B023 - Jennings, Jesse[/DECEASED]

[Namira]

DECEASED


Name: Jesse Jennings
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: Aurora High School
Hobbies and Interests: Socializing, Dating, Politics, Card Readings, Running, Volunteering, Fashion

Appearance: Jesse stands 5'8" and weighs 138 pounds, and is instantly recognizable around Aurora due to two things: his afro, and his near-Hollywood good looks. He's a relatively light-skinned African-American whose time on the track team has given a lean if not noticeably toned look to his body.

Jesse has been naturally good looking for pretty much his entire life. His eyes are a dark chestnut color with relatively little gradation to them. He's got smooth skin that resisted most facial outbreaks during his teenage years, and his natural dimples give him a deceptively boyish smile. A military brushing regimen his father drilled into him has given him straight, white teeth, and he's never had a cavity. His nose is a slight bit crooked and he sometimes wishes he had a more pronounced jawline to make himself look older, especially since he can't grow any facial hair beyond some peach fuzz on his upper lip. Jesse has been growing his afro for the past two years, and it's now at a rough length of 5-6 inches around his head. He does take pains to keep it mostly symmetrical and well-maintained, both to complement his overall look and keep his father from getting on his case about it.

Fashion-wise, Jesse currently favors preppy-style brand names and slim-fitting products. He'll wear buttoned but untucked printed shirts with light jackets or blazers and black, grey or navy jeans, as well as a scarf, skinny tie, or pair of aviator sunglasses whenever the situation demands it. For the trip, he was wearing grey jeans with a striped blue and white Oxford shirt, Converse sneakers, and sunglasses.

Biography: Jesse was born on May 12, just north of Seattle in the city of Everett; his parents had recently moved to Washington state from Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Airman First Class Walter Jennings, had completed his six-year deployment with the United States Air Force when he attended a job fair for Boeing, which would eventually lead to a job offer as a support technician at their Everett factory. Walter would move to Everett with his fiancee, Martine Bordelon, a second-generation Haitian immigrant who had just finished college. They married and Martine gave birth to Jesse's older brother Lucas in 1991, then Jesse in 1994 and finally his sister Nadege in 2001.

A new baby put Jesse's family in the market for a bigger house, and they moved to Seattle in 2002. His father had recently left Boeing to take a management position with TLG Aerospace in downtown Seattle, and his mother worked as a realtor and would have more business in the city. Martine eventually switch jobs amidst the housing market crisis in 2008, and became an organizer and consultant for various Seattle-area non-profit organizations, as well as an elected Public School Trustee.

At home, Walter Jennings' military-inspired parenting methods would often contrast with Martine's softer, more nurturing and permissive approach, but the two of them both knew how to compromise and provided a stable home life for their family. This dichotomy would show itself early on in Jesse's life, as he was a much different child than his older brother. While Luke was studious, disciplined and serious, clearly taking after his father, Jesse was more free-spirited and outgoing, and discovered at an early age that he loved to be the center of attention. As a result, he naturally gravitated more to his mother's tutelage, and developed both good people skills and a charming personality, as well as a tendency to bend the rules when he could without much fear of reprisal.

Jesse grew to be a good but unexceptional student at school. He got A's and B's but never excelled at any particular subject. With his looks and outgoing nature, he was always a member of the "popular" kids and enjoyed his high status in the social pecking order, becoming something of a class clown would often make his voice known (whether jocular or serious) without bothering to seek permission or wait for his turn. Depending on the teacher's temperament, he was seen either as a favorite student who wasn't afraid to speak his mind and stand out, or as a cocky young punk with a smart mouth who was just clever enough to usually stay out of trouble. Both of these descriptions could fit, of course. Jesse liked attention, and seemed to enjoy pushing people's buttons. He had a laid-back, relaxed attitude to many things and found it funny when other people got worked up over something while he leaned back with a sly grin on his face.

For a while after Nadege was born, Jesse found himself suffering from middle-child syndrome; Lucas remained his father's favorite and his mother was preoccupied with the new baby. However, Nadege would also eventually gravitate more to her father. She was both an unrepentant tomboy and a borderline genius with an almost prodigal aptitude for math and sciences, which led her to become fascinated with Walter's work in engineering at an early age, and after Luke obtained a scholarship from Gonzaga to study pre-law and moved out, Nadege stepped more fully into her elder brother's spot. Jesse maintains a good if somewhat distant relationship with his father, seemingly content to go his own way without having to worry too much about living up to the demanding expectations Walter placed upon his other kids.

