Raquel Hazel Henderson.

Raquel is very welcoming to any nickname that is thrown her way unless it's demeaning, downgrading and too sexual towards her. She doesn't have any set nicknames though.

February 14, 1990; 2/14/1990.

25.

Female.

Heterosexual.

No. Virgin as she is looking for love first.

Single but loves to mingle.

I am a journalist for Vogue.com and even star in some Off Broadway productions.

Raquel is a very attractive female in her own mind. She stands about five foot seven and weighs about one-hundred and twenty pounds. She has an olive tint to her skin with chestnut brown colored eyes, which makes her look kind of sad all the time. She is naturally a brunette but dyed her to be a pure raven color. She honestly thinks that she is the queen of the crop when it comes to looking her best.

Raquel usually wears anything that has to do with the latest fashion. Anything from Gucci to Prada she owns and of course, is color coordinated with everything. She doesn't have a specific outfit that she wears though she'll be matching from head to toe whenever you see her.​

She doesn't have any tattoos though plans to get one, one day. Raquel has both of her earlobes pierced as any other girl does.

✔Singing✔
✔Writing✔
✔Positive Atmospheres✔
✔Men✔
✔Kissing & Cuddling✔
✔Creativity✔
✔Social Gatherings✔

✘Negativity✘
✘Things That Smell✘
✘Spicy Food✘
✘Fighting✘
✘Not Getting Her Way✘
✘Being Lied To✘
✘Being Judged✘

♥Coming Up With New Ideas♥​
♥Photography♥​
♥Scrap Booking♥​
♥Social Media Freak♥​

★Mouths Lyrics To Herself★​
★Laughs Or Chuckles During Awkward Silence★​
★Bites Her Bottom Lip When Nervous★​
★Twirls Her Hair When She Is Being Flirty★

☠Losing Her Voice☠​
☠Spiders & Snakes☠​
☠Deep Water☠​
☠Tight Spaces☠​

Raquel is the most ambitious person anyone would ever want to meet. She sees potential to rise within herself and others and will not hesitate to let anyone know that. She sometimes get overly ambitious and annoys some people whenever she feels this type of way. Her confidence level is absolutely sky high and her aura proves it - Especially before she gets ready to do any type of performance. She is a very blunt type of person and tends to make people upset with her words. If someone asked her to be brutally honest with her opinion, Raquel would not hesitate to do so even if you are her close friend or whatever.​

Manhattan, New York but travels to her estate in North Carolina during the holidays.

Growing up, Raquel basically had it easy to say the very least. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and she is the only child, which made her kind of lonely throughout her life. Her parents, Julianna and Gregory Henderson seemed like they were the perfect parents and couple but that all came to an end when she was ten years of age when her father cheated on her mother with another man. She lives with her father, Gregory and her father's husband now, Randy. She is very happy to have two dads as she would be living with her mother, if she didn't have a severe nervous breakdown after their divorce. Raquel has always had the talent of singing since she was little and her parents signed her up for singing lessons. She's been singing for about eleven years and is getting better every single day. She hopes to make it big time soon to the real Broadway bright lights.​

The marathon of A Christmas Story. Love that movie.

Dennis Tyler Montgomery.

Dennis will accept being called Denny more than anything else.

July 17th, 1987.

28.

Male.

Homosexual.

No.

Single.

Music Teacher for a local high school.

Dennis is very attractive for someone of his caliber, which is upper middle class. He has dirty, blonde locks of hair that he usually keeps edged up but combed over towards the front with a spike. He has a sun kissed tone to his skin complexion due from him running along the beaches in California and working out. Dennis is about six foot two and weighs about one-hundred and sixty pounds of muscle. He has hazel green eyes that often of times will look just pure hazel.

Dennis usually wears long sleeved, buttoned up shirts and long pants to match. He only wear Ralph Lauren Polo though even in shoes.

None.

✔Being Gay ✔Social Gatherings ✔Intellectual Minds ✔Others Creativity ✔Singing & Dancing ✔Cuddle Sessions ✔Reading & Writing ✔Tea ✔Horror Movies ✔Romance Movies based off Novels

✘Severe Thunderstorms ✘Homophobic People ✘Hypocrites ✘Losing His Voice ✘Reality TV ✘Bullies ✘Being Judged ✘Waking Up Late ✘Negative People

|| Writing Poetry || Collecting Old Coins || Going Over Lesson Plans || Reading In The Park ||

▪Tends to hum when there is awkward silence, or just when it is silent in general▪Bites his nails but he is trying to stop▪Will sometimes drum his fingers on his knees when he is sitting down▪Laughs at his own jokes even if they are not funny▪Will make odd conversation with a random person▪

Achluophobia- Fear of darkness.
Dennis is very much afraid of the dark. Probably because he tends to watch too many horror movies and freaks out when the lights are off.

Agraphobia- Fear of sexual abuse.
Due to Dennis' sexuality, being sexually abused scared him the most. He always watched himself around others and was very weary of who he told about his Homosexuality.

Claustrophobia - Fear of having no escape and being in closed or small spaces or rooms.
Dennis had an experience in his life where he was trapped inside of an out house at a friend's bonfire party. It struck him because he couldn't breathe and felt like the walls were caving in on him.

Dennis is a person that most people would befriend due to his intellectual and understanding nature but others tend to stir away from due to his blunt and cunning ways. Dennis has always been the intelligent one in his family and people have looked up to him because of that fact. Not to say that his parents and siblings are not intelligent but Dennis just picks up on things a lot faster than them and sometimes they get mad but he doesn't really care. He is also very clever and is a quick thinker when it comes to almost anything. Dennis is an understanding type of person and no matter who you are or what problem big or small that you have, he will listen. He doesn't just listen and understands people's problems but he also understands their ideas as well. He will give good and detail communication towards the person he is advising and hope that they take his advice and use it to their advantage.

Being responsible is something that Dennis had to learn from personal experience. He use to be very irresponsible growing up but one slip up made that change into his life. Dennis use to be very rebellious and irresponsible towards his parents so they showed him what happens to kids like him. They packed all of his things and sat them all outside on the porch with a military school brochure on top of his luggage and a note about which flight to take and where his destination was. Dennis soon changed his way after that and noticed that his parents wasn't playing. He became more responsible around the house and even helped them out with the chores and house work. People were much more in love with the new Dennis and respected the person that he had become.

Dennis' words can be either helpful or harmful towards others. If they are harmful, that's because he is very blunt and intends not to hurt anyone's feelings. He tries his best not to be brutally blunt but sometimes, it doesn't workout the way he wants it too. Dennis will apologize as long as the other person doesn't flip him off or get mad and go on a rage fit towards him. He is also very cunning and is able to get himself and others out of almost any sticky situation. His words are very persuasive that even he believes half of the cunning schemes that he has been into. One last trait that Dennis has is being very flirty towards guys and will sometimes take it too far. He does flirt with girls but not as often as he would flirt with a guy.

