" How could this be done?
By such a smiling sweetheart? "

~

Both Teddy and Zoe had gym during the same period but they were in different classes. The main gym was big enough to be split into three parts so all three gym classes could take place at the same time. One class was focused on basketball, Teddy's class was playing dodgeball, while Zoe's class was focused on Volleyball at the moment. Zoe didn't always see Teddy during gym since they weren't always sharing the same gym. The classes were usually separated but the the gyms were being waxed so they had no choice but to combine them all.

Unfortunately for Zoe, since Teddy wasn't in her class but still in the same room, he was a major distraction. He looked incredibly handsome playing dodgeball. He was tall and dominant, had a strong swing, and was as cocky as ever when he got someone out. He was drool-worthy when he would stop to take a breather, slightly doubled over with his hands on his knees as he heavily panted. She enjoyed watching him but more than that, she couldn't stop thinking.

Zoe wanted to know more about Carmen. She wanted to know more about Teddy's mother and father too. She wanted to know more about him as well. Her intense craving to know all about Teddy made her wonder if she was obsessed with him. She didn't know how to figure that out on her own, and frankly, she was more concerned about him than her obsession with him...

"Can I ask you a question?" Zoe jogged up to Chuck and Joseph. Their ball had flew off after a bad hit so the teammates on the other side of their court went to grab it, putting their game on pause.

"The ball goes over the net." Chuck teased, as if Zoe didn't even know the basics of Volleyball.

Zoe playfully hit him as she rolled her eyes. Her attention drifted to Teddy as he grabbed a stray dodgeball and quickly launched it across the room, easily taking out his opponent. "You've known Teddy for a long time, right? You guys grew up together?"

"Basically.." Joseph shrugged. "It may be a small, boring town but growing up together is a little strong of a term."

"Why do you ask?" Chuck's eyes narrowed. He didn't like that Zoe was still staring at the guy. She came over to talk to him and yet, she hadn't taken her eyes off of Teddy.

"So, you guys know his sister, don't you? Carmen?" Zoe's eyes followed Teddy as he jogged after another dodgeball. Joseph and Chuck exchanged looks, their eyes big and round. With no response, Zoe turned to the two boys, who looked like they had just seen a ghost. "What?" Pulled the two from their silent conversation.

"How did you hear about her? Did Teddy tell you about her?" Joseph leant in to covertly whisper. Zoe reared her head back from his close proximity.

"N-No... I just heard Teddy got suspended the last time someone brought her up so I was curious." Zoe shrugged.

"That's pretty ballsy of you to bring her up then, Zo." Joseph snorted a laugh. "You asking for trouble? You want Teddy to deck you and get suspended again?"

"Teddy wouldn't hit me." Zoe defended, her face contorting with anger. She was angry that Joseph would even joke about that.

"He's a sociopath, Zoe. I wouldn't be surprised if he had laid his hands on a woman before. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that's why his sister ran off. I mean, come on," Joseph gently hit Chuck's chest with a cocky smirk on his face. "Even his father is a psycho. His mother dies and his sister goes missing and nobody even bothers to question them. I smell something fishy."

Zoe tensed at the image of Teddy putting his hands on a woman like that. He was big, and strong, and intimidating. But, Zoe had never actually seen him be aggressive in any way. Sure, he was an asshole sometimes but he wasn't physical with people. When she thought about it, the only times that he laid his hands on her was when he was helping her with something. When she tripped, he caught her. When she needed help up those rocks, he lifted her up. And he had pinched her nose once..

Thus, Zoe concluded that Teddy would never hurt her. He just wouldn't. He even had a really nice smile when it was genuine, which none of these guys had probably ever seen. He wasn't a total monster like they thought. They had an image drawn up of Teddy in their head, but it wasn't the full picture. They were missing little bits and pieces, filling in the gaps with their own biases and assumptions. But, when Zoe thought about it, a lot of people were doing that with her too.

This school had never seen Teddy smile. This school had never seen Zoe cry. Polar opposites. Blurred personalities. And fake personas. That realization hit Zoe like a trunk. No wonder she had such a big obsession with him. She saw something familiar in Teddy, and it was herself. They might not have similar personalities or struggles in their life, but they had one thing in common; there was a little piece of themselves that they were hiding away and could somehow only show it to one another.

