Zara

**Zara** is one of the Main Characters & Love Interests in Summer's Gone. A new student at ZPR University, she plays a key role in the game's central story and becomes closer with Nika regardless of whether he chooses to have a relationship with her.

## Physical description

### Body

Athletic

* Relationships
* Relatives

### Family

* Nick Benz (Father)
* Vanessa (Sister)

### Rivalry

* Nadia Venor
* Nika Cyrus

## Appearance

Zara is an elegant tall and athletic brunette girl with grey eyes, an oval-shaped face with high cheekbones, and a set of heavy lower lips. She has soft-angled eyebrows with two prominent moles on her right upper lip and right brow. She is seen sporting two types of hairstyles. A sleek high ponytail during exercise, sports, or parties and middle part waves for more casual settings.

## Personality

At first glance, Zara appears to be a confident young lady. She is extremely competitive and will go to any length to win, including getting physical. She has a lot of stamina and is tough and resilient. She admits herself after winning the tennis match that she loves winning. Even Nika admits that she is physically superior to him at the moment. She appears to prefer ambitious individuals who are also physically fit.

Behind her tough demeanor is a shattered self-esteem fostered by her own mother. Bella mentioned that they used to play soccer together when they were little. Zara's mother would be enraged even if she performed alright to the point of cursing and physically assaulting her. She had also abandoned Zara in the rain in order to avoid picking her up after soccer games. She had a difficult childhood because her mother expected her to excel at everything. As a result, she has hard programmed herself to require regular validation from those who undermine her. She admits that she can be easily manipulated during her personal talk to Nika at the pool. She opens up to Nika only if she was impressed by his physical prowess.

Because of her frequent engagement with Nika, she is gradually lowering her defenses and revealing her vulnerable side to him. We can see her first vulnerability when Nika exploits her over competitiveness and play her like a fiddle which makes her angry to the point of getting physical with him resulting her top getting torn. Her second flaw is revealed during the tennis match between Zara/Nika and Vanessa/Nami. If Nika keeps out of the fight, Vanessa will try to humiliate Zara in front of them and rile her up to the point of crying. If Nika steps up and throws the ball on Zara's head, she will confront him to the point of getting pushed to the ground by Nika and get inspired on how a true leader should know when to behave. Her third vulnerability is shown during the basketball game. If Nika chooses to pass the ball believing in her, she will dunk and put the opponent to the ground. Making her leap with excitement and hug Nika tightly with her arms and legs crossed on his body. She goes on to say that she was not able to see the pass clearly and was terrified that it might fail, prompting Nika to say that he believed in her. Which catches her off-guard and makes her show the vulnerable side of hers while staring at Nika's eyes. She quickly recomposes herself when the opponents talk to them.

She's been shown on constantly body checking Nika as a sign of affection whenever they meet or initiate a conversation.

## Notes & Trivia

* There are two colours that represent Zara's name. Blue when she speaks normally and orange when she becomes competitive.

* If Nika kissed Bella, Zara will know about it and say that it happened under a moonlight.

* The relationship with Zara is greatly dependent on Nika's physical abilities, the better he performs, the more she will respect him.

* She drives a Jaguar.

* If Nika was rescued by Marla instead of Bella, she will owe him a favour.

* Victoria and Zara went to the same elementary school in which she protected Vic from Melanie Ceril, to the point of beating her up when she went too far.

* Zara and Nika are going to compete each other in the following activities: Tennis, Surfing and Triathlon.

* Zara requested Nika to prank together a sorority from Jackson & Schwartz college in exchange to be his personal trainer.