Stephanie Clifford

[El Scorcho*]

Name: Stephanie Clifford
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Silent Movies, Geology, Jazz, Chess, Studying

Appearance: Stephanie stands at just 4' 9" tall and weighs 105 pounds. She is fairly androgynous and looks somewhat like a male child. Her greasy black hair hangs loosely down to shoulder length. She has close-set green eyes that constantly shift about and this coupled with her prominent overbite give off the impression of an oversized rodent. She has thin lips and a normally proportioned nose. Her skin is pale and unhealthy looking; it is evident that she spends most of her time in-doors. Her breasts are small but in proportion with the rest of her body.

Looking at Stephanie you might guess that her clothes had been picked by her parents and this assumption would probably be correct. She usually wears shirts with garish over-saturated colours as well as plain jeans. Sometimes she wears knitted cardigans. Stephanie is clearly not going to be winning any beauty contests any time soon and her odd looks contribute to her status as a social pariah.

Biography: Stephanie Clifford was born an only child to a fairly middle class family. Her father is a dentist who has always maintained a rather distant and disconnected relationship with his daughter. By contrast, her mother (a housewife) has smothered her with affection since the day she was born and still treats her as if she is ten years younger than she actually is.

As a child Stephanie existed more in a world of imagination than reality. She would embark on epic adventures in the land of Morq with her alien friend Sid. Together they fought the tyrannous armies of Nalmori and his pirate empire and liberated the kingdom of Phemos. As she grew older Sid stopped visiting her and taking her on adventures and this upset her greatly.

On her thirteenth birthday Stephanie received a yellow labrador puppy by the name of Frank. She was overjoyed at this and he has since become her closest friend. She walks and plays with him regularly and engages in lengthy one-sided conversations with him.

It could be said that Stephanie never really developed past childhood mentally and due to this she comes across as rather odd and eccentric. She has few friends and is not part of any specific cliques - not even the nerds, despite her geeky tendencies. Other students tend to view her as somewhat of a ‘freak' and usually try to avoid her. Her weirdness and lack of friends make her an easy target for bullies. She has had so many encounters with bullies that she has become very nervous and on edge, this can sometimes lead her to make very poor split-second decisions.

When interacting socially Stephanie is a little over-enthusiastic and lively. She often changes the topic of a conversation to something the other person has no interest in discussing. She talks quickly and loudly and will ramble on at great lengths on obscure subjects.

Due to her lack of social life she always tries to get her school-work done on time and to a high standard. Getting good grades is her main aspiration as she is convinced that if she manages this she will one day become an extremely rich geologist. She is fascinated by geology and has an extensive collection of rocks and minerals. She despises idleness and due to this can often be seen jogging around the school campus in order to save time.

Though Stephanie spends most of her time studying she does have a few non-academic interests. After watching the Charles Chaplin film The Gold Rush she developed an obsession with silent movies. She doesn't listen to much music but she is very fond of the swing jazz of the 1930's and 40's by artists such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. She is also a member of the school chess club.

Advantages: Due to spending so much time jogging about Stephanie is surprisingly quick. She should be able to make a hasty getaway if the situation requires it. She is unlikely to be viewed as much of a threat by other students and this could definitely work to her advantage.
Disadvantages: Stephanie's lack of social grace is clearly her main disadvantage. She will find it hard to make allies or engage in any kind of diplomacy. She is also very physically unimposing and will have major problems if she ends up in hand to hand combat. Stephanie is a bit of a coward and doesn't always think things through rationally when put in stressful situations.