Estela Montoya

Estela, a character in the Endless Summer series, is one of the college students who won a contest to spend a week at La Huerta. She is one of Your Character's love Interests. She is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 1.

Appearance
Estela has long brown hair tied back into a ponytail with a few strands falling loose, lightly tanned skin and brown eyes. She has a long scar on her face along her right eye, and she wears a blue hoodie over a white tank top. She is described to have a small frame in Book 1.

In Book 2, Chapter 10, her hair is combed and she wears a silver gown with hoop earrings.

If you choose to marry her in Book 3, Chapter 10, she will wear a dress given to her by Seraxa, a necklace with a blue gem, her ponytail will be tied into a bun, and she will wear black eyeliner.

Personality
Estela is very mysterious and withdrawn. She seems to be afraid to open up to people because in the past, the people in her life tend to get hurt, as she reveals in Chapter 2 at the pool party, if you choose to go stargazing with her. If you gradually earn her trust and become friends with her, and take her back to your room in Chapter 14 (premium choice), she will reveal that she has never felt that way about any other person, and that your MC has "made her feel things she didn't know she could feel". Her profile suggests she is a determined individual who will go to extreme lengths to fight for what she believes in, using her exceptional skills taught to her by her uncle, and her mother before her passing. Out of everyone in the group, she is the most aggressive. She has a tendency to lash out at people and act violent whenever she gets mad or upset about something. She curses and uses offensive language frequently; for example, she calls Lundgren a "dumbass".

By Book 3, she has accepted the rest of the Catalysts as her friends, as shown in Chapter 3 when she doesn't want to separate from the group, and in Chapter 6 when you will gain a relationship point with her, if you choose to save Varynn and Grace before the Island's Heart. She furiously blames Rourke for taking them away from her, and is willing to open up to the group and expose her caring and passionate side, although she immediately feels embarrassed afterwards.

Before La Huerta
Her father abandoned her when she was a baby, and she was raised by her uncle and mother in San Trobida. Her uncle taught her the family business; how to hunt, fight and kill, but her mother always dreamed of a peaceful life for them. That was why her mother worked for Rourke International, and when Estela was fifteen, her mother got reassigned to work at The Celestial. Because children weren't allowed, her mother would send her letters.

Vengeance Mission Planning - Before La Huerta
One day, her mother sent her a messy, handwritten letter revealing the illegal things Everett Rourke was up to, such as illegal experimentation (which would explain the appearance of the Giant Crab and the saber-tooth tiger. However, this is later revealed to have nothing to do with Rourke). Estela's mother was scared for her life, and begged Estela's uncle to come and take her home from La Huerta. The next time Estela received a letter (she says a week later in Book 1, Chapter 14, but a day later in Book 2, Chapter 10), it was directly from Rourke International, which stated that her mother died in a 'freak accident' - an obvious cover-up. Everett Rourke had murdered Estela's mother, and Estela dedicated all her time and efforts to getting revenge on Rourke. She forged papers to get into Hartfeld, because she learnt that Rourke had a son there, and tried to find his identity so that she could use him as a hostage to get closer to Rourke, then kill him.

Arriving In La Huerta
Estela is first seen on the plane on the way to La Huerta, during the storm, she is shown to be extremely calm while the rest of the group are terrified and panicking. When you arrive and touchdown on the airstrip, you start talking to Diego about a tranquilizing dart when from a distance, Estela starts listening to your conversation.

Taking an Item from The Celestial
In Chapter 4, Your Character can spy on her while looking over security feeds in The Celestial. She is seen first walking and checking to make sure the coast is clear before running into the ballroom. She thoroughly searches everything in the room looking for something, as she mumbles to herself. She then finds a painting and uses a pocket knife to tear through it; she finds what she was looking for and pockets it (although at that time, it is unknown what the item was) just as Grace Hall comes looking for her. However, Estela manages to conceal herself from Grace’s view and once she leaves, Estela too rushes out to the hallway and out of view from the camera.

Dream About Your Character
"You... dreamt about me?" "Yeah, I know, it's weird. Or... Hey, have you been having weird dreams too, since we got here? Ones that feel like--" "--memories? Yeah. One about you, actually."

