Recurring Characters
Recurring characters of the book.
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Students
Harry
Harry Wynn-Tan
A sophomore football player and Leesa's first Love Interest."Wait, but I was hitting on you. Weren't we both doing that? I thought we had a thing going on."
- Ambiguously Brown: He is described as "olive-skinned" and has a Welsh-Japanese surname.
- Big Man on Campus: When he was a freshman, he won the school's football finals when all the subs were injured.
- Foreshadowing: He accidentally misnames Leesa as Sarah and explains that it's his mother's name, which he states was one of the first names he learned as a child. This foreshadows the name of his girlfriend three episodes later, Sarah Lang.
- Has a Type: Harry clearly has a type with Leesa and Sarah being described as dressing the same and, although not said until later, their interest in the band, Fraction Fifth too.
- Jerk Jock: He is a football player who has no problem two-timing Leesa and Sarah.
- Karma Houdini: He doesn't get his comeuppance after two-timing Leesa and Sarah.
- Love Interest: He is Leesa's first love interest for the first eight episodes.
Vanessa
Vanessa Andrews
A Nice Girl who is Luke's Love Interest."I don't know, I've always wanted to go to Prague. Why do you ask?"
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Vance isn't necessarily a "bad guy" but he's a lot further from a Nice Guy than Luke is, which is how Vanessa's crush on him appears to be.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Raven's Betty.
- Character Tics: She always waves when she greets Luke.
- This is lampshaded in a later episode in which she waves but doesn't verbally greet him.
- Daddy Issues: It's subtle but it's implied to be the reason for her crush on Vance.
- Disappeared Dad: In "Physical Desires of Homo Sapiens", she mentions that she used to play football with her father and cousins before he left. This is not further elaborated on.
- Fangirl: She is a fan of the band, Fraction Fifth and even suggests for Luke to listen to their best album. She also ends up winning the tickets to the concert, beating out Leesa, Raven, Sarah and Rivera.
- Foreshadowing: She reveals that her father left when she was younger, two episodes later, her crush on Vance is revealed, and in the next episode, Vance explains that the reason so many girls want him is because he reminds them of their Daddy Issues.
- Hidden Depths:
- She has always wanted to go to Prague but doesn't have any idea why.
- She used to play football with her father and cousins to the point where she knows what the scars look like.
- Karma Houdini: She doesn't get her comeuppance after forcing Vance to be the one to tell Luke about her feelings.
- Love Interest: She is Luke's love interest for the majority of the book.
- Love Triangle: Appears in both of the main ones of the book: Raven/Luke/Vanessa and Luke/Vanessa/Vance.
- Nice Girl: Subverted. She has a nice and pleasant demeanour until we find out about her feelings for Vance.
- Romantic False Lead: For Luke, he ends up falling for her twice.
Rivera
Samuel "Sam" Rivera
An odd student who is a rival to the group at times."Those hamster flip flops aren't gonna pay for themselves."
- Ambiguously Brown: He is described as "light-skinned" in the book and later enters the talent show to win the money for an Italian family heirloom.
- Competition Freak: He agrees to have a baking competition with Greg because he got a higher percentage than him on his pudding.
- Fan Boy: He is the fan of Fraction Fifth and tried to win the tickets to their concert.
- Hidden Depths:
- In "Puddin' Pride", he has a baking competition with Greg.
- In "Virtual Reproduction & Vicious Humiliation", he sells slingshots during break time.
- In "Breaking Badminton", he goes to the badminton club.
- In "The Youthful Race of Romance", he deejays at the Valentine's dance, which is revealed in "Examinations of Talented Individuals" as something he does frequently at family parties and earns money from.
- He uses his skills to try and win more money at the talent show.
- In "Odd Interests in Musicology", he is revealed to be a fan of Fraction Fifth and also hoping to win the tickets to their concert.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He appears as a jerk to Greg, the nicest thing he does is help Leesa out in her humiliation plan against Harry, however, this is because he had something against him in the past (it is not revealed why). In a later episode, we discover that he has a crush on Leesa but it is not followed up on, it can be implied that this is also why he helped Leesa.
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone refers to him as "Rivera".
Emilio
Emilio Stiller
A fellow badminton player and Leesa's second Love Interest."I mean, this guy has superpowers or something. His movement is impeccable."