Overall, due to his changed nature, Dennis is someone that people tend to hang around with even if it's just for advice or just to go out and have a good, responsible evening on the town. He loves having friends around him and don't know what he would do without the friends that he has now.

Beverly Hills, California but now resides in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Growing up, Dennis always had a passion for the arts. He remembers watching his first musical and looked at his parents and pointed to the television screen saying that's what he wanted to do. His mother smiled and gleamed with excitement while his father protested. Dennis went with his mother and signed him up for vocal and dance lessons. It took him awhile to get use to the arts of singing but dancing, he sort of picked up right away. Once his skills got perfected, his mother signed him up for competitions, most of which he won while the others, he placed in the top five. Tyler has many trophies from his competitions and even has a display case that displays his accomplishments.

As Dennis started middle school, he joined the choir and band. People saw how skilled he was and instantly became his friend. One girl even asked to be his girlfriend but he told her that he was not attracted to females. Of course, Dennis always knew that he was gay since elementary school and just felt much more comfortable that way. He came out to his parents in the eighth grade and they were proud of him since he was finally accepting who he was and wanted to share it with them. As soon as he graduated middle school, his parents insisted that instead of a regular school that he attend a performing arts type of school.

He did so and was immediately accepted after they reviewed over his audition tape and resume. He made many friends there and even had his first boyfriend there, whose name was Scott. Him and Scott were seemingly inseparable but of course, every relationship must take its course. Dennis told Scott that he was transferring schools and it kind of devastated him. Scott immediately ended things right then and there while not wanting anything else to do with Dennis. It was a sad day when they broke up but Dennis knows that good things must come to an end.

Since transferring to North Carolina School of Performing Arts, Dennis has been pretty much to himself and reading people to see who he can befriend and who he cannot. He loved what NCSPA had to offer so far and that the change in venture will be better for him.

I also love putting up the decorations around the house and the Christmas Tree.

Johanna Marie Sanchez.

Jojo.

Johanna is used for the more formal or serious settings. Since Johanna has to deal with that through her job and her family members. She prefers when her friends use the more fun and playful version of her name.

June, 15th 1989.

26.

Female.

Heterosexual.

Yes.

Single. Recently divorced.

Office Assistant at a place that sells windows, roofs, and siding.

Johanna is a Hispanic woman, specifically Portuguese. She is very petite at around 5ft 2, weighing between 110-115lbs depending on what holiday season with the most food it is. Her skin tone is fairly light, but can get pretty dark when she is outside in the sun. Both her eyes and hair are a very dark brown. Almost always seen wearing a shade of red lipstick, ever since she was allowed to in high school. Treats herself to manicures and pedicures practically every weekend.

Johanna brought a few formal cocktail dresses in case there was a need to dress up at all, but will be seen mostly in over sized sweaters and thermals paired with black leggings. She always wears a watch her grandmother gave her, though it has stopped working many years ago.

Single lobe piercings on each ear.

✔ Dancing
✔ Summer time weather
✔ Drinking something 'pretty'
✔ Learning new things
✔ Makeovers
✔ Cooking
✔ Interior design
✘ Her ex-husband
✘ Bossy people
✘ Being woken up early
✘ Party poopers
✘ When she can't think of a word in English
✘ Silence
✘ The smell of too much perfume

Commenting her opinions on facebook and twitter.
Looking up makeup/cooking/craft tutorials on Youtube and Etsy.
Barhopping to new and old places, specially ones that offer salsa nights.

Leaving her belongings everywhere.
Tapping her nails on hard surfaces when she's bored or listening or nervous.
Switching between Portuguese and English in the middle of a heated conversation.

☠ Most insects and animals.
☠ Never finding love again.
☠ Losing her grandmother.

If you're looking for a silly time filled with laughs, Johanna is your girl. She is always looking for fun, even during the most mundane events- like grocery shopping. Very friendly and outgoing, wanting everyone to join in and be having a good time. She's an amazing party host. However, life isn't always fun and games and when it hits Jojo she breaks down and becomes very dramatic and overreactive about everything. Every problem is always world ending when it comes to Johanna.

Was born in Portugal but now lives in North Carolina.

"Estar a sombra da bananeira."

Roughly translated into "sitting under the shade of a banana tree" but to the Portuguese, it means that you have no worries. This was the type of attitude Johanna was raised under. Born to Juan and Natalia Sanchez in the city of Faro, Portugal. They lived in the country until Jojo was about 3 years old and then they came to America settling in North Carolina, of all places. They left behind her only grandmother and the woman she was named after, but kept in contact through phone calls, and the rare visits back home.

North Carolina wasn't exactly the America that the Sanchez family had envisioned, but they made it along just fine, getting a small home and making it by with basic jobs. Johanna was spoiled endlessly by both her parents as much as they could offer. She very rarely was in trouble, or told that she couldn't do anything she set her mind to. School was a challenge to the very absent minded Jojo but with her great group of friends she made it through, and even found romance her senior year.

Not going to college, and getting married not but a few months after highschool graduation was probably not the best path choices Johanna could have made, but with her parents and friend's support she dived right into the adventure. Things were amazing being married. She was Mrs. Warren Vanhaven. Fancy as fuck. Warren and her had a very fun and lavish lifestyle, he let her do as she please as long as she came home and did as he pleased as well.

A few years into their marriage they began trying to have a baby, and became successful very quickly after the first attempt. In tragic outcome, the baby was lost and their relationship soon started deteriorating. Warren blamed Johanna for the loss of the baby because she wasn't 'careful' enough. It was a heated and hurtful relationship until the end where they decided it was best to just get a divorce and go their separate ways.

Since then, Johanna moved back home with her parents and found herself at a basic office job taking orders for customers. She isn't too happy with the downgrade in lifestyle, but her parents have continued to be loving and supporting to her despite her outbursts of partying and drug use she has been going through.

This will be the first time seeing her friends since the divorce, and she doesn't really want to talk about it too much, and hopes that this re-connection with old friends will be just what she needs to get out of this slump of self destruction.

Hasn't told anyone the reason behind her divorce.

My favorite part of Christmas time is how cheerful and happy everyone is towards one another, despite the year's hardships. Nothing is more exciting and amazing than waking up Christmas morning with your family and loved ones and just enjoying that you are here on this Earth and that everything is going to be okay.

Marisol Naya Santiago-Espinoza

Her friends and family call her Mari or Mar. She has been called that since her childhood-and it brings back fond memories when people call her that.Those that don't now her, refer to her as Marisol.

