[Ready] Jack Bow, District Six

My name is Jack Bow. That's Bow, like a bow and arrow. Before you ask, I don't use a bow. Mum always said how it was because we all look smart inside, as though we were dressed up mentally. I never understand her though, her metaphors aren't something I can wrap my head around. That being said, I do live in District Six, so I should be able to figure it out; being 'smart' and all. It's a misconception. I don't think I'm that smart, I don't even think I'm from here.

Appearance

I like to dress quite sensibly. Not drastically so. There's never a day I wear a shirt and tie, but I do like to keep myself maintained, otherwise nobody will hire me. Personally, I don't pay much attention to how I look as I easily care more about how I come across. I try to make my tone of voice pleasing, and I hope to speak clear. I'm only at the height of 5"7, so I am quite short even for my age. I think I would be wasted trying to make myself look tough and intimidating, because I'd never be that. I just don't have it in me.

The first thing some people usually comment on is my eyes. Personally I don't know why, it can't be that hard to decide which colour they are, but people think I have brown eyes to start with. I have green eyes though. I admit they are maybe more hazel, but officially on paper - at the Reaping for example - they are green. I'm not that athletically built. I'm no career (even if there were any in District Six, the only muscle they'd have would be in their brain). The only career that I do have is being a side-hand in some of the laboratories. They aren't high-tech. They aren't unlike rundown science classrooms, really. That's why anybody who sees me going to or from work (as it is only down the road) will see me in a lab coat on the off chance I forget to take it off.

Personality

Bubbly. I hate that word, but it unfortunately describes me, apparently. This is according to my nice comfortable set of friends, or my old friends anyway. We parted ways a little while back simply because of priorities. I am not necessarily all on my own now, but I don't often have that many people to talk to. I've became quite lonely and solitary, not that it is at all a bad thing, I kind of like it. I don't think I'd be able to live like this forever though.

I'm no angel, I do have quite a temper. I just get so frustrated when people insist on being rude, or being irritating. I can't stand it when I have to overthink the smallest things; and that happens far too often here in District Six. People here seem to thrive on being right all the time, but I really don't mind when I am put down to a failure. It's a learning curb for me, not a stump on my record. That's probably the most distinctive feature about my own personality. I feel as though I can brush off quite a lot of negativity with just being happy with how I am now, today.

I am quite independent. I will be living on my own next year. I'll be completely away from all the aid of my parents, who I adore. I feel as though this helps me knock away at my nerves, which have always been a slight issue. I don't stutter ridiculously, I just end up saying the wrong things in the spur of the moment, only to regret them on reflection later in the day or the next. I feel as though people would enjoy me much more if I was fully comfortable and fully aware of how I was presenting myself, and that's a big issue of mine.

History

My mum is called Paulina. She's a chemistry scientist here in District Six. I admire her greatly, but the details are plain; She's clever, wise and my mum. Nothing can come between us, not even our own words, because we are blood. The same can thankfully be said about my dad. He's not as high in the food chain as her, but he has a job in maintenance. He is called Harry, and I'd have thought that would be short for something but I can tell you it isn't, just in case that was a problem of yours as well. The pair of them met by coincidence. She was working in the labs apparently, and he just so happened to be on duty there, and he asked her on a date.

I come into the picture eighteen years ago, a time that isn't at all different from now. Their jobs are the same, the pay is the same, and our wealth is the same. I've been told that back then I was quite a runt; I would always misbehave in nursery, and I always wanted to play with the bigger children who would play more maturely. To me that just sounds like I was frustrated with being too childish, and that turned out to be pretty accurate. I wasn't at all fond of school, but I was taught to stick in to my studies by my mum, so that helped me pass the appropriate barriers that help you get into the higher levels of learning. They can't and won't just let any person into laboratories after all.

Growing up, the games had a huge affect on my nerves - naturally. I was petrified. Now, it isn't so bad. I think that because I've been to so many, I can safely assume it will never be me that is chosen. On the off chance, I am old enough now to have a slight advantage. I still don't ever think I would make it out alive; so I never think about it. I shut the games off in my head until I am forced to watch it like everybody else. That's just how it is for me.

Now, I would call myself prominently average. I'm nothing special.
But nothing special is how every tale starts.

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