Martine, for her part, was happy to spend comparatively more time with Jesse, and he would occasionally assist with her various job contracts as he entered his teenage years, becoming a familiar face at several local charities and fundraisers. Jesse also learned some of the card tricks and psychic readings his grandmother had passed onto his mother from her knowledge of voodoo and Haitian culture, and during the summers he began making some money by offering card readings to tourists and other folks at the Seattle Center. Jesse never really believed in voodoo or psychic powers, but his natural charm and salesmanship served him well, and he got a kick out of trying to predict people's futures even if it was all guesswork and reading body language.

At Aurora, Jesse is a member of the track team and runs middle distances and hurdles, although he's never been more than average compared to teammates. His popularity and group skills also gravitated him to politics, and he was a member of the the student council in his junior year, as well as a part of the Youth Legislature and an occasional minor cast member in school theater productions. He would eventually decide not to run for council his senior year, preferring to focus on outside issues rather than another go-round with school politics. Jesse's family have always been active Democrats, and he was especially inspired by President McAllister's 2008 election, so over the past year he's volunteered with Fuse Washington, a youth group dedicated to promoting various Democratic or otherwise progressive candidates and initiatives leading up to the 2012 elections. He maintains mostly A's and B's in his academics, and is considering focusing on business or political science classes in college, although there's no one subject he's truly passionate about and wants to keep his options open.

Jesse isn't averse to using his good looks and people skills to his advantage at school. He has a wide range of friends and utilizes his social network to continuously seek out new dates and potential girlfriends, things he doesn't have much trouble finding. Many see him as a womanizer who drifts from one casual relationship to the next, and while his rumored promiscuity is somewhat exaggerated, his reputation isn't entirely undeserved. Jesse likes dating and intimacy, and has had several sexual partners over the past couple years, but he's been either unwilling or unable to commit to any long-term relationships. People can find him to be a closed book after a while, unwilling to develop or express himself on much more than a superficial level, able to develop lots of surface friendships but few truly close ones.

This has also led to accusations of him being shallow, simply going with the crowd when it comes to forming opinions and interests. And while Jesse will certainly admit that his pop culture taste in movies and music have always been as mainstream as you can get, he's also a fan of reading classic novels and plays, and even counts Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as a guilty pleasure. Aside from reading though, he's unlikely to enjoy activities that don't have a social aspect to them. He's dismissive towards most aspects of "geek culture" beyond the odd fantasy novel and latest cell phone, and has little patience for introverts and loners at school. If someone's outwardly friendly and personable, Jesse considers them worth talking to and calling a friend, but if they're not, he doesn't think they're worth his time.

Jesse's decided to take a gap year after high school, continuing his work with Fuse until the elections in November. He'd originally hoped to spend some time in California afterwards, but his mother is trying to convince him to look into a youth program with Global Visionaries, a group she'd previously worked with, and take part in a pre-college leadership program that would include a trip to Guatemala in the spring. Either way, Jesse's planning to apply to the University of Washington for 2013, and while he hasn't fully planned out the upcoming year, he has to admit that Guatemala would look better on his application.

Advantages: Jesse is good-looking, mostly well-liked, and has charisma and charm to spare. He's friendly with most of his fellow students and his political skills, as well as his ability to read body language and judge people accordingly, can serve him well to defuse potentially hostile situations. Jesse gravitates to group environments and should be able to find safety in numbers, but he also has a cunning streak in him and looks out for number one above all, meaning he would be likely to recognize early when a situation is likely to go bad and remove himself from harm before it happens. His running has left him in good shape and his low body fat and lean frame will help him stretch his supplies.
Disadvantages: Jesse is overconfident in himself and can be outright cocky, and not everyone thinks as highly of him as he does. If people do "see through" him or speak up against him, he won't be able to just ignore or dismiss them on the island like he does in Seattle, not that he has much experience with not getting his way in the first place. Jesse's led a mostly charmed life thus far, and has had very little in the way to prepare him for adverse situations, leading him to be undisciplined and often lazy. He has no applicable survival skills or fighting experience beyond what he's seen on TV.

Designated Number: Male student No. 023

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Designated Weapon: Riz Action Figure with Kicking Action
Conclusion: This guy reminds me of me. Too bad he isn't getting threatened by G.I Joes or he'd have this one well in hand. Charm shouldn't be underestimated though; stick what brought you to the dance kid, and you'll do okay. - Elias Östberg


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