16th August 1987

28

Female

Bisexual-Leans more towards guys

Yes-she lost her virginity a few years ago.

At the moment she is single, and had a few one night stands....

Yes she is employed. She works as a model and part time photographer for a famous modeling company. She had this job got 6 years now and enjoys her day to day tasks.

Marisol has a slim and tall slender figure, standing at 5'9ft. She has dark brown hair, that fall past her elbows and deep brown chocolate eyes. She's known for her tanned complexion from her Latino background and her flawless skin. She walks with confidence and elegance, that can sometimes be a bit intimidating to some people. She usually wears her hair loose, or in a loosen bun or pony tail. Marisol doesn't use heavy make-up on holiday, preferring more of her natural beauty than anything else.

Marisol wears Winter clothing including jeans/winter pants and leggings inside of the estate. Warm jumpers, cardigans, turtle neck shirts with long sleeves. Any long sleeved t-shirts. Winter jackets or coats. Winter boots; has 2 sets one of them being high heel winter boots, the other pair are ugg boots. Scarfs, hats and gloves, warm socks and tights.

Marisol has no scars or tattoos on her body. She has a birthmark on her lower back and has her ears pierced. Usually wearing stud earrings or hoops.

✔ Photography
✔ Festive music/films and events
✔ Snow
✔ Hot chocolate/tea or coffee
✔ Her job
✔ Partying with her friends
✔ Flirting with mostly guys...flirts with some girls on occasions
✔ Spending time with/Teasing her younger brother
✔ Her brother's dog

✘People who judge
✘Storms
✘Failing at her job
✘Her ex
✘Spiders and creepy crawlies
✘Elevators
✘Planes

Taking photos for fun
Skiing in the winter
Dancing
Reading books by a fire-place

Flips her hair over her shoulder
Batting eye lashes flirtatiously
Clicking knuckles when annoyed
Has a slight snort when laughing

☠Getting stuck in an elevator/plane crash
☠Loosing her brother
☠Committed relationships

Being older by 3 years, she's protective over her brother Leo. She will stand up for him of anyone is annoying him or being mean and arrogant towards him. She worries about his brother, when he's at work due to his risky and dangerous job as a fire-fighter. He's scared her a few times, with the number of injuries and scars he has.
Marisol is well educated and is a rather smart woman. She has always tried to aim high and achieved her dreams of being a model and photographer. She loves her job, despite it's hard-ships at times. Many men want her, due to her being a well known Model and due to her beauty. She may be confident and flirty, but she's also insecure when it comes to deeper and committed relationships. After she had her heart broken by her ex, she sticks to fun and no strings attached kind of relationship.
Working in the modeling industry-it can get rather competitive between them models and Marisol is no stranger to competition. She can be stubborn when she wants to be, and won't stop at nothing to get where she wants to go. Also, growing up with Leo taught her plenty about competitiveness in their house-hold during their childhood-teenage years.

She was born in Spain, Barcelona.
Now lives in California

Growing up in a middle-class family in sunny Spain; Marisol is the oldest of two children. Her baby brother being Leo. Those two have always been close since they were little. Doing anything together, teasing each other, daring each other, having fun like any kids. Often spending their time at their grand-parents house, whilst growing up. But their parents marriage was not a happy one-Marisol and Leo's mother was abusive and a cheat. She didn't lay a hand upon either child, but there were frequent arguments between Marisol and her mother. Their parents divorced and the two kids remained with their father until they could move out of the house. The incidents and pain at home, made her and Leo grow more close together and Marisol is very protective over her baby-brother. He's her rock, her pride and joy despite him being a rebel at school. She knows who he is...and is proud of him.

As Marisol grew up, she was the more focused in school compared to her little brother. She knew the reasons for his rebellions and skipping lessons. She did her best to support him and help him where she could. She has some trouble, getting close to girls and women...preferring guys company more..it's no secret she fears commitment in a relationship given her parent's own failed marriage and the fact that her ex, cheated on her with one of her best friends. Love is an invitation for more hurt, in her eyes. She'd rather have fun, let loose and be a bit of a bad girl.

She and Leo have remained close over the years; supporting each other and their career paths despite the fact she fears for his safety every time he goes to work. They meet up rather often, hung out and have fun just like they used to when they were kids. He's the one person, she tells anything and everything too and still often joke around and still keep tabs on who's won the most bets and who's lost.

Christmas dinner and opening presents, whilst listening to Christmas music or watching Christmas movies :).

Jamison Horace Rainer.

"Jamie" simply because it's his name; "Rainer" because he likes being called something that next to no one else is.

March 16th, 1988

27

Male

Eh, all I can really play is hetero.

Should anyone ask, he'll give a vague and indistinct answer, or simply deflect the question. He is not, though, sexually active. He prefers good conversations and cuddles, anyhow.

He's a single pringle that wishes he wasn't.

Writer, journalist, and programmer. He helps develop games, writes their dialogue, writes the story, writes his own books, and has a thread on a somewhat large forum where he posts his views on the global situation- terrorism and politics and the like. Major events and things worthy of note.

Jamie's an average five feet eleven and a half inches tall, just a tiny bit short of the full six foot. He's not particularly large, neither in being broadshouldered nor thick, but he manages to pull off being attractive while not particularly caring, or trying.

He's got soft brown eyes, and usually has somewhat spiky brown hair that he takes some reluctantly-admitted pride in keeping soft, and he uses it to keep it in a sort-of spiky hair style, simply because any other way is too difficult. On the few occasions a friend of his has messed with his hair, they usually end up playing with it. Jamie, again, reluctantly admits to enjoying it.

Long-sleeved thermals, jeans, hoodies, and thick zip-up jackets that are fluffy on the inside. He loves those kinds of jackets, warm and cozy. Occasionally wears a beanie, too.

N/A

✔Writing and associated things
✔Games and associated things (primarily PC, of course)
✔All kinds of conceptual science
✔The snow, ice, and the cold
✔People in general- enjoys talking to everyone and making people smile
✔Food- definitely food. He'll eat everything, as long as it tastes good.
✔Books and reading, and most things associated. Can't stand mystery, horror, or manga, though.
✘Being overly cold or overly hot
✘Illogical, unreasonable notions or ideas-unless they're joking.
✘Anime, manga, etc. Can't stand the clothing or the anatomy, nor the physics involved.
✘Hates being alone or sick, or ignored.
✘Being talked over or interrupted, or something else that's just plain rude. It bugs him even more when the person doesn't even realize they're interrupting.
✘Hates not being able to get something to work. As a programmer, he's often gotta solve one problem or the other that makes the code incompatible and unusable, this often leads to long, tedius, frustrating work.
✘Some kinds of foods- olives, turkey, mustard, pretty much all liquor, and a few other things.

