Cinnamon Horowitz

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Name: Cinnamon Stefan Horowitz
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: Southwest Red Rock High School
Hobbies and Interests: Playing violin, soccer, movies, film history, chess

Appearance: Cinnamon is of average height and has a lean figure, standing at 5’10” and weighing 149 pounds. He is fit, but most of his muscle development is in his legs, leaving him average everywhere else. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and has a fair skin tone marked by some freckling on his face, neck, shoulders, and arms. He has light brown eyes, and thick, wavy auburn hair that falls just past his shoulders. His eyebrows are slightly darker than his hair, and a small scar cuts through his right brow, the result of an injury during a soccer game a few years back. He has an oval-shaped face with an aquiline nose and full lips, and there is a slight but noticeable gap between his two front teeth when he smiles.

Cinnamon dresses with a tendency towards preppy styles, though his outfits are never especially formal or elaborate unless a special occasion calls for it. He typically favors jeans or slacks, button-down shirts, and sweaters, and he trends towards lighter colors in his wardrobe. He has no piercings, but he does like to accessorize with necklaces and bracelets and to paint his nails. He usually straightens his hair and pulls it back into a ponytail, leaving a few pieces loose in the front to frame his face.

On the day of the abduction, Cinnamon was wearing slim-fit blue jeans with a light-wash floral pattern, a pale green button-down shirt, and a slightly oversized cream button-down cardigan, left unbuttoned. He also had on a silver chain necklace with a heart-shaped pendant, a set of two jade and onyx bead bracelets on his left wrist, and brown and white lace-up loafer shoes. His nails were painted a subtly glittery shade of dark purple, though the nail polish had started to chip a bit in the days since it was applied.

Biography: Cinnamon was born on August 18, 2006 to Anneliese and Liam Horowitz in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was their second child, the result of a surprise pregnancy six years after his older sister, Carmel. When the couple found out that Anneliese was pregnant again, Liam jokingly nicknamed the unborn baby Cinnamon; he’d recently come across the name in a TV show and meant it as a lighthearted compliment to Carmel, referencing how her name was sometimes mistaken by strangers as “caramel”. Though it started as a joke, Liam and Anneliese got attached to the name, and they officially named their son Cinnamon when he was born.

Liam and Anneliese both worked in hospitality on Las Vegas’s famous strip, Liam as a hotel manager and Anneliese as a chef in a high-end restaurant. They both juggled demanding work schedules and social obligations on top of family life. They believed in the value of a strong work ethic, and they held both of their children to the same high standards to which they held themselves. Liam and Anneliese were supportive and allowed their children flexibility in the activities they chose to pursue, but they were expected to excel in both school and extracurriculars. They maintained a well-organized schedule in their daily lives, taking meals together at regular times when possible, and making sure that Carmel and Cinnamon regularly performed chores and didn’t have too much idle time in front of the TV or computer.

One of his earliest real hobbies was violin; he was enrolled in lessons at age five, and he took to the instrument immediately. Save for occasional bouts over the years where he got frustrated with his progress and felt unmotivated to play, Cinnamon has practiced violin multiple times a week from when he first started lessons to the present, often playing recreationally even when he didn’t have a recital to practice for. In addition to classical pieces, he enjoys learning to play pop melodies that have been translated into violin scores.

Cinnamon was also signed up for soccer at a young age, joining the same youth club that his older sister had played in when he was seven. Soccer was a less enduring hobby than violin, with Cinnamon losing interest for a few years near the end of elementary school but picking it up again when he was able to play for his school’s team in middle and then high school. He was never much more than an average player, with his coaches noting his habit of shying away from more physically aggressive plays during games, which made it easy for opposing players to block him. He played better on defense, though larger or especially determined opponents could still get past him without too much difficulty.

While Cinnamon and Carmel weren’t allowed much unsupervised use of the TV or family computer, Liam was a huge film buff and often gathered the family to watch a movie together about once a week, usually a new release that interested him. Sometimes, this included the entire family, but sometimes it was only him and the kids, due to Anneliese’s occasionally changing work hours. Carmel’s interest in the movies varied, but Cinnamon picked up his father’s enthusiasm for film as a whole, and the ritual eventually shifted to primarily being a weekly event between father and son.

