TWENTY-FIVE • PSYCHIC • MBA MARKETING • INVESTIGATOR
Teddy is a communer, which is the ability to bring spirits who still have unfinished business back into solid space. With little to no control which spirits are brought back, navigating this power is dangerous because it is done blindly. As well as contributing as a psychic, Teddy is an investigator, participating in team investigations and occasionally leading small groups. In addition, Visitation’s social media falls under Teddy’s responsibilities.
All you’re life you’ve been told you were special — well liked, well mannered, well bred. Born for stardom, and though it may have been your father’s dream originally, you can’t fathom a life without the adoration. The fame and opportunity that comes along with the title of quarterback. It’s one you wear well, that of a name lathered in saccharine songs amidst an entire stadium. They call it across the quad in passing congratulations, and you nod with that killer smile splashed across your face. You make them feel happy, like they have something to believe in. But they don’t know what you know. They haven’t seen what you’ve seen. That of your grandfather standing at the foot of your bed, solemn and serene, crossing the beyond just to see you. A boy named Kyle, his face blue and eyes as black as night. They tell you it’s a gift — being to able to see the dead — but you’ve only ever known it as a nightmare. A voice in your head, a shadow in the corner of the room. And if you’re being honest, you wish you could rid yourself of it all. Be average, be normal. So, instead you pretend. You play the part and bask in the glory if for nothing more than a distraction. From the weight of it all. At least on the field with a ball in your hand you, if but for just a moment, finally feel free.
It was Teddy’s first game. He was in fifth grade, and he had scored the final touchdown. The small crowd cheered. His father ran down the bleachers and Teddy felt himself become engulfed in his father’s strong arms. He laughed as his father spun him around, set him back on the ground and ruffled his head. Teddy’s father knelt in front of him and put his hands on his shoulders. Teddy swore he saw tears in his dad’s eyes as he said: “You’re gonna do great things, Teddy! Just you wait!”
That wasn’t the first time Teddy had heard that he was special…and it sure wasn’t the last either. In fact, he heard it his entire athletic career. Whether it was on the field or off, Teddy was praised by teachers and peers, adults and kids alike for his skills, his looks, his personality, his power to see the dead—
Okay, so maybe he’s only heard that last one from his grandfather – his deadgrandfather, to be exact, who stood quietly at the end of the bed watching him one night.
“It’s only a nightmare. Nothing to worry about,” his parents comforted.
“Maybe you ate an old slice of pizza,” his friends joked.
“You’re probably stressed,” his school counselor said.
Nonetheless, a nightmare is what he brushed it off as. Even when his grandfather visited him afterwards, Teddy told himself it was a recurring dream. Something that happened whenever he started to get too stressed with school and a social life. He chose to keep quiet about it from anyone else, wanting to avoid any kind of ridicule from his peers.
But he started to believe he was “gifted” after a terrifying meeting with Kyle, a young boy Teddy described with having a “blue face and black eyes.” While exploring an abandoned trailer park with his friends, the boy told Teddy he was a “rare one” and that he should relish his gift. Teddy denied it, but Kyle said they’d meet again sometime when Teddy least expected it and disappeared.
Teddy hasn’t slept soundly since then.
It sounds crazy, but hear him out! Or don’t. He doesn’t talk about it much anyway. Teddy works hard to look as if nothing’s wrong. At first, sleepless nights were difficult to conceal, but as he got older he found he could chalk it up to late night partying and studying.
Teddy’s “gift” continued to haunt him throughout high school and to his dismay, now has followed him to Reed College, where he more than occasionally runs into unwanted spirits who love to interact with him. The stress from the constant popularity from both the spirit world and the real world has made him desperate to become invisible. Hidden from the limelight. To, dear god, be ignored for once.
But of course, not everybody gets what they wish for. So now, Teddy is forced to put on a fake smile for the rest of the world as he’s worried that if someone were to find out about this “gift” of his, he’d never be left alone.
And right now, that’s the last thing he could ever want.
CHARLIE & JESSE, chosen brothers — Being an only child, you’d never experienced real brotherhood, a camaraderie to call your own. But there’s something about the warmth that comes along with Charlie and the endless support that Jesse offers. You’ve come to rely on them both and care for them like family.
AMNA, instant attraction — You’ve never quite met a person like Amna, willful and ambitious, with a hand always raised high and the answer on the tip of an eager tongue. It’s refreshing, exhilarating to watch with your own eyes. And if you tell the truth, not just brush it off like you usually do, it’s the closest you’ve come to falling in love at first sight.
TEDDY IS PORTRAYED BY ROSS BUTLER & IS TAKEN BY BEL