- Estela Montoya and Your Character

If Your Character decides to go and look for Estela, she will tell you that she had a dream about you, similar to the ones Your Character had. In it, she said they were in an underground lake that was glowing blue with algae and lighting up the walls, then Your Character took her hand and it is implied that they proceeded either to kiss or to have sex.

Defeating King Crab
"But we almost got killed, [Your Character's name]. We almost got killed because I was thinking about you instead of watching my surroundings."

- Estela Montoya to Your Character After a minute or so deliberating, Estela decides to let Your Character tag along. On the way to finding the King Crab, Your Character is bitten by a snake; Estela sucks it out while you try to choose the right words that come up in the choices and focus on her voice. Once you succeed, you continue to go on with your quest for the finding the crab, however, after sitting and talking with Estela, the crab (ironically) finds you, and she warns you just before it’s claw smashes the ground Your Character was standing on moments ago. Estela continues fighting the crab while Your Character looks for something to try and use to beat it, he/she sees a boulder on a ledge and climbs up to it. Your Character to runs to her and she boosts you up on to the ledge. However, the boulder is too heavy to be pushed without leverage to force it over, he/she then calls for Estela’s spear and uses it to push the boulder over the ledge and smash it on the crab. Once the crab is defeated, Estela helps Your Character down from the ledge and explains that they almost got killed because she was thinking about you instead of her surroundings. The pair then find an arrowhead made of some strange substance and head back towards the group.

Relationship with Your Character, "Death", & Varyyn's Necklace (Determinant)
"I just... I've never really trusted anyone like that. Not anyone that I met. Until you. And I got to know you. And I felt this... this yearning... that I'd never felt before."

- Estela Montoya to Your Character After Your Character and the rest of the group have finished planting traps for the Vaanti, you are presented with a chance to bring an LI up to your room. If you choose Estela, when you arrive in your room at first it will be awkward but then she will make the first move and the two of you will proceed to make out. Afterwards, she will tell you about her mother’s murder and why she came to La Huerta in the first place (see above), she will also tell you that she is a virgin prior to meeting you and that her life was atypical. Immediately after, she spots something going across the window. Your Character tells her that they are nowhere near the ground floor just as Varyyn (whose name is unknown to the player at that time) swings in and breaks the glass landing in your room; he fights on the floor with Estela and he stabs her with a shard of glass and bleeds out. Your Character, furious, fights Varyyn and takes his blue-lighted necklace. The evening resets itself and Your Character immediately becomes confused, despite it all, you ask Estela if she trusts you and you both go into the closet and quiet themselves as Varyyn smashes through the glass again. When he sees that there is nothing there, he leaves and the two of you split up to go and warn the rest of the group that the “Watchers” are in the hotel.

Vaanti Attack on The Celestial & Immediate Aftermath
"Estela, listen... if this is the end--" "This isn't the end, [Your Character's name]. You and me, we're just getting started."

- Your Character and Estela Montoya After warning everyone of the Vaanti’s arrival and capturing Grace Hall and Raj Bhandarkar, you find yourself with only one option: to shoot everyone (including yourself) through a portal. Just before you do it, Your Character says to Estela, “Estela, listen… if this is the end--” just as she cuts him/her off, saying that they are just getting started. They go through the portal but Diego is pulled back by the Vaanti and the team arrives six months in the future on the roof of The Celestial.

Dating Your Character
"I’m sorry, [Your Character’s Name], I got carried away. I just absolutely cannot stand being helpless. That’s just something you’ve gotta know about me."

- Estela Montoya to Your Character

In Chapter 1, after Your Character and their friends go through the portal. Your Character has the chance to spend time with either Jake, Sean, Estela or Quinn; if you chose to spend time with Estela, she will get angry for a second that you want her to calm down after Diego’s abduction. However, she does calm down and tells Your Character that she “cannot stand being helpless.” You are then presented with the chance to date Estela, if you are at least friends with her. If you are not, then you must pay thirty diamonds to become friends with her so the two of you can start dating.

Estela and the Time Loop (Determinant)
"It was a simpler time… but only because I was a simpler girl and didn’t know any better."

