Caleb Luke Matthews

[Acidic†]

Name: Caleb Luke Matthews
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: Aurora High School
Hobbies and Interests: Choir, football, animals, going to church, and volunteering.

Appearance: Caleb is of Honduran and Caucasian decent. His skin is a light bronze and he has very little body hair. His eyes are big, dark brown, and his eyebrows are long and dark. Caleb has a square shaped face with small, dark lips which appear even smaller in comparison to his large, flat nose. His hair is light brown with natural highlights, only four and a half inches long, which occasionally he styles into various styles. Most of the time he keeps it untreated. While Caleb has little problems with acne on his face he has an issue with it on his back. He takes good care of his skin to make sure it doesn't break out.

He also has plenty of scars from accidents. Among them are: a foot long scar on his right calf from falling off a fence, and a three inch one on his chest (right below his neck) from when he fell off his bike into a bush.

Caleb has plenty of muscle thanks to football (small amount of fat on his torso), and has a stout build at 5'10 and 182. His shoulders, like the rest of him, are wide and thick. Caleb's wardrobe is made of brand name clothes and other "nice" clothing, and most are brightly colored. Caleb is not one to dress too casually. At the time of the abduction he was wearing a white Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt with the brand's name embroidered on it in black letters, A light brown blazer, light blue jeans, and white and black tennis shoes.

Biography: Caleb was born September 26, 1993, to Rachel Matthews and Jesus Mendoza. Caleb was born before the young couple could get married. Jesus was an illegal immigrant from Honduras who went to Lincoln, Nebraska to meet with his family who worked on a farm, and get work there. After a few months of working he met Rachel when she was working as a waitress at a restaurant to raise money for college. When they met Rachel was 18 and Jesus 24. They dated for a year until Rachel missed a period.

While Rachel was pregnant (confirmed after a doctor's visit) the couple made plans to get married, but when she was three months into the pregnancy Jesus died in a farming accident. Devastated, Rachel was put on bed-rest for the baby's safety. Caleb was born six months later. Living in Lincoln was too difficult for the young mother, so with the encouragement and financial support of her parents she went to college in Seattle where her best friends and her had been planning to go for sometime while her parents took care of her child. They planned for Caleb to be raised by his grandparents (Joseph and Carol Matthews) until she graduated college. While this was supposed to be for the first four years of his life, it turned into the first 14 years.  

His grandparents signed the energetic boy up for pee-wee football when he was eight. His life in Nebraska was a peaceful and happy one for the most part. He always found it easy to make friends, especially in sports. Caleb loves watching and playing the sport to this day, and he's currently an Offensive Guard for his HS team, which he does decently at. He's tried every position on the field, and is pretty versatile. Caleb wasn't naturally gifted on the field, but he was determined to play the sport. He practiced as often as he could with the help of his grandfather, and it was the main way they bonded.

They also raised him with strong religious values. His grandparents were ashamed that their daughter had slept with a man before wedlock, and decided they didn't install a moral code deep enough in Rachel. As a consequence Caleb was raised under stricter rules than his mother was, and still tries to stick to them today. His grandparents were somewhat bigoted when it came to issues of race, sexuality, and gender roles. They weren't loud about it, and would deny it to most people if brought up. However, when Caleb was born their attitude towards race improved. Still, Joseph, who was always a slightly bigoted man (more so bigoted then Carol), and he only got worse after about the later two when Caleb was born. He was also a father figure to the boy, and unfortunately had a strong influence on him. Caleb was taught to be chauvinistic to women at best, and dismissive the rest of the time.

Carol never spoke against Joseph views, as she was raised with them as well. She still had a hand in raising Caleb, teaching him to dress his best and teaching him to sing. He joined the church's youth choir when he was 8, and the choir in his middle school in sixth grade. In the house hold Joseph's word was law, without ever regarding Carol in the decision. The sexism and homophobia is something Caleb still struggles with today. Caleb didn't grow up with the best impression of his mother. Joseph told him that she abandoned him, moving away to party and life a life of sin as a form of revenge against Rachel.