- Book Worm: He is seen reading a book in "Consequences of Temperature Attraction".
- Chekhov's Gunman: In a different fashion than usual, Emilio has an Early-Bird Cameo in "Extreme Dieting", introduced as "Stiller" and Raven's opponent in the badminton try-outs. He is later seen once in "Physical Desires of Homo Sapiens" but he isn't fully introduced until "Familial Feast".
- Early-Bird Cameo: Emilio first appears in "Extreme Dieting" as Raven's opponent in the badminton try-outs, introduced as "Stiller".
- Jerk Jock: He is a badminton player who turned down Leesa for reasons unexplained and in the next episode, during a badminton game, he knocks her out with a shuttle. Thankfully, he gets expelled afterwards.
- Last-Name Basis: When he is first introduced, he is only referred to as "Stiller".
- Love Interest: He is Leesa's second love interest for two episodes.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Probably the thing that grounds him the most is his (un-seen) friendship with Sarah Lang, which is frequently mentioned after he gets expelled.
Sarah
Sarah Lang
A mean student who is rude to everyone around her with a hatred for the group."You guys are weird. I can't believe that I actually wanted to make out with one of you."
- Alpha Bitch: Sarah is the stereotypical mean girl at the school who goes to the lengths of bullying when she creates a nickname for Leesa that spreads around the school.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Leesa's Betty for Harry's Archie.
- The Bully: She laughs at Leesa as she breaks down in the hallway and films it, later garnering a nickname for her that spreads around the whole school.
- Fangirl: "Odd Interests in Musicology" shows that she is a fan of the band, Fraction Fifth and attempts to win tickets to their concerts, hoping to beat out Leesa and Raven. Vanessa does instead.
- Hidden Depths: Her being a fan of Fraction Fifth invites the idea that she and Leesa have things in common other than their taste in boys.
- Mirror Character: She appears to be this way with Leesa as it is stated that they both dress similarly, however, it is also to show why Harry chose to be around both of them.
- The Nicknamer: She is one who came up with the nickname "Weepy Leesy".
- Platonic Life-Partners: She has a (unseen) friendship with Emilio, which is mentioned the same episode that he is expelled. She takes the time to mention it in her appearance after that she blames the group for her losing her friend.
Kent
Daniel Theodore Kent
A jerk bully who hurts people for the fun of it."Yeah, I like keeping an eye out on freshman bags. They have valuable things in there."
- Big Jerk on Campus: Everyone knows him as a bully and even later when he becomes nicer.
- Character Development: He becomes a nicer person towards people after realising the errors of his ways and how important life is in general.
- Dumb Jock: He is a complete idiot who also plays basketball.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Theodore.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When he becomes nicer to people.
- Jerk Jock: Starts off as this as part of his characterisation.
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone calls him "Kent".
- Narcissist: He believes that he is a very attractive person.
- Put on a Bus: He drops out of high school in "Photographic Fury" to prepare for the birth of his child with a three-months-pregnant girl in his grade.
- Reformed Bully: Becomes one in "Photographic Fury".
- Teen Pregnancy: He becomes a father after impregnating a random girl in his grade.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Literally. He starts being kind people out of nowhere and everyone loves it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Vance.
Suzie
Suzanne Tadala "Suzie" Ship
A sweet drama student who is good at what she does and supportive of those around her."I know it off by heart. I have a big memory."
- Drama Club: This is where she is first introduced and befriends Leesa. She also has a role later on in the talent show in "Examinations of Talented Individuals".
- Nice Girl: She is one of the kinder recurring characters and instantly backs Leesa in her journey through Drama.
- The Nicknamer: She calls Leesa "Bumblebee".
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Goes by "Suzie" instead of her full name.
- In "Investigating Artistic Pranking", Luke suggests going by "Susan", she opposes it for being outdated.
Faculty
Miss Gill
Hannah Gill
Pine Hill's Head of PE teacher."If you really love them, you won't be afraid of how they react to anything. It's all about taking the big steps."
- Locked Out of the Loop: Miss Gill is completely unaware of Mr Falk and his misogynism, as opposed to the rest of the school.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Having seen Raven pass out at the tryouts, she suggested she go to the badminton club instead until Raven got better. There's a reason she's the Head of PE.
