Jessica Hawthorne

Character Sheet

Your name is Jessica Hawthorne. You grew up in Ohio. You were the daughter of a lawyer and a doctor, you were well off and were therefore exposed early to high culture and the arts. Your father was a lover of the arts and specifically classical music, so he made sure you had prints of impressionist paintings in your room as you grew up. You loved to go to museums and concerts with your parents. You enjoyed plays and ballet and everything. You went to the best schools in the area, and always got good grades.

However, when you were twelve, your mother got the chance to work in Mass General Hospital. Your father took this as a chance to leave the firm he had been with for years and start up his own practice with a friend of his in Boston. You did not want to move, did not want to leave your home, did not want to leave your small group of friends. However, you followed your parents begrudgingly. You started classes in her new school, and moved into your new house in Brookline.

It wasn't until you took a trip to the Museum of Fine arts, though, that you really started to feel comfortable in Boston. You spent hours wandering the halls of the museum, coming back as often as you could. You loved it there, more than any of the other museums in the area. You loved the feel of the building, the architecture, and the people. But more than anything else, you loved the art. You loved the sculpture and the painting. You even loved the furniture. So it was no surprise that you became an art history major as soon as she entered Lashane college.

Your freshman year, though, wasn't as romantic as you had imagined as you trudged through classes like Biology and Physics. You never got along with your roommate, Sarah, who was a Literature major and looked down on visual art as compared to the written word. Your relationship started off badly from the first day, when you came to the dorm to move your stuff in and found that Sarah's boxes of stuff were littered all over the room, on both beds and both desks. Sarah apologized, saying that she would move them, but before she got to it (after finishing a magazine, and checking her messages), one of her friends came along and invited Sarah to lunch, completely ignoring you. So it was up to you to move Sarah's stuff over to one side of the room, giving you the space to unpack and get settled in. You two fought a lot ever since then, arguing over loud music, or what the other was watching on TV.

So, second semester you absorbed yourself in your classes, staying late in the library. You hadn't made many friends, but you got along well with your professors and the other people in your classes. There was one person in a couple of your classes that you wanted to get along better with, but you didn't have the courage to approach him. Paying attention one day, you noticed one day that his name was Michael Berman. He didn't take notes, he didn't seem to care all that much, and he had that rebellious air to him that attracted you. Being physically attractive wasn't bad either. One day, even, you zoned out during a particularly boring lecture and started sketching him in your notebook. Michael was the reason you got through your freshman year. Towards the end of the year, though, he stopped coming to class as much, and soon he stopped coming altogether.

It was then that you met Darren. You were sitting in your room, reading. It was one of the few times when Sarah wasn't there being annoying. You had just gotten to the climax of the book when Sarah burst into the room, with one of her annoying friends, Heather, in tow. However, unlike most times that Sarah came back with one of her friends, there was a third person, and it was a guy. The two girls, as usual ignored you, but the guy came over and introduced himself after about a minute of standing around looking awkward.

Apparently he was Heather's new boyfriend, but he admitted that he didn't think that it was going to last. She didn't really care about him at all. He was surprised that he was talking about this kind of stuff with a total stranger, and he apologized. But you liked his candor, and liked how kind he seemed. You wanted to get out of the room and away from the chatting girls, and Darren seemed uncomfortable too, so you invited him to sneak out and grab a cup of coffee at the campus coffeehouse.

Sitting in the coffeehouse with your matching lattes, listening to one of the many student groups playing, the two of you started talking. Darren told you about how he always wanted to play music. He used to write songs throughout high school, and he had been playing the drums. You suggested that he find some people to start a band, but Darren didn't want to. He didn't want to be on stage, and he didn't have many friends. That's partly why he ended up with a girl like Heather. You two kept on talking late into the night, only stopping when the coffeehouse closed and you were told to leave. It was the most fun you had had with a guy in a long time.

For the rest of the semester and through the summer, your relationship with Darren grew until about halfway through the summer the two of you admitted that you were going out officially. When school started again in the fall, you had managed to get a single dorm room, and Darren spent a significant amount of time there, though he also spent a lot of time in his room with his new roommate Scott, a sociology major. Scott was alright, but the two of you never really got along. Whenever Jessica would visit Darren's room, you and Scott would always bicker and argue about one thing or another.

This went on for a while, your relationship with Darren was steady, but a bit stagnant. However, about three months into the new semester Scott's old roommate showed up asking if Scott would want to help start a band. What surprised you wasn't the request as much as who was making the request. It was Mike, from your Art History classes. Seeing him up close and talking for pretty much the first time was really interesting. He somehow seemed much more attractive and when he showed up with his guitar, it was only the fact that Darren was there that kept you from approaching him. So Scott, Darren, Mike, and Mike's roommate Fredrick started a band TMRfOH (don't ask what it stands for, it's embarrassing). You basically became the official groupie by virtue of being Darren's girlfriend.