Jamie loves a good book, a good story idea to write, or a good game to play. In addition, he'll happily go take a walk or head out on his bike, and occasionally just drives around his current resident city, just to give him some time to think about everything. Sometimes he bakes or cooks, and invites the people in his apartment building over for a meal or somesuch.

Eats a bunch, and gladly eats everything. He'll try to show some restraint, but he really likes food. Also has a habit of flinching away from physical contact, if he's not the one giving it- he was too softhearted as a kid, and wouldn't stand up for himself, so he's a little afraid of people, despite the fact that he's always seeking them out. Also has a habit of avoiding things that he doesn't like very much- someone smoking or drinking a good bit will likely not be talking to Jamie. Likewise, if someone's a bit rude to him, he'll just drift off, unnoticed, and wait a good long while before initiating any sort of conversation again, in which he won't say anything about why he was particularly hurt or somesuch.

☠Being alone forever
☠Spiders and snakes, mainly after being bitten by a rattlesnake when he was young.
☠Babies. He believes that babies will stare into your soul, and judge you. Well, not actually believe, but he certainly feels like it. Unless he's related to the baby, or the baby belongs to a close friend, he can't stand them.

He's very outgoing- he'll talk to everyone, and likely always will. He doesn't appreciate rudeness, or irresponsibility, or similar, but he's loyal to a fault- he may not like it, but he'll never leave someone forever. If he thinks someone's down, he'll be there, trying to help and share their pain, hurt, etc. He's generally just trying to be the nicest and most caring person he could possibly be, because he feels that there aren't enough of such people. He searches for the right person, while trying his best to be the right person himself.

He's not unrealistic, either- he's well aware of his faults, and he's well aware that he likely won't be able to change them. He goes out of his way to help people, knowing that they'll likely take him for granted, and simply expecting him to be there. He knows that most people probably don't notice him that much; most people don't care enough.

He feels strongly. When he's angry, he very, very angry. When he's happy, he's certainly bright and cheerful, and when he's sad, he falls into a fairly deep depression. Very patient, too- even when he should just be angry, or should just let it out, he won't.

Carbon, Texas, a tiny little town of no note whatsoever.

Having grown up in a teeny tiny little town of Carbon, Texas, Jamie found himself at odds with everybody else in his school- because he was the only one that wasn't interested in ranching, farming, or being stupid like all the other kids. So, he'd get beat up on during school, was the smartest person in his class, and read books and played video games when he got home. As his life progressed, people left him alone more and more; the day he woke up in his college dorm for the first time was the day he became his new open self.

At home, he came from two redneck parents who made their living with a larger successful ranch, whatwith cattle, horses, and the like. They weren't all that pleased for their first and only born child to be a nerd for them, but they hesitantly supported him nonetheless.

He had a slew of incidents on his parents' ranch, each of them coming from him pushing his boundries, somewhat. They always found him doing something that no one expected- he was rearranging and organizing a pile of lumber that had long since been considered junk, and had actually started building a pile for a bonfire. Naturally, he felt a sting on his foot that hurt terrible, and ran inside- for his parents to freak out because a rattlesnake had been disturbed, panicked, and bit him before he even knew it was there. Likewise, he once tried to capture a wasp nest intact, so he put it in a case and do things with the wasps and the nest, like have an ant farm except with wasps, or see what happens if he sprays 409 or WD40 or lacquer thinner on them. That didn't work out quite so well, either. He was a little too outgoing and adventurous when he was little, his version of stupid being the kind that was overly ambitious and not entirely thought through.

Throughout high school and college, he lost some of that nature- he became more reserved, though certainly still outgoing and talkative, he's a little bit afraid of normal things, because of his childhood. He sees snakes where there shouldn't, and spiders being far more dangerous as they are- even though he knows, logically, that he's perfectly fine. He kept himself and his record clean, never even getting pulled over for speeding or somesuch, and has had a pretty good job of just getting everything done.

He's a shadow, of sorts. Everyone remembers him, but no one really takes note of him anymore. Also, I do enjoy a good glass of egg nog.

John Declan Murphy

Used to be called Johnny a long time ago. Now he is just Jack

February 24, 1987

28

Male

Homosexual

Yes

Single unless anyone wants him.

Lawyer defense

Jack is relatively tall standing at about Six foot three inches tall. He works out every day since it helps him calm down. His skin is relatively tan from years of hard work in the sun. His hair always seems to stay the same no matter what he does to it.

He prefers to wear what he thinks is upper class clothing. He wants to wipe away the idea of Johnny Murphy. He wears mostly dark clothing. He sometimes does wear flannel since you can never really take the country out of the man.

He has a chest tatoosince it was the ultimate way to show that he is not the same man he was before. It was something he got while he was drunk and is the only thing on his skin.

✔: Standing up for the little guy.
✔: Practicing Law
✔:Reading
✔:Boxing
✔: Cooking
✔:Debating
✔: Romance thought he will never admit it. Not out loud.

✘Fighting for no reason.
✘ Eating Junk food
✘ Bullies (It is why he became a Defense Attorney)
✘ Fast Food
✘Liars
✘ People who prey on the innocent
✘ Lawless people (Anyone who dislikes or fights the law.)

Cooking
Writing in his journal.
Dancing (Again he will never tell anyone that.)

Fidgeting when nervous.
His accent seems to appear when he is worried.
Has difficulty sitting still which is not great for a lawyer.

☠Being alone
His Past
Dealing with his issues.

Jack has truly changed over these years. His time in New York has changed him. Once upon a time, Johnny Murphy was a popular guy. He always had a smile on his face and a joke on his lips. He wanted everyone to like him and would go out of his way. However there always was that secret on his mind. The big one about him and his sexuality. So the smiles and the laughs were more of a mask for him to hide under. He spent all of high school hiding the secret. It was the main reason for him leaving the town.

He changed personalities as soon as he was in New York. He came out with his sexuality and seemed to be better for him. However he was not as loud as he had been. He still was the Southern lawyer in the North. He kept his fiery nature and his drive. However he was not as loud as he had been. He tired to keep to the shadows.

Now Jack tries to balance the person he used to be with the person he is now. He fights constantly with these two sides.

Born in Wilmington North Carolina. Has been living in New York City, New York ever since high school. He returned a year ago to take care of his father. Law can be practiced anywhere.