Mr Falk
Trent Falk
A sexist PE teacher who works at Pine Hill."To put it simply: because you're a girl. And girls are weak."
- Ax-Crazy: With the revelation of what he really wants in "Discriminatory Date" and a result of that being him stabbing himself with a fork, it is clear that Mr Falk is not a stable man.
- Embarrassing First Name: Trent, which Raven finds amusingly funny.
- Hate Sink: His entire character is this. There is not a single redeeming quality about him.
- Jerkass: He is a misogynistic teacher who refuses to let the female students in his classes do anything because he believes that girls are the weaker gender. Alongside this, he punishes the group into playing football against the senior football team for an entire day because Vance bumped into Melanie and was hit in the face with a bacon sandwich.
- Manipulative Bastard: He's been engaged to Miss Gill for three years, manipulating her into thinking that he's a great guy so she'll stay with him only for it to be revealed that he only got engaged to her so that he could take her job, and two years during their engagement, he cheated on her with thirty other women who he kept records on on his school computer.
- Put on a Bus: The last he is seen he is being carried out of the library by the women he cheated on.
- Rage Breaking Point: Raven faking trying to open a jar of pickles sent him over the edge into revealing his true colours in front of Miss Gill.
- The Sociopath: He very well may be with the manipulative relationship with Miss Gill and lack of care for his students regardless of whether or not they get hurt.
- Straw Misogynist: The basis of his entire character, although he does ave deeper intentions about him.
- Villainous Breakdown: Raven tricks him into this during his date with Miss Gill.
The Librarian
The Librarian
Pine Hill's librarian."Well, freshmen are small and annoying, aren't they?"
- Evil Is Petty: The Librarian isn't evil but it is stated that she sometimes kicks Leesa out the library when her computer is the only one that "doesn't work".
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone calls her "The Librarian", even in "Investigating Artistic Pranking", when Luke and Greg are interrogating her, they use it casually like a first name.
- Hidden Depths: She has a daughter at the school, who dated Harry, whom she forced a break up between because he didn't return a book to the library. At least there's someone out there who she seems to care for.
- Jerkass to One: Whilst The Librarian isn't the nicest of people, she has specifically stated that she hates Leesa.
- Scary Librarian: Not necessarily scary but she isn't the most approachable person in the school.
Mr Garrick
Mr Garrick
A Drama teacher at Pine Hill who encourages Leesa to be a part of the Drama Club."I should probably take his job, shouldn't I?"
- Chain of Deals: In "Pricey Camaraderie", he becomes a part of it by asking Ms Axworthy to teach him law.
- Drama Club: He is the one who leads it and encourages Leesa to join it.
- Hidden Depths: He has a desire to learn law despite teaching drama.
- The Power of Acting: He is a firm believer in this as a drama teacher.
- Stern Teacher: On Leesa's first day at drama club, he gives her harsh advice on acting that forces her to leave, however, it is clear that it comes from a kind place of trying to teach her something, seeing as he was the one who invited her in the first place.
Families
Greg's family
Ingrid
Ingrid Young
Greg's grandmother who supported him in his dreams before disappearing for a year and returning to continue supporting him in annoying ways."Fix your hair. We have much to talk about."
- The Atoner: In her first appearance, she admits that she messed up by leaving and is back to make things right.
- Brutal Honesty: Ingrid always says what's on her mind.
- Character Death: She is revealed to have passed away in "Contrasts in Ageing", giving Greg the motivation to return to cooking.
- Hidden Depths:
- She must have a past in the medical industry if she was able to give Greg his vaccination with no problems whatsoever.
- She also knows how to hide herself well as she disappeared for a year with no contact with her family.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Whilst Ingrid is constantly snarking at everyone and only focused on Greg, it should be noted that the only reason she came back is to help him with his future.
- Never Mess with Granny: In "Unregistered Rules", Ingrid reveals that Greg missed one of his vaccinations as a child and needs to take it. He refuses to do so and proceeds to chase him around the school to give it to him.
- The Nicknamer: She has nicknames for some members of the group she interacted with during her time at Pine Hill:
- "Conditioner Boy" for Vance.
- "Blondie Big-Brain" for Leesa, which she didn't find out about until after Ingrid passed away.
- "Glasses" for Luke.
- Spirit Advisor: She appears as one to Greg to remind him of why he does what he does. She's even described has having a blue light around her.