You didn't really talk to Mike or Fredrick very much, and you still bickered a bit with Scott, but you got along vaguely well with all of them. They even became a bit popular on campus, getting crowds seeing them when they performed in the campus coffeehouse. You loved their music. Darren wrote all of it, and everything he wrote was good. Eventually, you tried to talk the group into recording an album, or maybe to perform at venues other than on campus. However, all of the members wanted to keep it a simple hobby. You stopped pressing them about it, but you continued to push Darren to think about selling his music. He kept all of his music in one old green notebook, but he wanted to keep the music to himself. He didn't feel it would be right to sell it if he had no part in playing it and he didn't want to play music for a living.

It wasn't long after that the band broke up. It wasn't messy or anything, the members just wanted to go do their own things. Darren was okay with it, and he and the other members of the group amicably disbanded. Darren stopped writing songs, but he still kept his old green notebook full of songs. You suggested to Darren a number of times that he should sell his music, but again, he refused. He didn't like the idea.

It was probably because of this that when the notebook disappeared a few days later, Darren accused you of stealing it. You didn't, of course but you couldn't prove it, so after arguing about it for a while, you stormed out of the room. On your way out, you ran into Scott. Scott asked you why you were so upset and walked you to your room. On the way there the two of you talked about Darren and the band and other such things. He was nice to you, which was new, and he gave you a kiss on the cheek at her door. You invited him in, but he refused and went back to his room.

After a bit, you and Darren made up and things seemed to get better. But ever since that night there has been a dark cloud hanging over your relationship. You two kept going out throughout the rest of your time at Lashane. Your relationship with Scott got better, and you two hung out more and more often. you realized that he was actually a much nicer and more interesting guy than you had originally thought.

Darren moved back home to Chicago after graduation, but told you that he was looking for jobs in the Boston area. Meanwhile you got a little apartment in Brighton. It took him a couple of months, but he managed to get a job at Nation Magazine. You remember the day he interviewed for the job, he was all nervous, sweating through his new suit. He had stayed the night at your apartment and you helped him calm down.

It wasn't much long after that that you helped Darren find an apartment. You had been talking to Scott ever since graduation and he was looking for an apartment in the Boston area as well, so you got Scott in touch with Darren and they got an apartment in Alston, not too far from where you lived.

Things seemed stable and normal for the next year or so, Darren would come over to your place all the time, you would have dinner together, go out on dates and so on. You also stayed quite good friends with Scott. You weren't especially thrilled with Darren as a boyfriend, he was stubborn, quick tempered, and you didn't feel like the relationship was going anywhere. However, he had a well paying job, and the sex wasn't half bad.

However, this feeling of dread regarding the relationship didn't go away, it just got worse. You started talking to Scott about it. You would go over to their apartment when Darren was out all night working on the new issue of the magazine. He worked on layout. He'd been trying to get an article written, but so far, they only have him do menial tasks.

You've become better friends with Scott as the years went by and you liked hanging out with him. One day, when Darren was working on that month's issue late into the night, you had had dinner with Scott at his apartment and were settling in to watch a movie when Scott kissed you.

You were too surprised to do anything at that point. It was nice, though. So you followed through and kissed him back. Things progressed from there and eventually the two of you ended up sleeping together. It was never that good with Darren. You felt a little guilty cheating on Darren, but you got over it after the third time.

About the time that Scott and Darren's lease ran out, Darren brought up the idea of the two of you moving in together. He told you that he loved you and that he wanted to further the relationship. You didn't love him. Hell, you were cheating on him with his current roommate. But, living with him would make the rent easier and it's not like the sex is horrible, so you said yes.

That didn't stop you from continuing to sleep with Scott, though.

Darren had been writing fluff pieces for the magazine lately, so he had enough money to get a nice place in Somerville. The two of you would hop on the commuter rail together and he would catch the red line to the Gold Standard Entertainment building where the Nation Magazine offices were. You would continue on and go into the city where you've been working as an administrative assistant at a Law Firm. He worked late nights more often now that he was writing, he was always working on a piece. He said he was working on a big piece. Something to do with Gold Standard. You didn't pay much attention to his work.

It wasn't long until Darren found out you were cheating on him. You suspected that he'd known for a while. You found out later that he had hired a private investigator to find out where you'd been going when you'd say you were "going out with the girls." You two had also been arguing a lot. It was clear that this relationship was on a downward spiral. You were going to end it, and he knew it. You were going to get as much out of him as you could before then, though.

