Heather Boyle*

#1

Name: Heather Boyle
Gender: Female
Age: 17
School: Whittree Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Sewing, embroidery, animals, creative writing.

Appearance: Heather is a plain, mousy girl who never quite figured out what to do with her appearance. In theory, she would seemingly have all the ingredients for a conventionally pretty American girl- straight, sandy-blonde hair, striking blue-green eyes, and a clear, slightly freckled pale complexion. However, in reality things go awry. Her striking eyes go unnoticed behind rectangular, purple-rimmed glasses- and even if she didn't wear glasses, Heather never makes eye contact with others anyway- and her hair is incredibly thick and in a constant state of wild frizz due to a lack of knowledge or effort in hair care. Some would remark that she resembles a rodent because of her round cheeks and teeth that often stick out because of her braces.

At 5'3" and 147 pounds, Heather can easily be described as plump. Her body is a classic pear shape, with B-cup breasts and most of her weight concentrated in her stomach, hips, and thighs. She usually wears casual clothing, mostly T-shirts and jeans with the occasional skirt. Heather usually doesn't have much choice when clothes shopping due to her size, so her wardrobe is a hodgepodge of various styles and colors. By sheer coincidence, Casting Day occurred on the same day Heather finally worked up the nerve to wear one of her handmade outfits in public- a hot pink T-shirt with a ruffled collar and trim in bright teal with white polkadots, and a miniskirt made of the same fabric as the shirt's trim. The ensemble also included hot pink knee-length leggings and white tennis shoes.

Biography: Heather has lived her entire life in Whittree in her family's ranch-style house. Her parents, Don and Helen Boyle, make enough to comfortably support the family's modest middle-class lifestyle, with Don working as one of the partners in a local home remodeling contractor and Helen a manager at a local dollar store. Heather is by far the youngest of her family's three children- her sister, Leslie, is 21 years old and about to earn her bachelor's at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, and her brother, Dylan, is 23 and recently engaged. All of the Boyle children attended Whittree Secondary, and Leslie in particular was popular enough to be something of a legend at the school. Due to age differences between the siblings and the shenanigans the elder two usually got themselves into, Heather was usually left to her own devices as a child. She had never been so good at making friends, so during this time she bonded the most with the family pets and as she grew older she became the main caretaker of the family's growing number of animals. At the time of Heather's casting, the Boyle household boasted a German Shepard named Buster, two cats- a calico named Annie and a tuxedo named Pickle- a black guinea pig named Royce, a spotted white rabbit named Susie, and a tank of neon tetras whose names Heather always lost track of. Before being cast in SOTF-TV Heather had been planning to try and convince her parents to buy her some reptiles as well.

Heather is known as a quiet girl with a shy, awkward personality and a lack of understanding or desire to keep up with the trends the rest of her peers participate in, including fashion, sports, and SOTF-TV. The Boyles do not allow anyone in the household to watch SOTF-TV due to objections to its violent content. Heather's older siblings often watched it in secret online, but she never had any interest in joining in due to her squeamish nature. Heather's indifference to trends, along with the speech impediment caused by her braces, makes her an easy target for bullying, which creates a positive feedback cycle (the other kids tease her because they can, her shyness keeps her from standing up for herself, meaning the others get away with it and continue, and so forth). Because the bullying isn't physical aside from paper balls thrown in class, teachers do not feel it necessary to intervene and instead encourage Heather to "grow a thick skin"- but because these methods aren't preventative Heather gradually began keeping mostly to herself. There are a few people at school who she doesn't mind talking to, but these acquaintances never extend beyond school grounds so she doesn't have very much of a social life. Her parents do notice and try to encourage her to make friends and get out of the house more, but Heather always assures them that she's happy enough with her hobbies so as not to worry them. And she's not necessarily dishonest in her assurance- Heather does her best to remain positive and she is actually a fairly optimistic and idealistic person, though her lack of socialization leads her to daydream a lot and she can sometimes seem out of tune with reality.

At school the person Heather is most comfortable with is English teacher Mrs. Watson, who introduced Heather to the old poets and novelists that had once held great respect for their words and storytelling. Heather even dabbles in writing her own poetry and short stories, but she never shows anyone due to self-consciousness and fear that her writing and interest in old-fashioned entertainment will give the other students more reason to tease her. However, her supplemented understanding of the English language and its known masters aid Heather with exceptional marks in English and the other Humanities subjects, though she does still struggle a bit in Math.

Of course, Heather's fondest pastime is sewing. She was introduced to the craft by her paternal grandmother, who she often stayed with when her parents needed someone to watch her. Her grandmother taught her cross stitch and needlepoint, and was Heather's main provider of sewing supplies until she was moved into a nursing home at the end of Heather's freshman year. Up until high school Heather had only ever done embroidery with her grandmother, but Whittree Secondary's design facilities gave her access to a sewing machine and thus the opportunity to do much more with her sewing. She gradually taught herself to sew and made many simple projects before moving on to more ambitious ones, such as altering and eventually making her own clothing. Heather loves making her own clothes because she is able to tailor them to her exact size and can make them in any color or style she wants- no more conforming to the limited selection in the plus-sized section of the department store. However, she is usually too self-conscious to wear her own clothes outside her house (and certainly not to school) because in her excitement she only tends to make clothing in bright, bold colors and patterns. As mentioned above, Casting Day was the first time she ever wore her own clothes to school.

Advantages: Heather's skill in sewing could potentially come in handy when performing first aid, but otherwise she doesn't appear to have any particular advantages. If you were to ask Heather she might tell you she can make friends with the island's animals and be protected by them but this is an unrealistic idea and should be disregarded.
Disadvantages: It's no secret that Heather isn't very well-liked and her status as an easy target at school will likely translate directly to a similar status on SOTF-TV. If she does manage to make alliances, her lack of advantages or connections with others make her a prime candidate for being determined dead weight and left on her own.