Miriam Castille

[CondorTalon]

Name: Miriam Castille
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: Aurora High School
Hobbies and Interests: Drawing, reading, and cooking.

Appearance: At an even 5' and 107 lbs and with a tendency to slouch and curl up within herself, Miriam is not a noticeable figure. She has curly brown hair, which she keeps up to her chin. She has a slight tan, which matches with her light brown eyes. Planted in the middle of her oval face is a straight nose, and below that is a pair of thin lips that appear to always be in a frown. She has a habit of biting her nails, which means they're not the neatest looking things to behold, but she at the very least tries to keep them uniform and smooth.

Miriam wears clothes that cover up as much skin as possible. She prefers sweaters and turtlenecks to t-shirts and tank-tops. She rarely, if ever, wears shorts or short skirts. Even when the weather gets warmer, she can be seen wearing a thin wool sweater. Miriam's clothes range in color from light grey to dark brown, and almost none of her clothes have bright noticeable colors.

Miriam is clumsy, and has a tendency to trip over her own feet. This has resulted in quite a few minor bruises on her arms and legs when the fall that results is particularly bad. She tries to cover up these bruises as much as possible, and doesn't like it when they are mentioned. Should they be mentioned, she will tell the truth about how they resulted, but only very reluctantly.

Biography: Miriam was born in Seattle on October 4th, to Julio and Henrietta Castille. Julio was working in construction, while Henrietta was a banker. With both of the parents having full time jobs, Miriam was often left in the company of her aunt, Paula, who lived just a few blocks away. Miriam and Paula were very close, as Paula used to be a daycare teacher. Miriam's relationship with her parents wasn't as close, but she still loved them. When Miriam was two, her baby sister, Nina, was born. Their relationship was distant, because Miriam didn't interact much with her.

In fact, Miriam didn't interact much with anyone, other than her parents and Paula. Paula had an extensive collection of literature in her house, and Miriam would spend much of her time reading rather that socialize. Because of this, Miriam was picked on a lot at elementary school, because her loner behavior, but also because of her plain clothing and her height. This reached a breaking point one day when a girl, older a grade, found her at recess, snatched away the book she was reading, and ripped it to shreds. And when Miriam returned to Paula's house, eyes red from crying, Paula decided that something needed to change. Paula taught Miriam how to make friends, and how to distinguish social time and alone time. Slowly, Miriam began to make new friends, mostly with fellow bully targets, and she began to grow out of her shell, if just a little bit.

Then middle school happened.

Miriam's transition into middle school happened at the exact same time that the parents moved to another part of the city. Once Miriam realized that none of her friends would go to the same school anymore, she retreated back into her shell. She spent most of her summer that year inside, reading, away from others. When she arrived on the grounds on the first day of school, she expected the torment to return, the bullies to be on her trail again. Instead she found Yukiko Sakurai and Harvey Novak. They shattered this expectation instantly, befriending her within the first week. Miriam was surprised as to how different they were from her old friends. Her old friends were around her because of the bullies. They were acquaintances with a common attribute. Yukiko and Harvey, however, were genuinely friendly, wanting to know more about her, and being actively welcoming. Because of this, Miriam came to be more open with herself. Although she never lost her shyness completely, it was no longer to the point where social interaction was no longer impossible.

From an early age, Miriam held an interest in drawing. Whether it was random scribbles on the walls, to crude figures on a piece of paper, Miriam put a lot of excitement into her drawings. This interest started to die down in elementary school, as Miriam spent more time reading, but at the prodding of Yukiko, she began to take it up again. At about the same time, Miriam stumbled upon a cookbook in Paula's kitchen, and read through it. The food looked delicious, and Miriam was fascinated by how the simple ingredients came together to create a work of art. Thus began Miriam's interest in cooking, as she began to practice in Paula's kitchen (with Paula keeping a close eye, of course). Soon, she got good enough to cook meals for her family, which she does frequently.

Academically, Miriam's grades vary between good and below-average. Miriam's favorite class is art class, where she can easily get A's, but in other subjects, especially math and science, Miriam skirts along with C's and rare D's. Miriam's family has tried to get her to increase these marks, but it hasn't happened. Miriam plans to go to an art college, so for the most part she isn't worried about those marks.

Advantages: Miriam is used to spending time alone, so should she be unable to find any allies she can keep to herself without any trouble. Miriam is also small, which can help her remain unnoticed.
Disadvantages: Miriam's shyness may prevent her from taking the initiative to play the game, which may hurt her chances in the long run.  She may also refuse to trust those who are not close to her, which may hurt any alliances that form. Her clumsiness may result in her tripping up at a crucial time.