- Estela Montoya to Your Character

As Your Character and friends are on their way to try and rescue Diego, you have the option to go and swim in the lake with Estela or Jake. If you choose to go with Estela, you and her will find snow in the middle of a blistering heatwave. She will tell you that she has never seen snow before, not even when she went to Hartfeld University as she transferred there after the winter quarter. Your Character can then promise her that they will spend time together in the snow once they get back. As the time loop continues, you have the chance again to go to the lake again. If you choose to swim in the lake, she will also tell you that she hasn’t been swimming since she was in San Trobida with her uncle, she says it was when she was a simpler girl and when everything was simple.

New Years’ Party
In Chapter 10, Raj realizes that it is New Years’ Eve and so, he organizes a party to celebrate. However, he also realizes that several people’s birthdays had been missed, including: his own, Aleister, Craig, Estela, Quinn, Zahra and Michelle, as well Your Character’s birthday which is actually on New Years’ Day. As Your Character, Raj, Michelle and a few other people are discussing this, the four Love Interests appear at the top of the staircase behind them, wearing formal clothes they found in the some of the rooms. If you are dating Estela, then she will come and stand next to you and give the option to change into formal attire (this costs 25 diamonds).

After that, you all go into the lodge where everyone talks and has drinks. Lila, Diego and Raj also explain the importance of New Years’ to Varyyn, as it is not a holiday that the Vaanti observe. As well as talking and drinking, everyone sings happy birthday to the people who have missed their birthday and Your Character has the chance (along with friends) to make a New Years’ resolution.

And so, later, just before midnight, Craig and Raj call everyone up to the roof for their “masterplan”, which is to shoot flares from the balcony to create a fireworks display. However, Jake and Estela expose the flaw in that plan as Lundgren and the Aracnhid Unit would see them, thus giving away their position as they are trying to hide from them. The clock strikes midnight and you and Estela kiss as do the other couples. A minute later, you have the option (for 20 diamonds) to take your LI to bed, where you proceed to have sex.

Discovery & Catalyst Idol (Determinant)
"I, ah... I wouldn't worry about them. Even the sorority queens and head athletes end up falling to the bottom of the pecking order eventually. Trust is a fragile thing, and nowhere more brittle among the 'popular' crowd."

- Aleister Rourke to Estela Montoya

The morning after the party, Your Character approaches Estela (this happens regardless of whether Your Character is dating her or not). She tells you that she found the room where her mother stayed; if you choose “Let’s do this.”, you will gain a point with her and you will find a tape in the room that shows Lila shooting Olivia Montoya once in the stomach and once in the forehead.

Chapter 10 closes with Lila innocently walking into the room to give Your Character and Estela breakfast but she stops in her tracks as she sees what is on the television. However, Chapter 11 begins with Estela and Lila fighting each other, as Estela is filled with rage following her discovery and Lila tries to defend herself and explain herself. Your Character has the chance to break up the fight, call for a truce or just stay out of it altogether before. However, if you don’t do anything, Sean and Craig will hold Estela back before Your Character then has the choice of asking her what she would do if Rourke told her or asking what could killing Estela’s mom possibly be worth. If you ask the second question, you receive a clue which is Rourke’s plan in a nutshell.

After Lila finishes explaining, Estela breaks free from Craig and Sean and continues to pummel Lila until the Yeti comes bursting through out of nowhere, giving Lila time to escape from Estela and run off into the distance.

Sometime after Lila escapes, the group plan to make their way to Rourke's MASADA Facility in hopes of getting back home. During the journey, Estela finds another catalyst idol and Your Character has the choice of buying the idol with diamonds. If you choose to get the idol, you will then see a conversation at Hartfeld where Estela and Aleister briefly bond over their mistrust of others. A flash-forward will show Estela killing Lila before being killed by Rourke.

Book 1

 * Chapter 1: This Must Be Heaven
 * Chapter 2: We've All Got Secrets
 * Chapter 3: All Kinds of Crazy
 * Chapter 4: Cut and Run
 * Chapter 5: It's What You're Meant For
 * Chapter 6: The World Has A Habit of Crushing You
 * Chapter 7: Pies Make Peace (Determinant)
 * Chapter 8: You Always Have to Be the Hero
 * Chapter 9: Out of the Frying Pan... Into the Fire
 * Chapter 10: No Escape
 * Chapter 11: Rock the Boat
 * Chapter 12: The Enemy Is Out There
 * Chapter 13: One of Us Isn't Supposed to Be Here
 * Chapter 14: Last Night on Earth
 * Chapter 15: It Was Not Meant To End Like This (Off-screen; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: Here's to Adventure

