[hider=Erica][center][h3]ERICA   MARGRET   DOUGLAS[/h3][/center][hr]
[center][img]https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/882006692364510912/4085B306F5C9BE31D700CF3F8A3C32DD09017444/[/img][/center]
[sup][center] ✦ August 13 1969 (16) ✦ Female ✦ Straight ✦ Mixed Race ✦[/center][/sup]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[indent] There are parts of Erica's appearance that she long since gave up trying to control: Her hair, thick and curly is at best kept back in a scrunchy with a number of strays escaping. Typically she keeps it styled somewhat short to keep it manageable with minimal maintenance. Her body grew taller as she aged, but never grew out of the lankiness of youth; her shapeless frame often covered with boyish clothing has lead to quite a few awkward introductions. With all the normal insecurities of a teenage girl, she does put in some effort into making herself more feminine.  She often wears makeup, even if it's little more than dark shadow and a touch of blush. 

Her wardrobe is mainly jeans; often too large and kept in place by a belt and work-shirts in various states of disrepair.  While she's tried her hand at mending clothes there aren't very many pieces of clothing she owns that don't have stains, tears, or missing buttons. The money she doesn't spend on clothing goes the footwear; typically Erica can be found sporting a pair of sturdy, well-made, black leather work-boots, and while perhaps well-worn remain in decent condition.[/indent]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[indent]Erica isn't an easily person for most people to get a long with at first.  Really all she wants in honestly and directness, but her unfriendly deminor complete with sarcasm and insults make an initial hurtle to get past.  She doesn't participate in highschool gossip, but doesn't shy away from confrontation; she'd just sooner get physical than start a false rumor.  To her friends she is honest, loyal, and a good time to have around if only for her access to more controlled substances like alcohol and cigarettes through her brothers.

Her reputation in school is a bit of a misfit that sticks with the loners. As a junior she's been around long enough that most bullying used on her has worn thin and outside of occasionally getting called out for misbehavior on the PA she is largely invisible to most in the school; including the staff.  She and her friends may occasionally wreak havoc; stuffing fetal pigs in a teachers desk, stealing all the school clocks the first day of exams, or even the rare brawl. But she isn't all that unique from hundreds of other Mather's Memorial graduates and is seemingly headed down the same path; a low paying job similar to the rest of her family, no college education and no chance at ever getting out of the state. This realization turned into Erica's greatest fear over the summer and she feels ready to trade in some of her complacency for ambition but worries it's too late.  [/indent]
[b]HYPER HUMAN ABILITIES[/b]
[indent] Tribokinesis: Erica can manipulate the static and kinetic friction of her surroundings. This allows her to remain immovable on any surface, or incredibly fast on others. This ability is limited only to surface's or systems Erica is able to touch, and the affected area is limited but the change is instantaneous whether adding or reducing friction.

Eventually her power may lead to more benefits, such as using kinetic force to create enough energy to generate heat or even small fires. Initially her powers however are more useful for traversal;  she can climb any surface with ease 'suctioning' herself to walls or ceilings as she pleases, and escape most any attempt to hold her in place. She is completely unable to alter more than one surface at a time, and must be in constant contact for the duration of the change, which will stop allowing forces to return to their natural state the instant her contact is broken.
[/indent]
[b]BACKSTORY[/b]
[indent]Erica's family has been living in Crestwood Hollow for generations. She knows the town's layout as well as anything, and has explored nearly every inch of it since childhood. The Douglas' family tenure with the town however, doesn't translate into wealth or even respect.  Aura lives with her father and three elder brothers; Martin, Lewis, and Noah on the northern edge of the city in a small single story house only 15 minutes drive from the lumber yard where both her father and eldest brother work.  The remaining two brothers Lewis and Noah work closer to the center of town as mechanics as 'Rolling Right Auto Repair'.  The youngest in her family and only one remaining in high school Erica's life is largely unregulated and, typically, she is left up to her own devices. 

Erica's mother, well known for being clumsy and slightly air-headed, was placed into a coma resulting from a car accident two years after Erica's birth. The Douglas family held out hope for their matriarch before succumbing to medical bills and pulling the plug a short year and a half later.  What was a traumatic experience for most of her family, is barely a memory to Erica, who remembers her mother more as a figure in old stories than a real person.  Erica's life, while markedly absent of female influence, was not missing for it.  Her hand-me-down boys clothes and devil-may-care attitude that came with being the youngest in a family of men pointedly left her labeled a 'tom-boy' before even middles school. From there onward she was largely invisible to those outside her friend group.

Save for a few minor altercations in freshman year wherein typical girl teasing and backstabbing lead to a physical retribution on Erica's part, there have been few dramatics in her highschool career.  There may have been whispers and she was aware that many of the girls laughed at her clothes and hair; but so long as no one said it to her face, Erica never concerned herself. While her grades were well above whatever her brother's had achieved she never distinguished herself much as a student, and didn't participate in extra-curricular activities other that 'shop'; a mechanics program that taught basic repair skills and one of the few places Erica felt any sense of belonging.

After Vanessa's disappearance, Erica came to see her home for what it really was; a backwater town where people like those in her family fell into and remain trapped in. She intends to use this year to make a real effort, namely in school so that she can have a real chance at turning out better than her brothers.  At the behest of a desperate English teacher, Erica agreed to join the school's disappointing newspaper club as a photographer for extra-credit.

Outside of school Erica is typically helping out at Rolling Right Auto Repair in the center of town for cash or hanging around the eastern piers, usually with a cigarette in hand.[/indent]
[b]OTHER SKILLS[/b]
[indent][list][*]Cars (Mechanics and Driving): For her 15th birthday, Erica was gifted a wreck of a 60's Plymouth Savoy.  Which with the help of her family she was able to restore to some-what working condition and now uses to get around the Hollow.  
[*]Fighting: While hardly a martial artist, Erica has been in her fair share of fights on the North-side of Crestwood and from a few girls who couldn't keep their mouth shut around her. She isn't above getting dirty if she feels someone deserves it.[/list][/indent]
[b]WEAKNESSES[/b]
[indent][list][*]Poor: Erica's family has never had much in the way of money, and her late mother's medical bills still take a toll. Too tall for her mother's clothes, Erica typically wares those which once belonged to her brothers.  It isn't just that the Douglas' have money troubles, but the whole town knows it, and most think less of them for it.
[*]Wayward Teen: After get suspended two weeks into freshman year, Erica has developed a less than favourable reputation among the adults of Crestwood. Most are wary of her around their private businesses, while some simply won't allow her.[/list][/indent]
[b]RELATIONSHIP TO VANESSA[/b]
[indent]They were biology lab partners Sophomore year. Their relationship was strained at best. Vanessa had never liked Erica and made no attempt on being anything more than partners.  The went to class together, split the report work in half, then complained about each-other to their respective friend groups. Dislike didn't dull the shock of Vanessa's death for Erica though. Instead it made her rethink her own life over the summer, and in an effort to come to terms with her new priorities, she opted to join the counseling offered to those affected by Vanessa's death.  [/indent][hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVD1HRV8NqA][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/f9f7aef15f73c5191c53c0e2f23ade23/tumblr_op01ihGyCq1vf9b9ao3_500.gifv[/img][/url][/center]
[/hider]