beauty brand outside of China, and for some reason, she gave Colleen the time of day. A number was exchanged at their meeting at NYU's job fair, but honestly, Colleen didn't expect to actually be called. Odette was wary of their quick romance -- they went from a long-distance relationship to moving into Fang's posh penthouse in the Upper East Sid in a short amount of time -- but Colleen was absolutely in love. And no matter what, Fang always knew exactly how she felt, and what she wanted. Sure, Fang was always out on business. Sure, Fang liked to tell her what was best for her in a way that was a bit different from Odette. And yeah, sometimes at her dead-end barista job (not like she needed a real job, since Fang was incredibly rich), Colleen wondered what her life would be like if she'd actually done something with her degree. But she was happy (at least, as happy as she could be with all the bullshit demons haunting her in the background)...so why think about it too much?''