The Murphy's have always lived in Wilmington. For generations after leaving Ireland, they have lived in town. For almost two hundred years they have lived and died in town. Though they have lost their accent, they still seem to have that fiery Irish blood. For most of their time in the town they have been the town lawyers and practiced from a small little office on main street. They are born and they die there. John Declan Murphy was to join the long ranks of proper southern lawyers with their white coats and potbellies. In high school he was pretty popular since he had inherited the Murphy family charms. However instead of going to the Duke University like the rest of his family, Johnny dashed away from North Carolina. He went to New York City since he figured that it was far enough away from home. There he got into Colombia and eventually to the law program. He spent years away from home until he got the call from his mother. John Murphy Senior was sick. So Johnny Murphy returned him to the place that made him. Most of the town still sees him as that Yankee. He has spent the last year trying to piece together the two different sides of him. One side is still the good southern boy and the other of the New York lawyer. Jack is still trying to get back to the people who used to be his friends. Now the prodigal son must deal with his open sexuality in a relatively small town. He currently is running his family's laws office since it is the right thing to do.

Oddly he dislikes snow. He prefers the odd rituals of Christmas. Also it means he can cook for people around him.

Kenneisa Victoria Lorenzo

Kenny or Ken. It's short, sweet, and helluva lot easier to say.

August 5, 1989

26

Female

Pansexual

Virgin

Single

Works at a small café/bookstore.

Kenny is a big ball of surprise wrapped up in a petite body. Barely 5'4" on her toes, she has a small frame with a slightly curvy body. Her long brown hair reaches the mid of her back, and is often braided messily over her shoulder. Her eyes are her most notable feature. Not because of the color, as it's just a plain dark brown, but because of the ever present mischievous gleam glittering in them.

You'll never catch Kenny wearing any fancy clothes or dresses. So long as it's comfy, it's all that matters. More often than not, you'll find her in a large sweater, jeans, and a beanie. The fanciest accessory she owns is a dove shaped charm around her neck, which she never takes off.

On Ken's right wrist, written in cursive, is a tattoo of the word 'Forever'. She keeps it hidden most of the time.

✔Reading
✔Sleeping
✔Solitude
✔Cracking jokes
✔Sarcasm
✔Hiking
✔Feeling important
✘Large, noisy crowds
✘Being taken literally
✘Serious situations
✘Being ignored/forgotten
✘Thinking of the future
✘Being manipulated

-Reading
-Hiking
-Making bad jokes

-When nervous, Ken will play with her necklace, twirling and tugging it around her finger.

-Whenever she's deep in thought, Ken will tap out a steady beat on the nearest surface. Oddly enough, it's always the tune to 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'.

-Kenny will often address people as 'Sweetheart' or 'Lovebug', especially if they're close to her.

☠Athazagoraphobia - Fear of being abandoned.
☠Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
☠Thanatophobia - Fear of dying.

Laidback and casual, Ken takes the seriousness in life and throws it out the window. She's not afraid of making jokes about someone or something, even if it can hurt them. She loves making people laugh, and will go out of her way to get a smile. Despite her casual outlook in life, Kenny is an emotional wreck inside. She's constantly afraid of being replaced and will often keep her personal life a secret, even to friends. She can get clingy to those that manage to get close to her, and is loyal to a fault.

Redgrove, Colorado

Being the youngest and only daughter in a family with five brothers, Kenny was regarded as the 'Princess' of the house. She was spoiled rotten, rarely getting into trouble. What she wanted, she got--a trait that carried on throughout the years until high school. During the first two years of highschool, Ken rose in popularity due to her outgoing confidence and humor. She would often get in trouble, but, per usual, she would get off scotch free. Life was good...

...at first.

Things began falling apart during senior year. For the past two years, Ken had been questioning her sexuality. She found less attraction to someone's gender, and more towards their personality. She kept these feelings hidden to all, save for her best friend, and later on girlfriend, Tanya. After a while, Kenny finally came to the conclusion that she was indeed pansexual. The problem now was how to come out to her family and friends.

For years, Kenny had trusted her parents with her deepest secrets. Lying to them wasn't an option, and she was sure they'd understand. One night, during dinner, Kenny finally confronted her parents about her sexuality. She expected open arms and welcoming smiles. Anything to assure her that she was still their daughter. To her horror, Ken was met with angry words and dismissals that this was 'just a phase'. A she kept insisting that she was pan, harsh words turned into bitter insults. Her parents, once her most trusted confidants, were now telling her that she was a shame to the family.

As the year wore on, Ken became more reclusive and quiet. Rarely did the once outgoing girl speak up, opting instead to delve into the sanctuary of books. She became less open and spent most of her time with Tanya.

Things took a turn for the worst when Ken and Tanya fell into an argument. Feuled by rage, the latter snapped and called Ken clingy and annoying, and revealed that she bad been cheating on Ken for the past few months. The two broke up soon after and Ken fell into a deep depression.

Once she graduated, Ken gathered what little money she had and moved away to a small town to start a new life. She got a job at a local café and currently resides in a small apartment close by.

-Bilingual: speaks both English and Spanish.

Candycane flavored everything.

Abel Evans Ross

Abaddon the Destroyer. It's actually the name of his cat, a pure black longhair with a penchant for evil. It caught on as a nickname for Abel during some drunken tirade as to his knowledge of the fallen angel and its correlation to the evil entity of his cat. So, people tend to roar it in his presence, especially when he, they, or everyone is drunk. "Abaddon the DESTROYEEER!!!!!!" followed by a rather squinty eyed glare.

Abel's short enough, though, so it's usually the go to. That or Abe, just for the sake of shortening it further.

February 7th, 1989

26

Male

Gray-A Homoromantic

Not really

Single

Botanist. Researches in a greenhouse/lab at the Seattle University, mainly for national parks and preservation, especially concerning that of bees.

6'0" even with an athletic build that boasts active running, Abel tends to have a closed off appearance with rigid shoulders and a stiff posture. His lithe form tends to alleviate him of an imposing stature, though his presence doesn't do much to disquiet the cold he tends to afflict. A tired expression finds itself overcoming most emotions on Abel's features, outlining his large, blue eyes with dark circles and normally white teeth stained with copious cups of coffee and other caffeinated beverages (Seattle's cafe scene is such a godsend). Of course, not many people have come close to witnessing Abel's teeth in anything but a grimace, snarl, due to his need for intense frowning. Not to say he doesn't smile, it's just a rare kind of blessing. Like a black cat named Abaddon the Destroyer.

Scarves. Lots of scarves. Second only to Abel's intense tie collection, the winter is heavy with various scarves, woolen and thick and hiding everything from his neck to his lower face. Not only that but a numerous amount of coats, ranging from the heavy pea coat to warm, downy puffer jackets, to an assortment of various jacket and vest combinations. There's absolutely no one who values the warmth of clothing that Abel does and his closet tends to be filled with a collection of sweaters, heavy t-shirts, sweatpants, and layers of jackets, not to mention a lot of thermal underwear. Living in Washington, one often finds themselves with an entire closet dedicated to winter wear.