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: The Unknown Has Always Been a Comfort to Me
 * Chapter 2: Time Is Of the Essence
 * Chapter 3: Those Left Behind
 * Chapter 4: Island Justice
 * Chapter 5: There Are Many Things I Keep Hidden
 * Chapter 6: You Can't Save Everyone
 * Chapter 7: Everything at Once
 * Chapter 8: Let's Promise We'll Do This Again
 * Chapter 9: Toward a New Horizon
 * Chapter 10: Every End Is a Beginning... Except the Last One
 * Chapter 11: Trust is a Fragile Thing
 * Chapter 12: Last Chance to Turn Back
 * Chapter 13: All We Have is Now
 * Chapter 14: You Can't Promise Anything Anymore
 * Chapter 15: Self-Destruct

Book 3

 * Chapter 1: Time Escapes Me
 * Chapter 2: Tricks of the Trade
 * Chapter 3: What Doesn't Kill Us
 * Chapter 4: You've Come Into Your Own
 * Chapter 5: The More Things Change
 * Chapter 6: The Ties That Break
 * Chapter 7: Where I Needed You To Be
 * Chapter 8: You Are A Warrior
 * Chapter 9: All Our Yesterdays
 * Chapter 10: I Was Lost Until You Found Me
 * Chapter 11: Like There's No Tomorrow
 * Chapter 12: You Mean the World to Me

Olivia Montoya
Olivia is Estela's mother. It is implied that they had a very close relationship before her mother was killed by Lila, as Estela dedicated six years of her life to avenging her mother.

Nicolas Montoya
Nicolas is Estela's uncle and Olivia's brother. It was he who trained her as an assassin. It is implied that they have a close relationship, as he was the only known family Estela had left after her mother was killed. In Estela's goodbye message to him in Book 2, Chapter 15, she implies that while he helped her in her personal mission of avenging her mother, he did not approve.

Your Character
If the player chooses to stargaze with Estela, she'll admit that she thinks Your Character seems like a nice person. She seems to feel the need to protect you after she finds her mother's note saying that Rourke can never get his hands on you, asking you to leave the island and have a comfy life at college, and later to stay at the resort, where it's safe. If you go with her to fight the King Crab in Chapter 9, it is implied she has romantic feelings for Your Character. An example is if you share you've had dreams about each other. In Estela's dream, you are adrift in an underground lake and your character takes her hand. She abruptly stops but it's possible the dream was sexual. After beating the crab, she will tell you that she hasn't got time to care about you or that she considers you a distraction, implying that she has romantic feelings for you, but is trying to suppress them. In Chapter 13, she and Jake volunteer to teach you martial arts so you can protect yourself. If you learn her defensive technique, you note that blocking her moves is like dancing, and she blushes. You can choose to take her back to your room in Chapter 14, where you are intimate with her.

You can choose to officially date her in Book 2, Chapter 1, if you are at least friends with her. She will admit to you that she feels "helpless" when she is around your MC because she can't control how she feels.

By Book 2, Chapter 10, you are the only person she feels that she can open up to, such as explaining her motivations for wanting Rourke (and eventually Lila) dead. In the Book 2 Finale, depending on your relationship with her, you can successfully dissuade her from killing Lila and she will attempt to save you from falling out of the Helicopter.

When the truth of your Catalyst Idol visions is revealed, she is shown to be upset that you didn't share the information with them, stating that you should be able to trust your friends, implying that she finally trusts you fully.

Raj
After Raj makes jokes about Your Character shutting down the party after being startled the mysterious creature, Estela will scold him for making jokes instead of being concerned for his/her well being. When Estela threatens to destroy Iris, Raj leaps to IRIS' defense and becomes angry at Estela for not giving Iris a chance. Your Character can choose to agree with Estela or Raj. Raj also admires Estela, but at the same time is creeped out by her mysteriousness.

Jake
If you choose to learn self defense with Estela and Jake in Chapter 13, she will tease Jake about not being a good teacher of self defense, and will offer to teach you instead (it's up to you who you choose to teach you) saying "not much of a teacher are you, pilot?" They occasionally joke with each other over their cynical/sarcastic outlook on life. Out of all the nicknames he gives her, she prefers Katniss.