Their church was a big part of Caleb's life, and he joined the choir from an early age. Their family went to a Baptist church where a good chunk of the family's social life took place attending sermons, functions, choir concerts, and the like. Caleb was always kept a somewhat liberal interpretation of his the religion, but doesn't discuss it with his grandparents to keep the peace.

Even though Rachel made a point to visit as often as she could, Caleb was reluctant to get close with her. He was distant when they talked, and couldn't wait until she left. His visits up to Seattle were years apart at first, but for the last few years he spent his summers there. Every time she'd ask Caleb to move in with her he'd refuse, and while this greatly upset Rachel she never forced the issue with him. Instead she'd argue with her parents about why her own son didn't want to live with her, but she never took the issue to the courts because she didn't want to be on worse terms with her parents. While in Seattle Rachel had married a man named Joel Stewart and had two children with him, Cheryl and Troy who are ten and seven years old respectively. Caleb was ten when the marriage happen, and attended the ceremony. They have also come with on visits with Rachel to Lincoln. Joel had met Caleb before marrying his mother. Caleb had always wanted to be an older sibling, so he was excited when they were born.

When he was fourteen Joseph and Carol were no longer able to take care of Caleb, so he had no choice to move off the farm and to his mother's place in Seattle. His grandparents were moved to a nursing home. Rachel and company were ecstatic that her son was finally going to live with her, but adjusting was hard for Caleb at first. Living on a farm for most of his life had given Caleb a strong love for animals, but in Seattle he couldn't have any animals because Joel was violently allergic to dogs and cats. Caleb volunteers at animal shelters and farms to feel more at home, showering as soon as he gets home. While he's at the farms he gets to ride the more healthy horses.

It didn't take long for Caleb to adjust to his new home with his mother, but Caleb is still uncomfortable with the city at times. Over the years living with his mother Caleb learned about his father, and has gotten a better understanding of his mother and the events that happened. While Caleb knows his grandparents misinformed him he refuses to believe they lied to him, but rather that they misunderstood the situation. He still talks to them over the phone and visits over the summer for a few weeks while staying at a friend's house. Caleb still hasn't confronted Joseph on his views, or if he was actually lying to Caleb about his mother.

Caleb had always got along with his family pretty well, and he's taken to the older brother role gracefully. Always willing to help them with homework or drive them somewhere, and teaching them to play football. Caleb and Joel have butted heads with religion and politics, but the debates have never gotten out of hand. Caleb's relationship with Rachel is steadily improving. At first he felt abandoned by her, and she felt cheated out of being a mother. However they started getting along eventually.

Caleb got on the football team easy enough his first year of high school, and easily made his way into popularity with his extroverted personality. Caleb tends to be more conservative than his classmates, and has learned to hold his tongue on certain subjects such as his disapproval of homosexuality or some misogynous quips (both of which have gotten him in trouble with his fellow students and faculty). He was forgiven by some. He joined the school choir in his sophomore year, and he keeps a B average. His friends are those in the popular circle, on his football team, or those he befriends around school or church for whatever reason. He's still trying to be less sexist and homophobic, but it's a work in progress. As of now he tries to act more lax and liberal than he actually is to fit the culture around him.

Caleb wants to go to college to be a teacher or coach, but is applying to several universities hoping to be accepted. He always tries his best at everything whether that'd be dressing nice, school, or being an asset to his family and community. He's made attempts to find out more about his father by fining people on his father's side of his family, but has had no luck. He's learned some Spanish, but is still having difficulties in the search. Even with the help of his mother, and the farm Jesus worked for in Nebraska. He plans to take a trip to Honduras with his family after graduating. Due to his beliefs he is a strict pacifist, even second guessing some of his plays on the football field.

Advantages: Caleb is strong and physically fit from years of hard work on the football field, and has plenty of potential allies.
Disadvantages: Caleb has upset many people with his believes which could make him a target to some. Also, those same beliefs will keep him from playing the game.