Cinnamon adjusted well to school, already used to having a regular schedule. He enjoyed socializing with other children but was not particularly extroverted; rather, his laid-back personality meant that it was easy for him to get along with anyone who approached him, and he was generally willing to play along with whatever games or activities that his classmates came up with. The only issues that cropped up were small bouts of teasing regarding Cinnamon’s unusual name, and the fact that his easygoing nature meant that kids with more forceful personalities would sometimes push him around, as he usually wouldn’t resist or get teachers involved, though these never resulted in any serious incidents.

During elementary school, Cinnamon’s teachers recommended that he be enrolled in his school’s gifted program, citing his aptitude with the course material at his class level and considering that more challenging material would keep him engaged, as well as the fact that his sister Carmel had done the same before him. His parents were happy to give their approval for this, and Cinnamon began taking more advanced courses as he moved into middle school. He favored the sciences, especially biology and chemistry, and his teachers and parents both encouraged him to focus on these subjects when he reached the point in his education where students began taking diverging courses.

Life progressed smoothly for Cinnamon until the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting societal shutdown in 2020. Both his parents’ jobs were impacted by the lockdown, with Anneliese being furloughed for most of the year. Liam kept his job, though business was well below average that year and he was forced to take part in laying off some of his lower-ranking staff, which left him angry and depressed, feeling that he was being made responsible for hurting the livelihoods of people who trusted him. Carmel, who had been living away at college for the past year, was also forced to return home, and she was bothered by the abrupt loss of her newfound freedom as a college student. The atmosphere in the household was overall very tense and often unpleasant, with conflict breaking out over small things. Cinnamon was able to keep up with his schoolwork remotely without too much trouble, but he became especially withdrawn while his family was forced to shelter together, staying put up in his room most of the time as he saw this as the best way to avoid confrontations.

Cinnamon’s interest in films continued to develop over this time, as he had more time than ever before to watch things on the internet without restrictions imposed by his parents. He and his dad didn’t always end up watching their weekly movie together during this time, as private time away from each other was a rarer commodity; instead, Cinnamon watched more films on his own that he wouldn’t have normally watched with his family, including things with more violent or sexual content. The novelty of watching things that might normally be forbidden quickly wore off, and Cinnamon instead began exploring older and foreign movies in varying genres. He developed a preference for drama and prestige films, especially those that explored significant historical events, intricate crimes, or deep interpersonal relationships.

He also got more interested in the history of movies at this time, after watching the Godfather trilogy and learning about that series’s turbulent production and award runs. He found himself fascinated by the behind-the-scenes happenings of films, which often seemed to be as dramatic as the plots of movies themselves, and spent time reading and watching documentaries on different films with notable events during their production cycles. This also sparked an interest in the Oscars and other film awards for Cinnamon; he liked to look back on what got nominated and why it was or wasn’t chosen for an award. In the past few years, Cinnamon has made it a personal project to watch as many Oscar-nominated films as possible each year, debating with his family and friends on whether a particular work was deserving or not and if he agreed on why something was or wasn’t recognized.

As an additional way to keep himself busy during lockdown, Cinnamon picked up playing chess online, as several of his friends had also done. He found that he enjoyed learning various chess strategies and practicing to master them, as well as watching videos and streams of professional players to learn from how they played. Playing chess online and in person was something that Cinnamon kept up with after the end of lockdown, serving as a low-pressure way to spend time with friends. He finds it calming to play on his own against computer opponents as well, considering it a sort of meditative mental exercise.

The stress of the pandemic left Cinnamon with lingering feelings of stress and melancholy, even after he was able to return to school and his mother found another position as chef at a different restaurant. Upon returning to school in person partway through his freshman year, he threw himself into schoolwork and his extracurriculars with extra intensity, feeling that he would be able to get back to normal faster if he gave more effort. He made sure to enroll in more advanced courses, as had been his norm in middle school, and took on additional coursework where it was offered for extra credit. He also began practicing violin even more often, as it had previously been one of the things that kept his spirits up during lockdown, joined the boys’ soccer team, and took up a position as a peer tutor when one of his teachers recommended it.

Early in high school, Cinnamon began to come around to the idea that he was gay. Outside of his soccer teammates, most of his friends were girls, but he did not feel any attraction to his female friends and had gently rejected a couple of them in the past when approached with romantic intentions. On the other hand, he did notice changing feelings towards other boys as he matured, and he had some flirtatious exchanges with male classmates, though he was unsure how serious such interactions were. He confessed his belief that he was gay to his sister first, when Carmel was visiting home on a holiday break from school; with her encouragement and support, he then came out to their parents and eventually his friends. Most people he spoke to about it were lukewarm to positive, including his parents, though some commented that they had already believed Cinnamon was gay, citing his friends, fashion sense, and even his name. Cinnamon was very irritated by this, but he tried to brush it off as harmless joking. While Liam and Anneliese reacted relatively well, they rarely inquired about Cinnamon’s love life, and have made occasional well-intentioned but thoughtless comments that he might still find the right girl someday. Cinnamon finds this attitude hurtful, but he is uncomfortable confronting his parents about it, and as usual always tries to ignore it.