Aleister
Although it is revealed in the Catalyst Idol scene that Aleister and Estela shared a brief moment together during their time at Hartfeld where they bonded over their love of True Crime stories and mistrust of others, Estela grew to despise Aleister. She knew that Rourke had a son in Hartfeld and forged papers to get into Hartfeld so she could find out his identity, use him as a hostage to get closer to Rourke and kill him. She is extremely angry when Aleister confesses that he is Rourke's son and from there onwards she is hostile towards Aleister, even when working with him and your character in the epilogue of Book 1. After Aleister betrays the group and locks them in a chamber, she menacingly tells him to let them out. In Book 3, Chapter 3, she is angry when she sees Aleister (you gain a relationship point with her if desire vengeance on Aleister) and will agree with your character if you believe he'll betray the group again. In Book 3, Chapter 6, when the group encounters Aleister, she knocks him unconscious with her spear, claiming she'd been wanting to do it for a while.

In Book 3, Chapter 11, they are revealed to be half-siblings when Rourke reveals himself to be Estela's father. If you choose Vaanu's ending, they confront Rourke and give their defeated father a denouncing speech.

Lila
They originally had a neutral relationship, which strengthened in Book 2, Chapter 9, after Estela comforts her. When Estela finds out that it was Lila who murdered her mother, it fuels her hatred. In Book 2, Chapter 11, they get into a physical fight where Estela viciously beats her, until Lila manages to escape when Estela is distracted by the Yeti. Estela's Catalyst Idol shows that she may eventually kill Lila, but will feel sad about it. In the final chapter of Book 2, you have to make a tough choice between allowing Estela to kill Lila or attempting to dissuade her from doing so. Regardless of Estela's decision, Lila will die anyway.

Quinn
Although they have very different personalities, Estela is shown to be protective of Quinn, and cares about her well-being. Some examples are when Estela helps you free her from the Island's Heart's control, angry at Malatesta for possibly hurting Quinn, when she expresses a determination to help Quinn when she's stuck down by her illness, when Mouse knocks her unconscious, when she offers to accompany Quinn to find the second half of the Island's Heart, and when she protects Quinn from Cetus by pulling her out of the way of Cetus's teeth. If Estela kills Lila, Quinn is the only one to approach her and comfort her.

Everett Rourke
Estela hates Rourke, blaming him for his mother's death, all the dangers on the island and taking her friends and family away from her in Book 3, and tries to kill him numerous times. In Book 3, Chapter 11, when it is revealed Rourke is her father, she is devastated.