A tattoo on his collar, to his shoulder, and back that hangs right over his biceps to circle his wrists. Pitch black with long, straight lines and various religious symbols of protection from Norse to Chinese to Hindi following the lines in parallel form. The area near his neck is filled with sharp lines and corners as they encircle his neck and travel down the length of his spine.

✔ Bugs
✔ Ladybugs
✔ Maple Syrup
✔ Pine Trees (particularly the smell)
✔ Cats
✔ Knick-knacks
✔ Coffee
✔ Fireplaces
✔ Rain

✘ Being Accosted
✘ Solicitors
✘ Taxes
✘ Stupid Questions
✘ Anything too Sweet (aside from maple syrup)
✘ Rosemary Grenadine
✘ Salmon
✘ Snow

Cataloging
Binge Watching
Jogging
Reading

Repeatedly clenching his fists when nervous.
Looking furious when he's deep in thought.
Scrunching his nose.
Keeps a journal where he takes notes on practically everything.

☠ Complacency with his work and life ☠
☠ Horse riding ☠
☠ Thunderstorms ☠

Weird puts things kindly. If someone wants to come off as polite, they usually describe Abel with, "Dry humor kind of guy," or, "He doesn't really mean it." An introvert, as introverted as they come, Abel exhausts easily in social environments; interacting with strangers is taxing and something he avoids, if at all possible. Possibly why he chose science as a career. Plants don't sap the energy out of people, they're calm, stationary, if a little bit quiet. The same can be said for cats, of which Abel had to have picked the rudest, unbelievably sassiest, and destructive one out of a litter of ten.

A guy like Abel doesn't have many friends outside of his tight knit circle. People he usually meets are often friend of friends. Though, it can be said that achieving that status with Abel is a task in and of itself. That can often be accounted for his lake of tact and caustic manner of interacting with people he doesn't quite know. It's both a defense mechanism and his default mood. Prickly tends to describe the surface of Abel rather effectively. Or any other assortment of synonyms: grumpy, rude, a dick. Catch him in the mornings before his ten cups of coffee and you'll likely find that he'd been nicknamed appropriately. Of course, lonely doesn't seem to adequately portray him. Just because he dislikes people's company doesn't mean he's often without joy in the company of others. It just takes a certain kind of determination to get through to him.

In other words, Abel may have a tongue on him, may bite and spit acid at any turn of conversation, but beneath the lack of filter for crass language and general rudeness sits a deeply faceted man. Passion sets him alight, drives him with focus and perseverance. Stubbornness keeps him going past the point of adrenaline and exhaustion. And a keen eye for practically anything. Abel works in subtleties, a warm mug of hot cocoa on the counter, letting people sleep in whilst he works twice for himself and them, the fact that he doesn't use all the damn hot water. He shows he cares not in words, but in actions, ways that don't leave him vulnerable. Ways in which he can keep his heart on his sleeve without revealing where on it it lays. Abel isn't a man of grand gestures, but a man of little acts, things that tend to be overlooked in the grand scheme, but are almost as important—possibly more so in a way.

Not many people realize they're happy.

Not until they have a reason to look back, away from the pain and the absence they feel at that very moment.

Auburn, Alabama.

For all intents and purposes, Abel Ross was an only child to a single mother, Elizabeth Marie Ross.

In reality, Abel had various siblings.

And various fathers. Of who, the sole biological father remained absent for the entirety of his life.

Perhaps his mother had a complex. Abandonment issues only revealed when the light of her past shone down upon it. His mother left every single marriage of her own accord. Divorces initiated from her and her alone. She blindsided various men, and a few women, in her moments of duress. She'd even admitted to a marriage counselor that she had self destructive habits.

Before she slept with the marriage counselor in question.

A beginning such as this would expect Abel to come out with resentment, possibly a mother who revealed a terminal illness and pleaded forgiveness. Fortunately, Abel did none such thing; he didn't resent his mother and had nothing to forgive her for. In fact, Abel's relative aversion to strangers reinforced their relationship. Though he met most of her excursions, as he called them, with exasperation, he knew his mother's plight and supported whatever decision she made. After all, people found love in various ways. For Elizabeth her love burned bright, hot, and frequently. For Abel, it simmered and either fizzled out or grew in scope and measure. She had no other child aside from him, for reasons she refused to indulge in, and Abel preferred it that way.

Being a solitary child who moved often from spot to spot across the country—continent, really, since Elizabeth frequented Canada—Abel hadn't a reason to make friends, as they didn't often last. Nor did many people find Abel amicable enough to befriend. It took awhile for Abel to grow out of loneliness, or to even identify and understand it, until he'd hit a spot in his teenage life where Elizabeth staid for longer than she intended. They'd settled down for a few years and thus allowed Abel to flourish in his academics, as well as his social life. To his rather dismal regret, quite a bit of people took to his solemn bitterness like fly to honey. They often quoted his utter misanthropic hatred of the world around him as edgy and goth, of which was a total and utter lie. Abel didn't hate the world, didn't hate people, just preferred privacy and solitude over interaction, yet he refused to correct them. Pride perhaps stopped that and maybe a bit of stubbornness. Mostly it was inevitability.

What Abel lacked was perhaps tragedy. He had an odd family situation, with a mother who avoided commitment as if it burned her, and a father still absent (his mother often described him as an inbred louse. "Of course, he's not a product of incest, honey. It's just a colloquialism."). Abel's life couldn't be described as easy, yet it wasn't fret with hardships. Being intelligent, studious, and solitude awarded him an easy education and an even easier idea for a career. Plants and bugs perhaps spoke to him quite a bit more than people did, especially since constant upheaval of home and hearth made it easier to study and tell the difference between species of trees and flowers and insects. The move to Seattle where the rain made things lush and vibrant despite the overhang of grey seemed a simple choice. Keeping in contact with life long friends a little harder, though the only thing expected of him was a simple trip to North Carolina come winter. Luckily, his mother seemed to have hold up near the ski resort with a group of non-committal, vegan nudists (maybe polyamory would do his mother some good? Hopefully). He'd questioned it, but she waved him off with her brazen lack of any attire.

Of course, a niggling in the back of his mind had urged him to further research his biological father. Maybe hope seems too optimistic for a word to describe Abel's feelings. Dreadful? Inevitable? As long as he doesn't find out he's a cannibal holed up in the boondocks of Alabama. What could be worse?

