Stephen Harley

[Slam]

Name: Stephen Harley
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Entertaining, mostly in the form of magic tricks; socialising with friends.

Appearance: Stephen is small for his age, standing at 5’5” and weighing in at 126lbs. He does not have any visible excess muscle or flab; if anything he appears to be slightly skinny.

Stephen’s hair is a dark brown colour that he wears cut short; his fringe does not cover any part of his average forehead, which has acne spread across it. His eyebrows are slightly thicker than normal, and are the same colour as his hair; his eyes underneath are a light hazel colour, with a round, slightly large shape. His nose has a narrow, flat bridge, and a narrow base that sticks out slightly. His lips are dry and fairly large, and his teeth behind them are well kept.

When out in public, Stephen wears his older brother’s hand-me-downs. These usually consist of typical urban wear ranging from t-shirts to fleeces to jeans, but they also carry signs of use like stains and carefully patched tears. On stage, Stephen wears a distinctive black cape; black jeans, and a black shirt with a fake red rose sewn in just below the left shoulder.

Biography: The second eldest of a family of five children, Stephen always had to be grateful for what he had since he began his life in St. Pauls. Though his family was never strictly poor at any point thanks to his mother and father’s respective jobs as a nurse and a teacher, excess comforts were not a common sight in the Harley home.

His eldest brother by four years, Tom, was happy to have a younger brother; their parents felt that the two would get along well and together they’d have a good healthy childhood together. Two years later when their third child and first daughter, Alice, was born, the parents had to start being a little less lucrative with their money. As the children were still relatively young, the adjustment was a simple one, and the family home’s last empty room was taken. However, it was not to be the last birth in the family as three years later the parents were informed that they were to be expecting twins, Judy and Sarah. As loving parents, they were not disappointed by the news, but they were aware that they’d have to start getting very careful with their spending.

Thankfully Stephen’s maternal grandparents owned a moderately large home that’d been in the family for three generations. Offered a new residence, the Harley’s quickly moved to the larger accommodation across town. Elementary schools had to be changed for Tom and Stephen, but overall it was just another easy change for the children; as a sociable child Stephen had little trouble befriending his new classmates.

As the Harley’s lived in a large home, the friends that Stephen brought home quickly came to the incorrect conclusion that he was rich. Soon the rumours around school began to spread, and the misconception about Stephen has survived to high school, still following him to this day.

As he got older, the children around him turned to teenagers, who in turn became more aware of the resources made available being rich offered. Eventually more and more people tried to befriend Stephen, who was painfully aware of their real motives. However, after an incident where he falsely accused his girlfriend of wanting nothing more than the money he didn’t have, he made himself promise never to assume something about people’s motives again.

A tradition in the Harley household was Friday Family Night. On this evening, it was each member’s responsibility to alert the others to their weekly happenings, as well as to entertain each other after dinner. On one evening, Stephen’s little sister Alice decided to try a magic trick she had seen on the television. Whilst she was relatively unsuccessful at recreating the disappearing coin, Stephen found himself performing the illusion himself whilst trying to help his sister figure it out. Realising that he was interested in magic tricks, he soon became the regular magician on Friday evenings.

This talent developed over time, and Stephen began regularly participating in various talent shows at school and occasionally around town. He even began to help out at birthday parties of the children of his parents’ friends, and volunteering in the retirement home. This has become a part time job for him, in a way, as he usually gets a generous donation for his efforts.

Since Tom left home two years ago, Stephen is usually the delegate of responsibility from his parents around the house. Though Alice is now fifteen years old and capable of looking after herself, Stephen usually finds himself in charge of the twins. However, as the family is quite close, his sister will frequently stay to lend a hand in such matters, and the evening is seen as fun rather than a chore.

Around school Stephen’s friendly nature from his childhood has developed, and he is quite a charismatic figure. Able to befriend people that aren’t hostile towards him fairly easily, Stephen is actually quite popular at Bayview Secondary School. He can frequently be seen joking around with his friends when not in lesson, although he does occasionally get reprimanded for distracting other students in class, as a result of taking life a little too carelessly at times.

Stephen’s carefree nature has gotten him into trouble on a few occasions though. After once mistaking a jock’s frustrations over failing grades for anxiety over the upcoming football game, what he believed to be a harmless joke led him to be quite bruised, battered, and left to limp home that night, his lack of any real exercise making him less than a challenge for the large, physically adapt athlete. As such, he can become quite reserved around larger guys, especially if he knows they’re on the football team as the jock from the incident has led the other members to think of him as a cocky little punk. Since he’s short, this fear applies to most large men at Bayview.

Stephen also has an irrational fear of using public transportation. This stems from an incident in his youth when he tried to take the bus home alone after one of his friend’s birthday parties to save his parents the trouble of picking him up, and he wasn’t found again until eleven o’clock that evening in the bad part of town, after a stranger offering to help him find his way home almost succeeded in abducting him before Stephen managed to escape. As such, he becomes visibly nervous and tense at the possibility of having to use a bus or other form of transport with strangers.

Advantages: Stephen has very good manual dexterity and creativity, both being necessary to successfully pull off his magic shows. He is also generally well liked amongst the students of Bayview that aren’t on the football team, due to his natural charisma. This also makes him good at befriending people he hasn’t met before. Being small also means that Stephen is more capable of hiding himself than others, a skill which has been slightly enhanced by the need to conceal certain parts of himself during his magic tricks.
Disadvantages: Stephen’s only experiences of real violence have been as a victim, and as such is definitely not prepared for the bloodshed in the game. His uneasiness around large people will also definitely work against him in the game, as it will reduce his ability to befriend a significant portion of people. Being small also makes him more of a target. Stephen has no notable physical skill, and as such will be easily taken down by the more athletic players. He also refuses to judge people by their initial appearances to him, which will make him much more susceptible to deception.