Zoe found that to be really special.

"What do you know about Carmen?" Zoe pushed past everything else to get straight to the point. She didn't care about Chuck and Joseph's bias against Teddy. She just wanted information.

Joseph was hesitant, but not as hesitant as Chuck, who refused to engage in this conversation but still overlooked it.

Joseph dared to answer, "She was sold to a rich man to pay for her mothers drug addiction." Zoe's eyes widened. That was definitely different than what she heard from Howl. "You may not believe me, Zoe, but that's why I think Teddy's so insane. His fathers a drunk and his mother was an addict. He's messed up in the head, I swear to you."

Chuck growled at Joseph's nonsense as he hit him in the stomach much harder than Joseph had hit him. "Knock it off! You know that shit's not true!" Chuck turned to Zoe and she was relieved to know Chuck, at least, didn't believe something so crazy. "She wasn't sold to the guy, she just ran off with him so she could give her addiction-ridden parents some money so they'd finally overdose and kick the bucket. I think she'll show up again when her father kicks it."

Zoe gaped in shock at Joseph and Chuck. She had never heard two stories that were so heartless, and morbid, and not true at all. Zoe didn't know the whole story by neither of those were it. She knew that much! Carmen wasn't sold and she didn't marry a rich guy just to supply her parents with enough drugs to kill them. She ran off to escape. That's what Howl said. And Zoe would rather believe Howl, for whatever reason. She just didn't know what Carmen was escaping.

Zoe just wanted to know why Carmen ran off, how their mother died, and how it all effected Teddy. She could, at least, understand how he ended up suspended the last time his sister was mentioned. With stories like these circulating around school, she wanted to slap Chuck and Joseph herself. If Teddy wanted to throw a couple punches, it was completely understandable. Zoe didn't promote or encourage violence, obviously, but she understood. It wasn't fair that they got to talk this way about her family.

"No..." Zoe began playing with her necklace that was tucked into her gym shirt. "I know none of that's true.. It can't be.."

Chuck silently examined Zoe as she stood frozen in time with her mind wondering aimlessly. Joseph ran back to pick up their game again when their ball was retrieved but Chuck didn't move. He was so confused as to why Zoe was so interested in Teddy. He had never seen the two together. Did they ever talk? Or, did Zoe just have an unrequited crush from a distance? That couldn't be it. He was such an asshole. She saw him rip her photo down, didn't she? Wasn't that enough to keep her away from him?

"Uhh, hey.." Chuck awkwardly tapped Zoe's arm to pull her from her thoughts. Zoe's brown eyes flickered up to his, her eyebrows raising in silent curiosity. "Uh.. You wanna.. go see that new Avengers movie t-together this weekend? I don't know if you'll have to spontaneously fly out of state again but it'd be really nice if we.."

"Sure! Vanessa was just talking about that yesterday. She's really excited to see Spider-Man interact with the other hero's. We can gather everyone and go see it together." Zoe smiled, genuinely oblivious to Chuck's attempt at asking her out.

Chuck, unsure of how to handle this situation, decided to avoid any chance at embarrassing Zoe by correcting her and accidentally making her feel stupid. So, instead of letting that happen, he just went with it. "Y-yeah! All of us! We should all go, together. Saturday, yeah?"

"Yeah. Saturday should work!" Zoe smiled and nodded, her fingers still playing with her necklace. She turned back towards her team, who had been managing without her. And then her eyes found Teddy and she couldn't look away. "Talk to you after class, Chuck.."

Chuck scowled at Teddy and turned on his heels to get away from Zoe so he didn't get drooled on. He really couldn't wrap his head around why Zoe was so interested in that mutt and it was pissing him off. Why did she care about Carmen? Why was she so convinced that Teddy was an angel? Whatever! Chuck didn't even want to think about it. Zoe was only interested because she was a people person, and once she figured out that he wasn't, she'd be over it.

It wasn't even worth Chuck's time or suspicion.

Unfortunately for Chuck, who wanted to let it go and forget Zoe's curiosity towards Teddy ever happened, Zoe brought it up again. While leaving school with her friends, Zoe easily gathered everyone's attention with one simple question.

"You guys have heard of Carmen, haven't you?"

