LOUIS POWELL has been spotted in town. They have been living here for 1 WEEK in THE OUTSKIRTS. They are LOYAL and STUBBORN, as far as newcomers should be concerned when approaching them at ENNORA HIGH where they work as A HIGH SCHOOL GEOLOGY TEACHER.
QUICK FACTS
name: louis powell
nickname: lou, plant daddy, frenchie
age: 32 years
birthdate: november 22
zodiac sign: saggitarius
career: high school geology teacher
BIOGRAPHY
TRIGGERS: drug use, illness, neglect
THE PAST:
Somewhere in France, Louis' has never known exactly where, a young woman struggled to raise a son on her own. She had little income, no stable home, and any support she'd once had had given up on her shortly after she'd gotten pregnant and decided to go through with the pregnancy. But she loved her son, and she did her best to give him everything he needed to thrive. Some nights were cold, some were hungry, but they were making it, day by day. That woman was Louis' mother, but that son that she loved? That was not Louis.
No, Louis came later. Ten years later. When his mother had struggled enough and given in to her addictions and was no longer trying to help her son thrive. Louis was born into chaos. He didn't get to know the love and care his brother had experienced, at least not from their mother. Instead, any ounce of love he received was from his brother, who did his best to keep the little thing alive. Things were difficult, but Louis survived in this neglected state for three years.
Then came the illness. Louis had a fever, he was coughing, eventually he was wheezing just to breathe and his older brother had to carry him everywhere they went. When Louis had a seizure, his brother ran screaming for help. A kind couple saw the young teen and the sickly toddler, and they got medical attention immediately.
A lot happened at the hospital. Louis was diagnosed with measles, and put on a ventilator. He slept for several days, his brother at his bedside. Their mother disappeared when police went looking for her. And after doing a bit of research, the boys' aunt was contacted. She lived in the US, but flew back home as soon as she got the call that she had two nephews who needed her. She was a kind, caring woman, who reminded Louis' older brother of their own mom before she'd gotten as bad as she was. Doctors weren't clear about whether or not Louis would recover, but eventually he was able to come off of the ventilator, and day by day he started showing improvement.
While he was sick, Louis lost the ability to hear. He was completely deaf in his left ear, with very little hearing in his right. It was upsetting for the young boy, but he was young and adaptable, and he had his older brother to take care of him.
They moved to the US with their aunt, met their uncle, started a new life. Louis learned sign language, as did his aunt and brother, and was finally the happy toddler his brother had always wanted to see. But things were difficult. Both boys had behavioral issues, and Louis' hearing impairment seemed like a burden to his aunt and uncle, mainly the latter. After two years with the couple, their aunt found out she had cancer, and somewhere during her battle with the illness she and her husband decided they could no longer handle the boys and their "issues". Louis went to a foster home, and his brother, fifteen by now, went to a group home.
Louis never saw his brother again.
He was fitted with a cochlear implant in his right ear, he started kindergarten, and he moved between three foster homes in that first year. Finally the Powell's found him and adopted him, and he had his "forever home". It took him a long time to accept that anything could be forever, but eventually he felt safe enough to relax in their home. Eventually, he was happy again.
In a permanent home, Louis was able to grow as an individual. With interests and abilities outside of just being an adaptable, unwanted orphan. He found out he loved to read, and in one of his foster homes he was able to help out in the garden and discovered he had a green thumb. It was something he wanted to continue when he moved in with the Powell's, and they supported him. They started a small garden in the backyard, and did some research, but let him lead the family in working in it and growing their own vegetables and such. It was easy to make Louis happy, but nothing made him happier than his garden.
He attended a special school for children with hearing or vision impairments, and he got good grades and stayed in good standing. People liked him because he was kind, and observant, and a good listener despite his disability. His teachers found him sweet. He attended therapy regularly to work on any issues he had after his rough beginning, and he stayed in therapy until he was in his twenties.
Louis went to college as a geology major, focusing mostly on natural disasters. He had dreams of being a volcanologist, and went abroad several times during his college years to research and study. It seemed like a promising career, but it was a lot of travel. Before graduating, he took a few extra classes and got his certification in secondary education. The plan was to do volcano research in the summer, but spend the majority of the year teaching teenagers about what he was passionate about.
He thought often of his biological brother, but didn't know how to go about searching for him, and figured if the other had wanted to find him then he would have a long time ago.
THE PRESENT:
Louis has always found any relationship outside of platonic to be difficult for him. It could be lingering feelings from the neglect he faced as a child, or the fact that when he became too difficult to handle his aunt and uncle just sent him away, but he had a tendency to cut and run the moment he felt real feelings for anyone he tried to date over the years. As an adult, he never did more than a few dates here or there. Until he met someone working at the farmers' market. A farm hand, from a farm nearby. They clicked immediately, and Louis found himself falling before he could stop himself.
When things went bad, something in him broke. Within days, he was packed up and on the road, needing to get as far away from them as he possibly could. Afraid of being completely on his own, he fled to Ennora, knowing he at least had one family member there who he could lean on if he needed to.
He still hasn't opened up about what happened back in Georgia. In the short time he's been in Ennora, he's found a job teaching geology at the local high school. Louis has been lucky enough to secure himself a place to stay in an apartment above a shop downtown. He spends his free time in town for now, though, getting to know his surroundings and the rest of the population of the town.