GRACE CARDINAL is 16 years old and looks a lot like NIKKI GOULD. She is a GRADE ELEVEN student and is OPEN.
✔ clever, brave, funny
✗ harsh, pessimistic, blunt
l i f e a n d t i m e s —
Grace’s life has always revolved around two things: weekly hospital visits and parents who look at her like she is too fragile to touch. Being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis has thrown many obstacles her way. Her parents are constantly telling her to take her health into account, but Grace quickly grew tired of trying to fit the mold they created for her. If she couldn’t have control over her health, she needed control over her body. In junior high, she began dyeing her hair unnatural colors, giving herself stick-n-poke tattoos, and getting piercings in all the places her parents wouldn’t approve of, just to prove that she could be more than just “the sick girl.” Spending so much time in the hospital with her laptop gave her the opportunity to learn about coding, and once she started hacking, she began a small business with her classmates, changing attendance records and grades. Her parents only ever want to talk about her illness, but Grace would rather them see her for the individual she is, so when the idea of Degrassi Prep was brought up, she quickly took it. Being away from her family gives her the opportunity to live her life without constant questioning from her parents, and she does her best to hide her illness so others won’t treat her with differently as her parents always did.
Tiny Bell — former hookup → Grace and Tiny hit it off quickly when they met as freshmen, and Grace spent a lot of time in Tiny and Zig’s room hanging out with both of them until Zig became preoccupied with other company. Without Zig around, Tiny and Grace began hooking up and eventually lost their virginities to one another, though they never had any intention of making things official. Though they have yet to hook up this year, the two know that the option might still be there.
Jonah Haak — best friend → Grace and Jonah got to know each other well when Grace was a freshman because she spent all of her free time on her laptop in the campus bookstore while Jonah was working. It wasn’t long before Grace started working alongside Jonah for the campus technical support, and after that, the two realized just how similar they were. Since then, they’ve become inseparable - other students typically cannot find one without the other. Sometimes it seems, especially to people who don’t really know the two, that they’re dating but the two would never even consider it.
Esme Song — hacker → Being much more interested in recreational activities, Esme finds it difficult to focus solely on her studies. She is often skipping class and turning in assignments late because of it. Although she was hesitant to help her at first, Grace agreed to hack the school’s system to change Esme’s attendance records and grades, so Esme could continue to get away with it all, and Grace would be able to get whatever she needed in return from Esme throughout the year.