Everyone awkwardly exchanged glances, everybody's faces depicting a different, complex emotion. Jennie hoped in first, her expression portraying disgust more than anything. "Teddy's sister? She used to go to our school. But, I heard she ran off to be a hippy and live in the woods somewhere. I'm pretty sure all she does is mushrooms and weed now.."

Zoe filed that information into the compartment in her brain, that was properly labeled False Assumptions. Although, the whole story surrounding Teddy's family relied heavily on drugs, which made Zoe wonder how much of it was false. Everyone had a different story up their sleeve but every single person mentioned drugs. Maybe Teddy's mom really had died from a drug overdose. Even if that was true, it still didn't make sense why everyone was being so nasty about it.

If the woman was addicted to drugs and ripped her family apart, that meant she needed help. The least amount of help was teasing Teddy until he was a secluded asshole. It wasn't her fault if she was an addict. Addicts were the ones that lost control. They were victims to their addictions. But every time someone mentioned Teddy, or Carmen, their mother, or their father, they said crude and heartless things. It made Zoe even more curious, since she couldn't understand why.

Fisher was about to join his friends on their walk home before he heard talk about Carmen. That made him think of Teddy, and then he thought of Howl. Earlier in the day, Howl had shoved a pencil in Fisher's back pocket and threatened him to return it or else Fisher would regret it. He didn't threaten it in a terrifying way, necessarily. Although, the way Howl did it made a shiver run down Fisher's spine, the way he whispered in his ear and smirked so smugly wasn't all that fearsome.

In a way, Fisher was scared. He had been thoroughly threatened as he felt his blood run hot and face even hotter. But, it was different. He wasn't scared of getting hurt. Quite the opposite, actually. Howl was usually very gentle with Fisher. Uncharacteristically gentle. It was the shiver that ran down his spine that scared Fisher. He was uncharacteristically drawn to Howl, physically. That's what scared him.

"Here!" Fisher slapped the pencil on to Howl's chest, instantly regretting it as he felt Howl's chest bounce and rumble as he chuckled. "Here's your stupid pencil."

Teddy peaked curiously over Howl's shoulder but didn't make himself known yet. He wasn't planning on smoking with Howl again today, but, he did want to borrow a cigarette for the walk home. But since Fisher had been the one to approach Howl this time, Teddy took a moment to stand back and admire this rare occasion. He could already tell Howl was thriving in the awkward air surrounding him and Fisher. Fisher wouldn't even look up at him because he was so nervous, and frankly, Howl loved it.

"You were suppose to deliver this to my house, Fish. Can't you follow orders?" The charming smile on Howl's face translated easily through his husky voice and made Fisher's heart race.

Fisher looked up, his face flushed and scrunched with annoyance. Howl hadn't grabbed the pencil yet so Fisher had no choice but to the hold it against Howl's warm chest. "I am not going to your house just so you can kidnap me!" Fisher blurted.

Howl tilted his head, the dangly earring on his right ear swinging with that little movement. "Kidnap you? If you arrive at my house on your own volition, is it really kidnapping? Are you really that afraid to get a tour of my room, Fish?"

Howl had offered that tour a million times. He hinted at it with every opportunity presented to him. He teased Fisher relentlessly about getting a full tour of Howl's room. It always made Fisher flustered and red in the face. He wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what Howl was referring to, not like he was trying to be all that coy about it. Still, Fisher never wanted Howl to elaborate on it and he never wanted that tour.

"Just take the fucking pencil, Howl!" Fisher shoved Howl's chest but Howl didn't move.

Instead, Howl took a forceful step forward. Fishers outstretched arm instantly succumbed to his movement and his eyes instantly dropped. He couldn't look at Howl when he was that close to him. It made Fisher incredibly, incredibly nervous when Howl did this kind of stuff. When he acted dominant. It made Fisher feel small, smaller than he already was compared to Howl. Fisher didn't hate it when Howl flipped that switch. Quite the opposite, actually. That's what Fisher hated the most...

"You're still so nervous after all the things we've done together, Fisher?" Howl whispered above the younger.

Fisher instinctively raised his free hand to put the back of it against his mouth, his face heating to an incredibly unsafe temperature. Fisher felt even smaller as Howl loomed over him, filling his head with all the lewd moments the two had shared together. It was only a handful of times that things had gotten out of control, and they had never went all the way, but the memories still made the young boy cower with embarrassment.

