Cecina Bryant

[Cicada]

Name: Cecina R. Bryant
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: 12th Grade
School: Bayview Secondary
Hobbies and Interests: Debate, Chess, Job (Store Clerk), Theater (Play writing), Hiking

Appearance: Cecina is short for her age, standing at only 4'10, and of average weight, being exactly 115.7 pounds. She is plain, neither muscled nor well endowed, with a rather flat chest and small bum, skimpy arms, and still having the prominent stomach of childhood, having never lost it in her growth. Her thighs and calves are well sculpted, given her daily hiking routine, but this only serves to act as a contrast for the rest of her body, making her seem even more lopsided and awkward. Her skin is fair, but leans more towards being white.

Cecina's hair is darkish brown, borderline black, and is roughly shoulder-length, covering her neck in the back. Her bangs are overly long and unkempt, reaching over her eyes in a messy fashion before forming an uneven line above and around her nose. Her face is soft, slightly pudgy even, with a rather prominent dimple on the right side of her face. Her irises are brown, and her eyes themselves are slightly squinted.

Cecina has a simple wardrobe, wearing either cargo shorts or skirts, and plain blouses, with simple jackets for colder months. She rarely deviates from this get-up, even during special occasions.

Biography: Born to British father Harold Bryant, and Filipina mother Anita Ramos, November 14th, in Makati Medical Center at 7:32 A.M, Cecina spent the first few years of her life living in a Filipino household in Manila, her father being a traveling business man, and thus was raised in the standard Filipino style. Money was never scarce, with a steady inflow of checks from her distant father, and yearly visits by the father kept an emotional distance from forming between the two.

Still, her upbringing had a number of effects on her. Filipino families were large and close-knit, and Cecina's was no exception to this. She was constantly surrounded by family; grandparents, relatives, friends, all were constantly with her and doted excessively on her. The child grew used to human presence, and gradually grew distant from those who cared for her, taking the constant presence of friends as a given. Her extended family noticed that she was growing to be independent, and she would often ignore them in favor of her own, various wanderings.

Filipino culture was not built in this manner, and her family took steps to stamp out the budding independent streak. Or would have, if it had not been for the unintended intervention of Harold Bryant. At the age of two, Harold managed to secure a permanent position within a banking company based in New York. Together with Anita and Cecina, the now nuclear family traveled from Manila to New York.

The next few years passed uneventfully. Cecina found it hard to be friendly with neighboring kids, and was ultimately enrolled in a preschool at the age of four, her parents wishing for her to branch out and make friends. This worked to a degree, and Cecina made several friends amongst her peers. This would last until the age of five, where upon Cecina learned to read and rudimentary writing skills, and once again distanced herself from others, preferring to play make believe with herself. She called her peers "unimaginative", and lost interest in playing with them.

Exasperated with their child, Harold and Anita tried a number of family activities to get their child social and friendly again. While amusing at first, the repetition of awkward play dates and "social outings", grew irritating to Cecina, and at the age of six, upon her enrollment in the local elementary school, Cecina took the liberty of fooling her parents into thinking she had a play mate again, whom she would visit from directly after school, when in reality, she spent most of that time after school walking aimlessly around, lost in her imaginations. Over time, she grew so used to this routine, she would spend hours walking outside, to the chagrin of her parents. Eventually, this facade fell apart when her parents tried to establish contact with her "friends" family, and Cecina was, once again, under pressure to find a friend.

This conflict between her and her parents would continue for some time, and Cecina would often take long hikes in the local woods, simply to escape the pressure. In the Second Grade, her patience worn thin, she joined the Chess Club in an effort to appease her parents. While this didn't work, Cecina found that she liked the complexity of chess, and soon found an excuse to spend even more time away from home in the club, to her parents increasing agony. This pattern continued through the Third Grade, where Cecina found Theater to be another interest of hers, appealing to her creative side. Soon, Cecina was rarely home, between hikes, Chess, and Theater.

Her parents finally confronted her directly, and demanded she at least try to be a sociable young girl. Much to their surprise, she agreed. Expanding her horizons and interests, she found that she understood her parents view point, and would try to make a close friend for herself. This set a tentative peace in the household, though Cecina still spent much of her day out of the house. Unfortunately, her odd behaviors and her coldness to her peers previously now returned to haunt her, and no one would have anything to do with her.

This bothered her little, and she passed into Middle School without resolving the problem. Here, she started working part-time as a store clerk, and found that interacting with the clientele and their varied responses to her own ideas that she shared with them as she processed their purchases to be stimulating. She decided to expound on the idea, and founded her own club, a Debate Club, within the school. Her viewpoint was unique, stemming from her lack of desire for human interaction, and along with a small group of people vaguely interested in the idea, she added yet another club to her already full schedule. Even after the other members quit, she continued to refine her ideals in her lonesome.

Puberty passed with little indecent, and she entered Bayview. She maintained her old habits, regular hikes, joined the official Chess and Debate Teams, and choose Theater as an elective. She remained an enigma amongst the school population, with few, or perhaps even no friends amongst the campus.

Advantages: Immune to mental stress brought upon by a lack of allies or a lack of comforts, given that she cares little for them to begin with. Has a high stamina and can stay awake, or walk, for long periods of time.

Disadvantages: Has little to no ability with weapons or survival skills. Is already considered an enigma in the school campus and has few friends, leaving her with no allies or help, and little chance to make any new allies on the island.