Characters

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**Doyle:**
Teachers love him and students torment him because he’s a neat-freak nerd, who carries a bar of soap in a plastic bag and hand sanitizer everywhere he goes. He loves to organize his pens alphabetically in a pocket pen shield. Everything in his binder is color-coded. In his private life, he is a super hero. He has all the Power-Ranger episodes memorized and a nice collection of Power Rangers underwear. Before school, he practices his super hero poses. His dad is the coach at the high school and his two older brothers are football stars but not Doyle; he takes after his petite mom. The only athletic thing Doyle enjoys is bowling. He can be found most days sitting at his computer or reading. He has a crush on Kaitlyn, the prettiest and most conceited girl in school. She doesn’t give him a second glance until he throws up on her. Dontavious and Taiwan bully him every chance they get. They try to pants him so he wears his pants up high and always wears a tight belt around his stick figure waist. Doyle really is the strongest person in school because he’s also the smartest. Did you know your brain is a muscle? He doesn’t give in to peer pressure and does the right thing even if it means standing alone.

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**Taiwan:**
He is one of the school’s bullies. He is best friends with Dontavious and is actually Dontavious’s puppet. When Dontavious got himself kicked off the football team so did Taiwan. He hid inside the girls’ locker room but got caught before anyone started undressing. His favorite sport is tormenting Doyle and flirting with Kaitlyn and Whitney.

**Dontavious:**
Dontavious is confused. He thinks he runs the school until Principal Thomas sends him to D.A.E.P. (District Alternative Placement) for two weeks. Inside of him is pain and anger because his dad left him with only a football and a lame letter. He hates football because it reminds him of his dad. When he hurts, he wants everyone else to hurt. His mom is abusive and also hurting because his dad left. It has put a lot of pressure on her and whenever she feels stress and pressure, she takes it out on Dontavious.

Lanna Jo:
She is one of the toughest girls in school but her bullying is a defense mechanism. She has no friends so in order to find out what’s going on in school, she hides out in the girls’ bathroom. Lanna Jo has a hard life. She has to get up every morning at 4:00 A.M. in order to help her mom with her paper route. Her brother works for Cluck’s Fried Chicken and so fried chicken is the main food she eats. Often chicken bones are found in her backpack. She gets teased by a goth girl named Nakodia. Nakodia is the only one at the school that isn’t afraid of her.

**Whitney:**
Whitney loves to flaunt her expensive clothes, jewelry, and shoes. She is the adopted daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest families. They found her from watching “Wednesday’s Child”, a television show that finds homes for hard-to-place foster children. All of South Elm Middle School know she was in foster care before she was adopted, but they know she is ultra-sensitive about it and never mention it; everyone except, Nakodia. Nakodia brings up her past and starts a fight with Whitney. Whitney gets sent to the alternative school, but before her parents are called to pick her up, she slips out when Dontavious’s mom comes to pick him up from school. She goes back to the group of homeless people where she was raised because she doesn’t feel like she can face her new family.

Nakodia:
She is fearless, gothic, and homeless but no one knows she is homeless. She has nothing to lose and doesn’t mind picking fights with anyone. She is very smart and a prolific reader. She too knows everyone’s secrets and which buttons to push.