"Geez, Howl." Teddy slapped a hand down on Howl's shoulder as he stepped beside him. "Give the poor guy a break and take the damn pencil."

Before Howl could protest, Teddy snatched the pencil from between Fisher's hand and Howl's chest just so he could place it in Howl's hand. Fisher was left in shock as he watched Teddy swiftly transport the object from one spot to the next. It took him a moment, but when Fisher realized his hand was still on Howl's chest, he retracted it and tightly hugged himself.

"Why'd you ditch the goons, huh, Fisher? Aren't you safer with them than with this animal?" Teddy teased Howl as he flashed a quick smirk at him.

"U-Uh, Oh!" Fisher stammered. "Zoe was talking about Carmen, which made me think of you, which made me think of Howl, so I ran over here to..."

"She was what?" Teddy barked, sound lower than expected but just as fearsome as if he had shouted it.

Fisher stilled as he realized where he had gone wrong. "N-Nothing.. Nevermind."

Teddy turned to Howl, deciding to direct his fuming anger at a deserving victim. Smoke was nearly blowing from his flaring nostrils as he scowled so angrily at Howl. "Zoe is talking about Carmen? To those assholes? Are you fucking kidding me, Howl? You really couldn't shut your big fucking mouth for two seconds?"

Howl shrugged, although, he didn't look or feel that guilty. "What? She was curious. And she'd never hurt a fly, Teddy. It's not like she's saying anything bad."

"Is she?" Teddy turned to Fisher again, appearing as if he'd crush Fisher's head if he gave him the wrong answer. His chest was heaving, his eyes were wide, and muscles were tense, making Fisher more and more hesitant to answer him. "What's she saying, Fisher? Has she been on this all day? She isn't satisfied with all the bullshit everyone's spouting yet?"

Fisher nibbled on his lower lip as he figured out what to say. "Uh-Uhm.. When she asked me, she said that Chuck claimed that Carmen was sold to a rich man to feed your parents drug addiction and was going to come back after they both overdosed. But Zoe, herself, hasn't really said much.. I think she's just curious."

"Fuck that!" Teddy angrily proclaimed with more anger in his expression than what he portrayed every single day at school. "Fuck you, Howl! Fuck Zoe! Fuck Chuck! Fuck every dumbass in this entire fucking school!"

Fisher and Howl stood in silence as they watched Teddy storm off. He threw his hood over his head, stuck his hands in his hoody pocket, and marched towards the hill that led to Zoe and Teddy's neighborhood. Luckily, Zoe and her gang was far ahead by now so they wouldn't have to suffer any of Teddy's wrath, which he would be very, very happy to give out right about now.

"You owe me." Howl narrowed his piercing eyes down at the younger.

Fisher perked up with shock. "What? Owe you for what? What did I do to you? That had nothing to do with you!"

"You basically just ratted me out! And Zoe! I'll take Zoe's payment so you'll owe me double. How does that sound?"

"Not fair at all!"

"Too bad. You owe me twice over. And don't forget it." Howl casually shrugged and started through the parking lot to find his car, leaving Fisher feeling alone and guilty. He really shouldn't have brought up Zoe. He was just so caught off guard by Howl that he just word vomited when Teddy came to his rescue.

Now everyone was screwed.

~

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Chuck shouted as he watched Teddy assault his car with the most vulgar spray paint art that he had ever seen. It took his breath away, but not as much as seeing Teddy vandalize his car did.

At the delightful sound of Chuck's outrage, Teddy looked to his left and was completely unshaken at being caught red handed. He obviously didn't care if somehow caught him. He was feeling even more ruthless than usual tonight. Most people would be surprised to know that he actually was planning on getting caught. He wanted to start something with Chuck. Again. The fucker couldn't keep his damn mouth shut after all. He had to learn his lesson somehow.

Chuck had originally started into the parking lot to start his car and let it warm up, for Zoe's sake since she was cheerleading in a tiny skirt and crop top for a couple hours straight. They were deep into the fall season but the unpredictable weather meant the cheerleaders weren't prepared for it to be so cold tonight after it was so warm earlier in the day. Few of the cheerleaders had actually prepared for cold weather, which meant they were stuck cheering in the cold with very little clothing.