Abel knows how to tango and foxtrot, as well as tap dance. He refuses to show anyone, however.
Can name various species of insect and flowers off the top of his head.
Loves the language of flowers and their subtleties.
(My favorite thing about Christmas, and subsequently Abel's favorite thing, because I can, is the Christmas music. But things like Frank Sinatra singing I'll be Home For Christmas, or I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Billie Holiday.)

Tatiana Lobov Korvo

Solovey – Meaning Nightingale, a nickname given to her as a child by a local poet that said she was his ultimate inspiration.

October 31, 1989

26

Female

Bi-Sexual

Depends on the day.

Single

Tattoo Artist

Tatiana stands at around 5’4” in height and is beyond thin, seemingly undernourished in her appearance at times even though she is very athletic and strong for her size. Her pale skin seems to bring out the lines of bones and the brightness of her emerald eyes. She has naturally brown hair but she keeps it either bleached blonde or dyed vibrant red. The cut of her hair varies, one year it may be down her back, the next she will show up with it all cut off in a pixie cut. One never knows. Currently it is just passed her shoulders, layered and crimson in color.

Tatiana tends to wear an odd cross of 50’s rocker and bohemian. Worn jeans, spike heeled boots, corsets one minute; the next she will be in a flowing skirt you would think a flower child of the 70’s would wear with far too many layers of tank tops and t-shirts over it. Whatever strikes her fancy at the moment. With the colder weather she will usually be seen loose sweaters with wide open neck lines, soft leggings and the ugliest uggs she can get ahold of, as well as a fur lined trapper hat.

For a tattoo artist one may think she is covered head to toe in ink but she only has one piece to date but it is a large piece that took years to have completed. Spanning the width of her shoulders is a single nightingale that is flying over a decaying city; the tattoo itself looks like it would be seen on an ink blot test.

✔Nightingales
✔Coffee
✔Symphonic Metal
✔Traveling
✔B-Rated Movies
✔Cheesy Romance Novels
✔Rorschach Inspired Art
✔Tattoos
✔Ballet
✔Smoking
✘Drunks
✘Running Into Ex’s
✘Judgmental People
✘Losing Inspiration
✘Being Interrupted
✘Know-It-Alls
✘Vodka

Tatiana spends much of her free time walking, drawing or reading. Much of the time during her travels she will wander off without a word with a sketch pad or book in hand and just start wandering aimlessly until she finds a place that suits how she feels. There she will get comfortable and start drawing or reading for hours on end. Much of the time you can find her perched in the oddest of places to get a better vantage point of her surroundings. (Tops of mausoleums, in trees, the rafters of decaying buildings, and so forth for example.)

*Smokes – She doesn’t care if some people find it disgusting or what it does to her health. If a debate is started about the negative effects she will simply blow smoke in the persons face and wander of. She isn’t rude about it though as long as someone isn’t rude to her. A simple “could you please put that out while I’m around,” will usually result in a snuffed out butt on the bottom of her shoe.

*Ballet – There isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t practice, she finds it invigorating and is known to just go straight to toe point if the mood strikes, even if she is just in line waiting to pay for a coffee at the local café.

*Day Dreaming – If Tatiana gets bored, or distracted, or if the wind blows, she will just suddenly drift off in mid action and start day dreaming of any number of things.

☠Wolves* Being sent back to Russia * Being Forgotten

Tatiana can be a very quiet individual much of the time and can come off as shy to those that don’t know her but when push comes to shove she is usually the first to snap on someone and give a very boisterous opinion that can tend to create a scene. This side of her usually comes out when she sees someone she cares about being put down or judged.

She is very guarded of her heart and her past, not wanting to open up about either of them unless she fully trusts someone, which is a rarity in and of itself. Much of the time she will feign not understanding the English language, even though she has mastered the language, just to avoid having to deal with people if she feels like it.

Kirov, Kirov Oblast, USSR (Russia)

Tatiana was born in Russian during the tail end of U.S.S.R. and was forced from Kirov to many other places in Eastern Europe throughout childhood as a refugee. During this time of hardship she began drawing as a piece of paper and left over burned wood was one of the few things she could carry around. This continued for years and put her through the hardest years of her life, ones she does not speak of but when mentioned one can clearly see there is pain behind her vibrant eyes.

Once the fall of the Soviet Union settled down she was able to return with her family back to the city of her birth. There she stayed, living in peace, studying ballet and going to school until her sixteenth year. An American Ballet Company offered her a chance to move to the U.S.A. to study. She jumped at the chance and was eager to start a new life in a new world.

She spent her junior and senior year of high school as an exchange student and everything was going wonderful until during a performance a wet spot on the stage caused her to fall and she ended up breaking a rib. The time it took for her to recover ended any chances of becoming a prima and she was nearly shipped back off to Russia. That was until one of the Ballet Sponsors, an Art professor in New York, saw her sketches and offered to help her continue her studies – this time as an artist instead of a dancer.

Needing money to pay for the opportunity she took a job as a receptionist at a local tattoo parlor. She would spend her down time reading trashy romance novels and sketching. The owner noticed her talent and made her an apprentice in the shop. She picked up the trade quickly and dropped out of university, trading her student Visa for a work one. Since then she has developed her talent and toured the world at different conventions to show case her work.

The only thing she enjoys about Christmas is meeting up each year with old friends. The season itself she hates and has been called the Grinch on numerous occasions; to which she will usually respond – “Hey, maybe my heart will grow three sizes today.”

Marion Wyatt Rothenberg
_{(Yeah, yeah, his first name’s Marion, laugh it up.)}

It’s not really a nickname, but one thing’s for certain; he very much prefers to go by Wyatt, or like, any sort of derivative of it. Just please, please - do him a solid and never call him Marion. He has no idea what possessed his parents to name him that, and he dies a little bit inside every time he hears it.

May 28th, 1989

26

Male

Grey-romantic Bisexual

Yes

Single

Most of the time, Wyatt hops from job to job, doing temp work at various factories and furniture places, or anywhere at all, really. But as of the moment, he’s managed to snag a semi-stable position as a record store clerk downtown.
_{(He likes to think it’s just a little something to supplement his income until his career finally evolves from ‘starving artist’ to ‘financially sufficient artist’.)}

Wyatt stands at a perfectly respectable 6’1”, though with his tendency to slouch, he usually appears a little shorter than he actually is. It’s mostly out of laziness, but his posture is terrible; shoulders rolled forward, hands stuck in his pockets. Pretty much the only time he grows to full height is when he feels threatened, and has been known to be truly terrifying when he does so. Fortunately, however, this side of him is not something his friends see very often - though the same can’t be said for everyone else.

Wyatt’s pretty built, but not overly so. He’d almost have the physique of a swimmer, if he actually put some effort into working out. Really, the only exercise he gets is from his job, though just from looking at him, the merits of a career in manual labour are undeniable.