As he progressed through high school, Cinnamon’s intense workload weighed on him more and more. He rarely took time off from his busy schedule, even as he gradually found it harder to keep up with the same amount of effort as before. While his course load has increased over the years, he didn’t find the material particularly difficult and was frustrated that there didn’t seem to be a reason for his struggling and lack of motivation. By senior year, Cinnamon had to acknowledge that he felt burnt out and unenthusiastic about school and most of his extracurriculars. He was able to drop his tutoring position, citing a need to focus on his own work, but other than that, he has not asked for help or admitted to anyone else that he needs to lighten his workload, feeling that there is no reason for him to feel the way that he does, and that his stress and depression should go away on its own if he keeps going on as normal.

Cinnamon’s performance on the soccer team has been particularly impacted by his depression, as he has let his attention there slip in favor of keeping up with homework and violin practice. He has often been late to soccer practice and distracted at games, much to his coach and teammates’ frustration. More and more often, he has found himself benched in favor of stronger players, especially as students in the lower grades move onto the team. He feels bad for letting his coach and teammates down, but he actually prefers watching the games to playing in them at this point, as he feels unable to keep up. In an effort to make up for his poor performance, he has instead applied himself to learning some first-aid so that he can assist his teammates on the sidelines when they incur minor injuries.

Cinnamon’s relationships with his family have improved from the rocky period that the Horowitzes endured during the 2020 lockdown. He isn’t especially close with his parents, but he loves them and wants to make them proud, and they support him by showing up for soccer games and violin recitals when they are able. He and his dad resumed their weekly movie nights soon after lockdown ended, and his mom also sometimes joins in when she is home. He has a somewhat closer relationship with Carmel; while she is very busy at medical school, they keep in touch and play semi-regular chess matches with each other online. Carmel is the only person to whom Cinnamon has really opened up about his stresses and insecurities, but he has remained somewhat guarded with even her, worrying that she might tell their parents if he tells her the full truth.

At school, Cinnamon has managed to keep his grades up with effort, achieving mostly A’s throughout high school. Things are mostly good for Cinnamon socially as well, in spite of his internal struggles. He is known to be a nice, friendly, and easygoing person who does little to get on anyone’s bad side. He tends to let other people absorb him into their friendship circles rather than being proactive about it, which has meant that few people have noticed a significant change in his behavior aside from seeming more stressed and tired in the past year. While some have asked him about it, it has been easy to brush off concerns by citing his desire to finish high school with the best performance possible, without admitting to how severely burnout is affecting him. He has had a few romantic relationships with male classmates, but nothing particularly serious; his most recent relationship ended due to Cinnamon’s partner finding him too busy, something he sees a bit of irony in.

Cinnamon applied to several well-regarded universities and was accepted to most. He has chosen to commit to the University of California in Berkeley, following in his sister’s footsteps by pursuing a pre-medical track. In truth, Cinnamon doubts how well he will do in college and wants to take an extended time off after graduation, given how he is already struggling with his workload and burnout. However, seeing how thrilled his parents were with his acceptance into a good school, and how most people in his life have been similarly proud and supportive, has left him feeling that he can’t change his mind without letting everyone down. He has decided to try to simply power through and hope that things get easier when he has a change of environment after high school.

Advantages: Cinnamon is in good physical shape from years of playing soccer. He is a friendly person with a good reputation, making him less likely to be targeted by peers for personal reasons. He has some first-aid experience, especially in treating the sorts of injuries one picks up through outdoor physical activity and minor altercations. He also has experience operating under pressure and in stressful conditions, given his heavy personal workload and the high expectations he is under.
Disadvantages: While used to working under stress, Cinnamon has been suffering burnout and struggling with feelings of anxiety and depression, making him more likely to reach a breaking point with the added stressors of the island. He is a non-confrontational person whose usual strategy for handling conflict is to keep his head down and hope that things resolve themselves, or to withdraw if that doesn’t work, neither of which may be an effective option on the island.