Chuck came out here to warm up his car for Zoe but had totally forgotten about it at the sight of Teddy with a spray can pointed at the hood of his car. Instead, all Chuck wanted to do was ring his neck. A few wondering students from Hudson high school had been watching Teddy as he vandalized Chuck's car and decided to hang around to see what it would amount to. They were not disappointed once they saw Chuck charge towards Teddy with so much fury in his eyes.

"You MOTHERFUCKER!" Chuck seethed between gritted teeth as he stomped closer to Teddy, his arm already reeled back to swing.

Teddy managed to dodge Chuck's predictable swing but Chuck still got him with his second one. A couple loitering students gasped and pulled out their phones to get video of the fight. Teddy was quick to recover from the hit to his face and took a deep breath before he dove into Chuck's stomach and threw him to the ground. A small crowd began to form and loudly react as the two brawled it out in the middle of the parking lot. It wasn't too long before Zoe heard the news.

"Chuck just punched Teddy in the face! They're wrestling in the parking lot!" Someone yelled to the football players, who were just on the other side of the fence from the cheerleaders.

Zoe's eyes widened in shock at the announcement. As the footballers and other students on the bleachers flooded out to the parking lot, Zoe picked up her dufflebag and rushed to squirm through the heavy crowd. By the time she made it to the middle of the circle, Chuck had a bloody nose, Teddy had blood dripping down his face from a cut on his eyebrow, but they weren't stopping.

Teddy was on top of Chuck after a bit of wrestling, wailing on him without any reserve as Chuck held his arms in front of his face to block the punches. Everyone simply cheered on the fight and filmed it with their phones. Nobody cared to stop it. Little did Zoe know, they had been waiting for Teddy and Chuck to snap on each other since middle school. It had been a long time coming, frankly.

This was the first time Zoe had seen Teddy this... violent. She'd never seen him throw a punch, never seen such a horrifying glare on his face, never been this scared of him. He looked like he was going to kill Chuck if he got the chance. No wonder he got suspended the last time he was in a fight.. He was brutal. Luckily, though, Chuck was in wrestling for five years as a kid so he knew how to get out of this situation.

In the blink of an eye, Chuck did some kind of roll that kicked Teddy off of him. Chuck scrambled to his feet, as did Teddy. Zoe couldn't help but just stare in shock. Chuck was wiping blood from his nose and raising his fists like he was ready for more, Teddy was rolling his shoulders and his neck like he was about to whoop ass again. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She knew the two weren't friends but did they really have to beat each other to a pulp.

"Come on, Mutt! Try it again. I dare you." Chuck threatened with a chuckle.

Zoe had reached her breaking point. She had enough of this and nobody else was going to stop it. So, Zoe raised her heavy duffle bag full of cheer clothes, a spare pair of sneakers, water bottles, and etc. over her head and threw it at Chuck. The duffle bag collided with Chuck and nearly caused him to tip over before he firmly planted his feet and caught the bag as it fell into his arms. Everyone was in awe at the new opponent entering the ring.

"Stop calling him that!" Zoe yelled at Chuck as she stepped towards him. She was in the circle now, with eyes and cameras glued to her but, she didn't care. "What is the matter with you, Chuck?"

"Me?" Chuck dropped the duffle bag to the ground as he pointed to the car, which the circle had conveniently crowded around since that's where Chuck and Teddy collided. "Teddy vandalized my fucking car! He's a goddamn lunatic! I didn't even do anything! He's just that rabid of a dog!"

"Oh, what the fuck ever, Chuck!" Teddy dramatically exclaimed. Zoe turned to Teddy, her curled pigtails swinging, and she instantly became worried at the sight of blood dripping down his chin from his eyebrow. That was a bad cut. "You can talk behind my back all you want, Chuck. Run your mouth all day long, that's fine. But when you put Carmen in your fucking mouth, I'm gonna bust out a tooth! I told you last time that this shit would fucking happen but you can't keep my family out of your goddamn mouth!"

Chuck's anger fell into shock. He didn't think Teddy would find out that he had mentioned Carmen. He only said one thing about her. Was that really enough for Teddy to go spray painting his car? Who had even told him? Teddy was never around to hear him. Was it Joseph? Joseph was a relatively neutral person at school. He was friends with literally everyone. But even he had ran his mouth when Zoe asked about Carmen. He wouldn't risk outing himself like that.

