Jenna Baxter

23

Female

For someone that is as short as 5’2", Jenna has an average build for someone her size. She is most often found in jeans and simple shirt or a blouse with a matching pair of shoes or boots.

Born and raised in central Florida, Jenna lived an average, upper middle class life with both her parents and a younger brother. Upon graduating from high school with decent grades, Jenna decided to move north to New York to experience life in the big city while in college, something she has been planning ever since she was young. After spending two years living in a dorm and working at a coffee shop, Jenna moved out into a small apartment a few miles away from the school and has been living there since. Enjoying life in New York, Jenna has decided to stay in New York and although she hasn’t found a job a full-time teacher with her degree, she has been working as a substitute teacher for the last year with a promising chance of being a teacher next year after a recent interview.

A small smile crept on Jenna’s lips as she looked through the storefront window at the litter of puppies being displayed. Ever since she moved to New York, having a dog was one things she missed besides her close relationship with her parents and brother. However, the apartment she was living in had many strict rules and having a dog was one of those rules. She often debated about moving out and living in a place which was more dog friendly, however she knew that it would be unwise until she had a steady teaching job. As she normally was, Jenna was optimistic and had a good feeling that the interview she was in yesterday went well and that she would soon be on her way to fulfilling her goals.

With a small sigh, Jenna started to head down the street knowing that she couldn’t waste too much time today. A small group of friends were meeting at her house in a few hours for dinner and she still hasn’t been to the store to buy the items necessary for dinner. “Crap!” Jenna exclaimed aloud as she reached in her pocket as she realized that she forgot her shopping list at home. As she mentally chastised herself for being so careless yet again, Jenna pulled her phone out to check the time. Frustration overwhelmed her as she shoved her phone back in her pocket as she realized that she wouldn’t have enough time to run back home to get the list. Hoping that her memory is good enough to remember all that she needs, Jenna headed into the store and quickly grabbed the materials for the tacos her and her friends were going to eat before making her way to the checkout line, the worst part of shopping in her opinion. Waiting impatiently as the checkout line seemed to move at a snail speed, Jenna was glad when she was finally able to leave the store.

“Procrastinating again?” A familiar voice said a joking mock tone as Jenna reached the street her apartment was on.

“Can it Emma or I won’t procrastinate canning you.” Jenna said with a slight smirk as she handed a few of her grocery bags to her friend. “You’re a bit early aren’t you?” Unlocking her apartment door, Jenna opened the door for Emma.

“Of course. I’m looking forward to eating on time this time around so I came to help you out.” Emma jested as she placed the bags of groceries on Jenna’s table. “I can start to cook the meat if you want to prepare the other stuff.”

“You have to be kidding me!” Jenna exclaimed as dropped her groceries onto the table and quickly rummaged through the bags.

“Forgot something?” Emma asked as she watched Jenna with folded arms.

“Yeah, I’m thinking we’re going to have vegetarian tacos tonight. I forgot the meat.”

John Chu

29

Male

John was born in a poor part of Scotland. He grew up in a council estate which his mother could barely pay the rent to. His father had died while fighting in the war and so, John's uncle acted as a sort of substitute father figure for him. Almost every day after school John would go to his uncle's store and help out. His father would often try to pay him around £5 to which his mother said was way too much. John didn't mind his 'pay' being deducted to 70p that was enough to get the bus home from school every day anyway. As he grew older his pay of course rose though. His life was pretty normal for someone living where he did. He was more of a good egg though, he didn't get in much trouble or, at least, as much trouble as his friends. He returned to his uncle's shop regularly much to the displeasure of his mother who thought he should spend more time studying. He eventually angered someone at school so badly that somehow they followed him back to his uncle's shop, and later on in the night vandalized and stole from it. Instead of retaliating violently, John decided to make a peaceful protest sort of deal. His father constantly reassured him that their insurance would cover the damages and John's constant ignorance of the bullies just made them madder. Much to his happiness. His uncle and his mother later raised and saved enough money to send John to university.

John studied law at university, and later became an officer for Police Scotland. He stayed in the Scottish Police force for two years before saving enough money to move to the US. He moved to New York and joined the police force there. He eventually gained enough experience over the years to become a detective. This was fairly recent and he's fairly new to the job but all in all he's proud of his position.

John stared blankly at his boss from behind the massive, almost novelty desk that his boss sat behind. His boss had practically called everyone into his office the day he had got the desk just so he could basically show everyone how much more he earned than him. His boss was spraffing on about a homocide case he wanted John to handle the next day. While homocide cases were the most interesting and the most glamorized on television and video games, they were also sickening and tedious at times. John had practically wished for a drug raid a few times, anything to get away from staring at dead bodies all day. He nodded to his boss after he had stopped digressing from the actual homocide case and actually let John speak, John said nothing but a solitary
"Thanks" before sighing, getting up from the chair and leaving the room. He moved to his desk after leaving the room and picked up his hoodie. He pulled it onto himself and rolled up the sleeves before leaving the police headquarters.

He pulled out his phone and began to browse the various apps and games he had installed on it before he found the one he was looking for. 'Flippy Fish' it was called, it had been pulled off the market the day before and was highly addicting. John was just 'lucky' that he had downloaded it just before it had gone off. He walked to his bus stop while repeatedly tapping the screen to make sure the fish did not fall into the chasm below. He almost bumped into a few people along the way, but caught himself and dodged before he actually walked into them. Eventually he had reached his stop a few minutes early and kept tapping away at the screen until a small sound beeped from his phone to notify the fact that he had received an email. He exited the application and opened his email to find spam. Lots and lots of spam. The newest one from his recently deceased Nigerian uncle who just needed his bank details to give him his inheritance and totally not hack his bank account. He rolled his eyes before exiting his email. He looked up to see the bus he was waiting for start to pull away.

"Crap" he exclaimed before sprinting after the bus. He began to hit the side of the bus with his palm in an effort to slow or stop the bus. Eventually the near-deaf driver turned to see John running alongside with his police badge flying up and down on his chest as he ran. He frantically stopped as soon as it was safe and let John on the bus. John dropped his bus fare into the small till-like slot before moving up the bus. He sat near the middle of the bus, breathing heavily for a second or two before his lungs returned to normal. He stuck an earbud into his ear and then into his phone before selecting the melodic sounds of the Smiths (no pun intended) and sitting quietly while listening.