Patrick Pennington

[El Scorcho*]

Name: Patrick Pennington
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Science Fiction Novels, Music, Video Games

Appearance: Standing at 5'7" and weighing 145 pounds Patrick has a fairly average build and is not especially muscular, good-looking or noticeable. His blonde hair flows down to his shoulders and is rather curly; he constantly finds himself brushing his fringe out of his eyes. There is a small patch of his hair missing near the back of his head where his heavily intoxicated friend thought it would be amusing to burn with his lighter. His eyes are dark blue in tone and are situated beneath a pair of bushy eyebrows. His lips are thin and his nose is quite wide and a little unflattering. Patches of acne tend to crop on his cheeks and in the area between his mouth and nose from time to time.

His clothing style is fairly casual. He has a few different pairs of jeans of varying shades of blue which he wears a beige coloured belt over the top of. His shirts are mostly brown or black and many feature his favourite bands or films on the front. On his feet he wears a pair of battered brown converse sneakers. On his left arm is a cheap digital watch and on his right a black Bob Marley wristband. A lot of his clothes are quite worn down; some of his jeans are frayed around the ankles and many of his shirts have small rips and holes in them.

Biography: Patrick was born on a sunny Sunday morning in St. Paul, Minnesota. The younger of two boys, he maintained a somewhat distant relationship with his older brother David throughout his early life. This was partly due to an age difference of five years between them as well as contrasting personalities. David was a stereotypical jock and he was unimpressed to see Patrick develop into a reclusive and awkward young teen. His relationship with his mother, Melanie, was little better. A devoutly religious woman, she led a busy life, and in between her job as a librarian, her volunteer work at the local Catholic church and her social life she had little time to develop a bond with her son.

Patrick's father Erik spent most of his life struggling with alcoholism. Though he was generally a jovial and friendly man, who got on well with Patrick, the alcohol gradually ate away at his physical and mental health. After several years of increasingly erratic behaviour he was fired from his job as a fire fighter, putting considerable financial strain on the family. He grew increasingly bitter and un-motivated and his drinking became heavier. At this point his stomach started expanding at a worrying rate, and his skin became pale and yellow-tinted. Despite all this, Erik defiantly refused to seek medical help. It was only after suffering from a stroke that he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. After learning of this Erik managed to give up alcohol but the damage had already been done by this point.

The next six months were a living hell for the Pennington family as Erik's health deteriorated rapidly. Movement became increasingly difficult and it eventually got to the point where he had to be assisted to go to the bathroom. He was angry and frustrated, and would constantly lash out at those around him. After it became clear that his needs were too great to be taken care of at home, he was put in a care facility.

David, who had at this point got a stable job and was living in Minneapolis, would come down to visit regularly. It was through the prolonged and unpleasant demise of their father that David and Patrick finally connected and became good friends. David provided emotional and financial support for the family and became the glue that held them together.

After a while Erik began vomiting blood and physically wasting away. He could barely move and found it difficult to speak or breathe. Seeing his father in this completely helpless state was a traumatic experience for Patrick and it was somewhat of a relief when he finally passed away quietly in his sleep. Melanie, who had once been a strong-willed and forceful woman, was now a quiet and emotionally wrecked shadow of her former self. It was only through David's continued support that she managed to hold her life together.

Patrick was originally a shy and nerdy individual, who spent his life reading the science fiction novels he would get Melanie to bring home from work. It was about a year before Erik's death that Patrick began to come out of his shell socially. After chatting with some with some stoners in an English lesson he fell in with their group. He began smoking marijuana and going to parties and maintained a fairly active social life, despite still being slightly awkward in conversation. He adopted the hobbies of his new friends and began listening to reggae and psychedelic rock, as well as playing video games. As his father's health declined Patrick became somewhat emotionally unstable. His smoking increased in frequency and his grades began slipping. He became rather rude and tactless to his fellow students and managed to annoy a significant proportion of his peers at Bayview. In the months since Erik's death he has calmed down to an extent, though he is still slightly abrasive.

Patrick is a deeply closeted homosexual and his gaze can often be found lingering a little too long over the male form. Due to the religious views he has inherited from his mother he is in extreme denial about this. This manifests itself in his outspoken homophobic views, which irritate some of his more progressive friends. He is also overly keen to prove his masculinity. He is determined to get himself a girlfriend and lose his virginity; due to the fact that he possesses the subtlety and charm of being punched in the face with a brick this has been unsuccessful so far.

Advantages: Many people at Bayview are aware of his family situation and may be prepared to cut him some slack if he does something idiotic.
Disadvantages: He is little too confrontational and may manage to antagonise people. He is also a bit unstable due to the emotional trauma he has been put through recently and due to this he may make poor decisions when put in stressful situations.