Most of the time, Wyatt can be seen with a cigarette between his lips, features set in an easy grin. His steel grey eyes always seeming to glitter with something akin to amusement - about what? Even he isn’t sure, and while he used to be a tad insecure about a slightly crooked front tooth, he’s long since gotten past it. He likes to keep his hair cropped close to his head, with clean shaven being his go-to facial decor, but some days, he gets lazy and gives his scruff free rein.

“Accidental Hipster” is probably the best way to describe Wyatt. He doesn’t put much effort into keeping up appearances, but somehow, he has a knack for turning his déshabillé to his advantage. When it inevitably gets chilly, he resorts to heavy flannels and/or ugly Christmas sweaters. Paired together with his positively ancient jeans and work boots, the whole effect almost seems to scream “lumberjack”. On warmer days, he basically dresses exactly the same - except instead of hideous, moth-eaten, thrift store sweaters, it’s t-shirts and tank tops.

Wyatt seems to wear a lot of jewelry for a guy, though it’s mostly leather and beaded bracelets, steel rings on his fingers, and again, he’s an expert at making them appear noncommittal. Scarves, on the other hand, they’re just not his thing. The weather in Jersey never seems to get cold enough for them, anyway, so the last thing he needs is to go out and buy a scarf he’s never gonna use. As far as he’s concerned, the layers of the shirts and sweaters and jackets he wears are enough to ward off the cold. Oh, and beanies. Beanies are great for that, too.

Wyatt doesn’t have any piercings or tattoos, though he used to have his ears pierced. He does, however, have a sizeable scar (already healed) of about two to three inches under his right eye, stretching from the top of his ear, and another, smaller one vertically through the eyebrow. They were from a fight he’d gotten into a couple years back, where he ended up with the pointy end of a broken bottle to the face. There are, of course, a maze of tiny battle scars peppering his knuckles and the rest of his skin from past altercations.

✔Horchata
✔Cigarettes
✔Dogs
✔Oil paints
✔Rain
✔Bad puns
✔Joy Division

✘Traffic
✘Job interviews
✘Getting up early
✘Lattés
✘Dubstep
✘Lizards
✘Two-facedness

☠Getting stuck doing the same, shitty jobs for the rest of his life.
☠Losing his parents.
☠Letting his anger get the better of him.

To say that Wyatt doesn’t beat around the bush is a huge understatement. He says what he thinks and will rarely sugarcoat his answers to win people over. He’s never uncomfortable; in fact, his boldness often verges on brash and crosses into downright crude, thanks to his lack of a filter. If he likes something, he'll let you know it, and if he doesn't, well, he's never been shy about voicing his opinion in that matter either. Try as he might, Wyatt's never really had the best poker face in the world, and it tends to give him away, more often than not.

While he isn’t purposely malicious, he does have an explosive temper when crossed, and he’s the kind of person who would rather start throwing punches than hash things out. With that taken into consideration, it’s very easy to peg him for a textbook case of Small Dog Syndrome, despite his not at all diminutive stature. It’s more a matter of principle, and if there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s being talked down to. Of course, this isn’t to say he’s all bad, just that he’s hard to like. He does have a few soft spots here and there, even if they aren’t exactly the easiest things to find.

Yet for all his flaws, he’s never met a boundary he wouldn’t cross, and he’ll go to the absolute ends of the Earth for you if he thinks you’re worth it. Wyatt is, by nature, extremely impulsive, both in the things he does and says. As far as he’s concerned, life’s too short to just sit around and let shit happen. He often states that no one should take life too seriously because in the end, everyone ends up in the same place - even if he doesn’t believe what he’s preaching. At the very core of his personality, Wyatt is kind of a bleeding heart, and he often puts the needs of others above his own.

Trenton, New Jersey

Born in the Garden State of New Jersey, Wyatt began life in a small, three-bedroom home with his parents, brothers and sisters. The oldest of five children, he was always the most aware of how tight money was, how hard their parents worked trying to make ends meet, and how their every waking moment was spent thinking about how they were going to pay rent the very next week. That, of course, left the young Wyatt to take care of his siblings while Mr. and Mrs. Rothenberg were away, and he was a good sport about it, too - never fussing, never complaining - at least up until middle school, anyway.

In school, he struggled, both academically and socially, though if he had to be honest, he saw that shit coming from a mile away. As his grades slipped, his frustration grew, and soon, he began to take his anger out on the people around him. There were too many things about him that could be picked on for his liking, and so he grew louder, more boisterous and was forever throwing the first punch in a fight. You had to be living under a rock to not know his name, in fact. And Wyatt loved every second of it, no matter how many times he was sent to the principal’s office, knuckles bruised and bleeding.

Unsurprisingly, everyone was divided when it came to Wyatt - you either loved or hated him, and oddly enough, he was okay with that. It put him on the map and gave him the attention he craved; the attention he lacked. Back home, his father would yell, and his mother would cry, wondering just what happened to their good, little boy. It was a good thing the principal claimed he had so much potential, if only he “channeled his energy appropriately” - whatever that meant.

This continued all the way until sophomore year of high school, but before he could go any further down this path, the then fifteen year-old Wyatt finally found what this so-called conduit was when one day, his art teacher sat him down for an after-school talk.

It was a sobering message, coming from the unlikeliest of places, and it caught him off guard. While he never did fare well in structured classroom settings, Wyatt had taken to art class like a duck to water, even if he didn’t quite realise it.

Slowly but surely, he opened up to Mrs. Wilkes - a little reluctantly, at first - though every one of these talks took away a tiny bit of rage with them, even if it sounded like the cheesiest goddamned thing ever. The process was gradual, almost painfully slow at times, but while there weren’t any soap opera-esque miracles, just having someone to confide in was enough for him to get his shit together.

...Well, kind of together, at least.

With some effort, he managed to get through high school, and all things considered, it was actually an okay experience. He made some friends, passed his classes, even managing to squeeze in some time to practice his art. Of course, this was only possible as his siblings got older, and by graduation, he’d gotten himself a decent GPA, and a partial art scholarship.

It was inevitable, really, but after a semester, Wyatt had to drop out due to outstanding tuition fees. Even with a scholarship, financial aid, and a part-time job, his parents just weren’t making enough money to put him through college, and he set about finding a more stable career.

Wyatt’s interest in art was pushed to the back of his mind as he settled into a routine of menial, mind-numbing work, though he never lets himself forget about it completely. It’s always nagging at him, a ceaseless skittering under his skin, and whenever he finds the time to spare, there’s nothing he’d rather do than pick up a brush, and watch vibrant hues splash across canvas.