Charles Wallace



History (Pre-RP)
Charles grew up in St. Helena in northern California. When he was 11 his family moved into San Francisco, and he started 7th grade there. He was very shy and didn't talk to anyone. Most kids ignored him, or teased him for being from a small town. The only exception was Edie Dayton, who was also teased for being quiet and smart. Charles and Edie started spending time together after she was asked by their science teacher to help tutor him. They became friends, and he was soon completely smitten with her. Since he was pretty sure she didn't see him as more than a friend, he did his best to keep his feelings hidden, going so far as to tell her that he had a crush on another girl.

In 9th grade, the dynamics of their friendship changed as new guy Troy Trumann became friends with Charles. Troy had quite a few admirers but seemed happy to be single. As his best friend, Charles soon was the guy everyone would ask for details about Troy, likes and dislikes, if he liked them. He became somewhat popular as a result of this friendship.

In 10th grade Troy decided he wanted to date Edie, and enlisted Charles to help to win her over to the idea. Although he seemed outwardly to support the idea of his two closest friends dating, Charles was still pining for Edie. Troy and Edie tried to get her friend Nora to date him, and while he tried to go along with this, he didn't feel right about using her as a substitute. When he attempted to end things with Nora, she got upset, so he awkwardly attempted to reassure her by explaining that it's not her, and that he has feelings for someone else.

After hearing about this, Troy quickly figured out who that someone else was. Rather than being upset or jealous, he seemed amused, and began constantly teasing Charles about it. Early in their junior year, at a party, Troy dared Charles to kiss Edie. With a crowd of onlookers, he was overcome by nerves, bashed his glasses into her temple, and missed kissing her entirely. He then left the party, humiliated and hurt.

The following night, Chuck stopped over at Troy's unannounced to talk about what happened. His guilt over wanting his friend's girlfriend had led him to believe he deserved the public humiliation. However, much to his surprise, he found Troy kissing another girl, and left before they saw him.

Trying to give Troy the benefit of he doubt, but fearful of what might be going on, Charles started watching his friend closely. Within a month he found enough evidence that he had no doubt that Troy was cheating.

Charles worked up his nerve and told Edie what he saw. To his shock and dismay, Troy had been talking so much about his crush that her reaction was to accuse him of trying to break up her relationship.

Charles retreated into himself. His parents were having a rough time, as his mom was unexpectedly pregnant a fourth time and was having complications. Soon after, she was hospitalized to prevent her from losing the baby. Charles became responsible for getting his two sisters to school in the mornings, home in the afternoons, and watching them in the evenings. Without Edie or Troy to talk to, he chose to spend as little time as possible at school, started skipping the classes they had together, and soon fell far behind.

His youngest sister was born early at 28 weeks, and spent 3 months in NICU. While both parents were spending much or all of their free time there, and Charles continued to hide out at home with his sisters. At the end of the school year, Charles didn't even show up to most finals and failed every class.

His parents realized how much they had missed while dealing with their new baby. In order to both give Charles a fresh start and to get his baby sister into a highly recommended early intervention physical therapy program for preemies, they moved the family to Sanditon.

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