Teddy turned in a circle with his arms out and expression cocky. "Anybody else want to share their theories on how my sister disappeared? What about my mother, huh? I know y'all motherfuckers have stories! Let me hear'em!"

Zoe stared bewildered at Teddy as he shouted, her hands shaky and thoughts blurred as she was consumed by her shock. She had never seen him like this. He was off the rails. Sure, he always looked angry but, he was a calm and somber volcano when she was around him. Now, he had exploded and was spewing lava like his life depended on it. He had snapped. It wasn't the first time everyone here had seen it either. Only Zoe.

"I'm the one who asked." Zoe confidently confessed.

Everyone silently gasped and exchanged shocked expressions. Zoe must be insane to step into something like this so fearlessly. Teddy could snap her over his knee if he wanted to. And by the twisted look on his face as he looked down at her, it seemed he just might.

"I know you did." Teddy dropped his arms and stepped threatening towards Zoe, each step shaking fear into her bones, but she didn't cower as he towered over her. "Because you're a spoiled rotten bitch! And just because I said no to you, you have to go beg everybody else to get what you wanted. Can't you just leave me alone, Zoe? Can't you? Can't you stay out of my business for two fucking seconds?"

Chuck stepped forward, his chest pressing against Zoe's back as he shoved Teddy's chest. Teddy hardly fell back a step as his eyes lifted to Chuck. "Don't fucking talk to her like that. I'll knock your ass out in a minute."

Teddy smirked and chuckled at Chuck's threat. "I can talk to her any way I'd like. She knows she's in the wrong just as much as you are."

Zoe's eyes pricked with tears but she held them back. She felt bad, which undoubtedly meant she was in the wrong. If she had left it alone, none of this would have happened. Howl warned her. Carmen was a sensitive subject for Teddy and she had been warned that he got violent when she was mentioned. Now Chuck's bloody nose and Teddy's split open eyebrow was on her. This entire, very horrible, situation was on her.

"I'm sorry, Teddy.." Zoe whispered so quietly that it only caught Teddy and Chuck's ears.

Teddy's eyes slightly widened at her apology. For some reason, he felt the same way he did when she apologized the first time they met. He didn't want her apology. And he didn't know why.

Instantly, Chuck grabbed Zoe's arm and spun her to face him. The movement was so quick, a bit more aggressive than even he meant it, that she nearly tipped over. Her curled pigtails swing and bounced at the aggressive turn. Teddy's fists clenched and expression hardened. Everything Chuck did pissed Teddy off. Even the way he grabbed Zoe. Sure, Teddy was upset, but he would never grab a girl that small like that. Was Chuck stupid? Didn't he not realize how small she was?

"Don't apologize to him, Zoe. He doesn't deserve it." Chuck seethed, his voice quiet and rough.

Zoe kept her eyes down as her fingers nervously fidgeted with one another. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She just wanted to cry.

"Don't worry, Chuck. I don't want it anyways." Teddy stated coldly.

Zoe looked over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling in the streetlights above as she stared back at Teddy. Their eyes were glued to each other, one pair filled with anger as the other was filled with guilt. Nothing else came of their conflict as Teddy turned towards the circle surrounding them and shoved a couple people aside to escape. The crowd shifted and parted so Teddy could storm off without anymore trouble.

With a defeated sigh, Zoe looked down at her feet again. As Chuck's hands fell by his side, his fingers caught Zoe's eyes. She couldn't tell whose blood was on his finger, but when she spotted the ring on his right hand, she suspected it was Teddy's blood. That ring must be what split his eyebrow open to harshly. It was a thick ring too, which meant it could cause a good amount of damage.

"Did you have to wear your ring during the fight?" Zoe whined as she looked up at Chuck.

Chuck was bewildered by Zoe's whining. "What?" He exclaimed. "You're not seriously worried about that mutt, Zoe?"

"Stop calling him that!" Zoe cried, grabbed her duffle bag, and opted to walk home so she didn't have to go back with Chuck and the others. She just wanted to escape.

~

How are you guys feeling about the story so far?
Liking it? Loving it? Hating it?
Any favorite characters? Favorite moments? Stuff you wanna see more of?
I'm very, very curious to know how you guys perceive these characters but I don't intend for all of them to be very likable.. Comment to let me know!