You didn't get the chance, though.

Apparently (you got the report from the police after the fact), Darren was on his way home from work one day when he entered the Red Line station near his office and somehow fell into the tracks before an oncoming train. The police said that it looked like a suicide.

Things were a little weird for the few weeks after that. The funeral was depressing. Darren's sister, Shannon wouldn't stop glaring at you, like it was somehow your fault. She never really liked you. But you didn't really mind because she didn't have to, and you didn't like her much either.

You started officially going out with Scott a couple weeks later. You moved in with him a month or so after that. The problem you had with your relationship with Darren, however, is starting to appear in your relationship with Scott. He's just... kind of boring. The relationship is stagnant and you need change. You like the financial security of being with him, though. He just got a promotion at the advertising company he works for. It's nice to be able to go out shopping like you used to when you were going out with Darren.

So, it's about time for a change. You've been planning on breaking up with Scott for a little while now, but you've been putting it off because it was comfortable and you don't really have anyone to go to at the moment. But you're sure that'll change.

It's been about a year since Darren died. You just found out through the grapevine that the legal issues of his death are just now being processed. You had been wondering about life insurance and things like that. You had heard that you were the main benefactor. However, you recently heard through the grapevine that Darren had been in the process of changing that before he died. Apparently he had filled out all the paperwork and it was notarized and everything, but since it wasn't filed before he died, there were some issues surrounding its authenticity. You heard through a friend of a friend who goes to the same hairdresser that Shannon, Darren's sister is working on getting the new insurance documents. You'll probably find some excuse to run into her at the mall or something and ask her about it.

To add insult to injury, you couldn't find your favorite pair of earrings the other day. You were going out to your best friend Hillary's birthday party, and you wanted to look your best. You went to find your best pair of earrings, the dangly diamond ones that Darren got you for some anniversary or something, but they weren't there. You could swear you had them. You know you had them when you went to that new year's thing. You were quite drunk when you got back to the apartment building. You checked the lost and found, but they weren't there.

Oh well... you're just going to have to convince Scott to buy you something nice to replace them. You two are out shopping today, maybe you'll stop by a nice jewelry place.

Last Thoughts Before Game Start

Huh... it looks like practically your entire apartment building is here. There's that quiet guy, Christopher, and that tough, and kind of scary looking guy that lives with him. Scott is here with you, of course. And hey, doesn't that conductor girl live there too. That's a bit of a coincedence.

And hey, there's Mike Jones! You haven't seen him in years! He probably doens't remember you, though, it's been so long and he's a famous rock star now.

There are a lot of people here that you know. That's a little weird.

People You Know on the Train

02. Scott Barrister – Your boyfriend, who came along on your shopping trip. He’s a decent guy, but recently you find yourself becoming bored with him.

03. Louis Dalton – Your ex Darren’s friend from high school. You only met her a few times, but she always seemed kind of awkward to you.

04. - Looks like some guy who wants to be one of those movie detectives a little too much. He probably has a gun on him or something. You probably don't want to get on his bad side.

05. Madame Zostra – When you were still together Darren used to call her psychic hotline all the time. He got you hooked on it, and you’ve been using it ever since. You go to her with questions about romance and finance, mostly.

06. - He looks familiar, like you've seen him somewhere, but he's not an actor or a model or anything like that. Maybe he's just got one of those faces.

07. Shannon Gregory – Darren’s kid sister. You didn’t know her that well, but after you broke up with her brother she got it into her head that you were the reason for all Darren’s problems. She probably still blames you.

08. - Doesn't he live down the hall from you? He's kind of quiet and a little weird, but not as bad as his roommate.

09. - Speak of the devil. Quiet-guy's roommate. You're pretty sure he's dealing drugs or a murderer or something like that. He usually gives you a weird look in the hallway.

10. Mike Jones – Oh, God, is that him? Everybody knows the superstar rock musician Mike Jones, but you knew him from college, before he was famous. You’ve always had a thing for him… maybe now’s the time to see if there’s anything there.

11. - Oh great, this guys's probably going to end up stealing your purse or something. Why is there always a thug on the train?

12. Phillip Zabrensky – You think he was that quiet guy you used to know from college. He hung around you a lot, but he never had much to say.

13. - Now this guy looks way too important and rich to be riding the T. You know Armani and Gucci when you see it. His limo probably broke down or something.

14. - And, of course, the obligatory hobo on the train... Can't he get a job or something? or at least a shower?

15. Terry Shipton – Another girl you vaguely remember from college. She doesn’t seem to have done too well since then.