Jay Cassidy

[DGib123*]

  Name: Jay Cassidy
   Gender: Male
   Age: 17
   Grade: 12th
   School: Aurora High School
   Hobbies and Interests: Playing video games, reading, listening to music, writing

  Appearance: Jay is an African-American with light brown skin, at a height of 5'9, weighing 140 pounds. He's skinny with barely any muscle tone. He's good looking, with a mini-black afro. He has dark brown eyes. He doesn't have the "manliest" voice, as it is light. He's usually seen wearing hoodies. His lips are narrow as he rarely smiles, even though he has a nice smile.

 Biography: Jay was born in Washington, and was raised by both of his parents. Two years ago, his parents divorced which he isn't surprised by because of the constant fighting and arguments shared between him in his childhood years and the family tragedy they suffered three years before. As a kid, he played video-games and kept to himself just to find an escape from it.

In his elementary school days, Jay was bullied and because of this has been hating his self-image. He hates his body size because he's often looked at as skinny and nonathletic. He tried to become more buff by playing sports such as basketball, baseball, and soccer. However, he wouldn't last more than six months because he wasn't a good dribbler in basketball, couldn't catch in baseball, and always fell trying to kick a soccer ball. He hated that everybody was so much better than he was.

As a kid, Jay was either the shyest or the wildest depending on the people he was around. When around friends, Jay could always make somebody laugh as he always did whatever he could to make others feel good; no matter how embarrassing. Jay was loyal, standing by his friends' side when they were in trouble or needed help. He was also charismatic, as he was able to become friends with anybody because of his kindness and humor. Jay made it hard for people to stay mad at him. When around strangers, Jay was quiet and didn't interact much. He acted awkward around people he didn't know too well.

When Jay was thirteen, his older sister Mia died in a tragic car accident. They had a great bond, even though it was strained as they grew up. It has affected him a lot and instead of dealing with the loss, he just bottles it in. Jay looked up to her a lot as a kid, although he'd never tell her. They were both protective and loving towards each other. Examples would be that if Mia was upset about something, Jay would make her laugh to make her feel better and Mia would always give Jay prep-talks to boost his confidence, since he was often bullied in school or on a sports' team. Whenever Jay needed someone's advice, Mia was always the first people he'd go to as he felt she could always point him in the right direction.

Since Mia's death, he's become emotionally withdrawn, which gives people the feeling that he's shy. He never wants to hurt anyone, therefore he tries to help cheer others up however he can. He hates drama and tension and all he truly wants is peace, so he'll remain neutral between two feuding sides; even if the problem exists between people he loves. He does this as he doesn't want to alienate anyone by choosing as he always sees the logical reasoning in arguments made between both sides. He usually tries to end any problems and tension with humor rather than forcefully.

The inner-turmoil he suffers over Mia's death has caused him to second-guess himself a lot. He's a day dreamer, which causes him a lot of problems with remaining focus on certain tasks especially if he sees no personal value in completing said tasks. He makes decent grades of C's and the occasional B since Kindergarten. His faith in any "higher-power" has also been strained, but hasn't completely died.

On the inside, Jay feels very sad about the death of his sister, and parents' divorce but refuses to deal with it. He also hides this pain to show that he isn't hurting, however because of withdrawing himself, it could still be seen just not in its entirety. Even though he's become more withdrawn from friends and family, he still cares deeply about them. He still shows his old-self at times, as he still has his humor even though it's a little more dead-pan. Maybe because he wasn't able to save his sister, he's developed this complex to cheer others' up around him and help them the best way he can.

Jay had a great relationship with his parents when he was younger. When Mia died, their relationship strained and is nearly nonexistent. His father is barely around, as he's too busy dealing with his grief of losing his daughter and has moved out to an apartment across town. Jay visits him every other weekend, and has described the encounter as being awkward. Even though he lives with his mother, she's too busy drowning herself in work. He doesn't show it, but he yearns for them to be a perfect family or at least as close to one as possible.

He finds himself alone most of the time, occasionally inviting a few friends over whenever he feels lonely. Since he isolates himself, his connections with family and friends have strained. He tries hard to be his old-self again, just so he could strengthen his friendships. Still, he notices that his friends have felt awkward around him. He knows people want to help him grieve, but he just won't allow anyone to do that.

In his sophomore year he had done a year of wrestling. It wouldn't last, as he wasn't too good at it because of his skinny build and lack of heart for the sport. The reason he tried out for the team was because he thought it would help him build muscle. He finished the season because he doesn't like being a quitter, and didn't want to let down his team. Jay has a hard time making friends because of how quiet he is. However for the friends he's able to maintain, he's upbeat around.

He pushes himself a lot, and is very hard on himself whenever he fails to achieve certain goals. he feels he's too nice on everyone else but fails to see that he's twice as hard on himself. So often, he feels that people have low-expectations of him and that he disappoints people on the regular. Therefore, he second-guesses himself a lot, but he also pushes forward to do something even if people doubt him to get it done. Which is another reason he refused to quit wrestling, because although he was the weakest (because of his size) he continued to persevere and push himself staying on the team even when almost half the people who tried out ended up quitting by the end of the season.

In school, he usually sits in the back of the class, never raises his hand or participates in any discussions because he doesn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself. If people don't know him for his sister's death, then they do because of his quietness. Pretty much, most people at school know him because of how nice he is and how he tries to help anyone; that is, if they ask.

Advantages: Since he's struggling with the acceptance of Mia's death, and his parents' divorce Jay has become resilient, not allowing his emotions to get the better of him. He also has a laid-back attitude which gives the vibe that nothing bothers him when around his peers. He's very caring of others, and is willing to help anyone if they need it. Also because of how caring he is to other people, he often tries to find a way to cheer up others. He's remembered some of the wrestling moves he learned in his year of wrestling. He's good at isolating himself, which allows him to be avoided. Also being withdrawn, he's good at watching people without them noticing which allows him to learn from and trust in people by their actions, rather than by their words.
Disadvantages: Even if Jay knows someone's plans would be bad rather than good, he'd probably hesitate to correct them as he doesn't want to cause more tension and problems. Because of his size and sound of voice, he's not intimidating at all. He's very critical of himself, even though he won't show it purposefully. He's also dealing with the turmoil and trauma of surviving a tragic accident and losing his sister a couple years earlier. His humor being used at the wrong time could cause more problems for him between himself and others if they take it the wrong way. He often over-thinks and second guesses himself, causing him to make quick decisions if he's under-pressure.