Trivia

 * She is shown on the cover of Endless Summer, Book 3 and is the only love interest to not appear on the first two Endless Summer book covers.
 * Her birth month as listed in her file is incorrectly listed to be January. She reveals it to be June.
 * San Trobida, her city of origin, is a city in the mobile app Cause of Death, which was written by some of the writers at Pixelberry Studios.
 * Her Hadean Zodiac sign is Draco, the Dragon.
 * Jake calls her "Katniss", "Trinity", "Sarah Connor" and "Michonne" because of her survival skills and after female protagonists from action movies. He also calls her "Wednesday Addams" because of her tomboy personality and the fact that she rarely shows her emotions.
 * In Book 1, Chapter 9, if you choose to fight the King Crab with her and tell her that you dreamt about her, she will say that she once dreamt about her and MC being in an underground cave full of water. Something similar is seen in Book 2, chapter 5, if you choose to swim with her into the Jeweled Cave. (Whether the two were connected or not, has not been confirmed)
 * In Book 1, Chapter 14, if you choose to bring her up to your room and sleep with her, it will be revealed that up until then, she was a virgin.
 * Consequently, if you bring her up to your room, she will be accidentally murdered by Varyyn but then brought back to life by his necklace.
 * Her head design in Endless Summer, Book 1 was changed in Endless Summer, Book 2 to be upright instead of facing downwards.
 * She can hold her breath for 14 minutes, longer than Jake or Yvonne.
 * She respects honesty, as shown in Book 1, Chapter 3, if you choose to get angry at the others for thinking that you're crazy and in Book 3, Chapter 5, when she is upset you didn't tell the group about your catalyst idol visions.
 * She respects people risking their lives to save their loved ones, as she promises Varyyn that Cetus will pay for killing Ximaedra, and she is hesitant to kill Lila after Lila is fatally wounded after saving the catalysts from Arachnid soldiers.
 * She is protective of Quinn, who has a drastically different personality, as she is determined to find the Island's Heart after she goes into a coma, she says "get this bastard" after Mouse attacks a defenseless Quinn, she threatens to hurt Malatesta if he hurt Quinn and she is the first to volunteer to go with Quinn on a rowboat to find the other half of the Island's Heart.
 * She hates people telling her to calm down, as shown with the MC in Book 2, Chapter 1, and with Jake in Book 3, Chapter 1.
 * Although she isn't quick to trust people, she expects them to trust her, as she will not show you the Portal Gun in Book 1, Chapter 10, if she doesn't like you, yet she will still expect you to tell her what you find in the trash can, and will be sad when she discovers that you didn't tell the group the truth about the Catalyst Idol visions.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 11, Estela will hesitate to kill Lila after she promises to share information (if you call for a truce), and despite coming to La Huerta to avenge her mother, you will lose a relationship point with her if you promise Craig to avenge Zahra in Book 3, Chapter 4, saying that the ghost might have information about the island, showing that she prioritizes survival over vengeance. An inconsistency with this is if your character gets in between Estela and Lila in Book 2, Chapter 11, where she'll say "I've had enough talking", and is not willing to listen to Lila's information.
 * Rourke considers her the most dangerous individual of your group, due to her skills as an assassin as well as the fact that she wants to kill him.
 * If you choose to spend the night with her in Book 2, Chapter 12, it is revealed she has a scar on her back and under her breast. The first scar is from when she was 12 and a horse she was riding threw her off, causing her to land on a rock. The second scar is when her uncle accidentally cut her with a untapered sword when she was 14. She won't tell you how she got the scar on her eye, and it was never revealed.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 12, it is revealed what she found behind the painting in the Celestial in Book 1, Chapter 4. It is revealed to be a letter from her mother to Lila with a picture of you clipped to it, with Olivia telling Lila to not let Rourke get his hands on you. Estela then promises her late mother that she'll prevent Rourke from doing so.
 * Her name and country of origin imply that she is Latina. This is confirmed in the Book 2 Finale when she refers to a relative named Nicolas as "Tio", which is Spanish for "Uncle".
 * Her given name, which is Catalan in origin, translates to "Star" in English.
 * Her surname, Montoya, is possibly a reference to Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, as they have both trained to avenge the murder of their parent.
 * Her Ember of Hope shows a future where she graduates from Hartfeld, lives with her uncle in San Trobida, and is thinking of starting a family.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 10, if you have at least two hearts with her, she will propose to you. If you accept, you will marry her in a handfasting ceremony.
 * You can become Soulmates (3 hearts) with her if you get every single point with her after dating her in Book 2, Chapter 1. This means you must choose one of the next three options: skipping on finding Rourke in Book 1, Chapter 16 or skipping on telling Clockmaker to bring Cetus' head on a spike in Book 3, Chapter 8) or lose Malatesta's race in Book 3, Chapter 2.
 * The writing for Estela's character is inspired by the song,  Missile by Dorothy.
 * Estela is the second youngest of the group of students, after Quinn.
 * Estela's Tio Nicolas mentions that the Montoya family fought against dictator "Salazar" for the freedom of the island. There was a dictator named Salazar, but he was the dictator of Portugal, and died in the 1960's. Given that Pixelberry employees originally worked at Electronic Arts and worked on the game Cause of Death, it is possible that they could have been referring to one of the game's villains, Pablo Salazar. In the game, he was a dictator and drug lord who ruled over San Trobida.
 * Estela in alternate timelines:
 * Zahra was her lover.
 * Estela was mind-controlled by Rourke.
 * She piloted the Omega Mech in a battle against Rourke and the Arachnids.
 * In Book 1 Chapter 14, when asked about whether she knew that Aleister was Rourke's son, Iris replies her DNA scan of Aleister did suggest the possibility, after which your character asks how often she scanned their DNA. Therefore, it is possible that Iris scanned Estela's DNA and knew that she was Rourke's daughter from the start.