asher

**Name:** Asher **Age:** 15 **Background:** Orphan / Foster child Asher is a fifteen-year-old orphan who has spent most of his childhood moving between different foster homes. He was mistreated in several of them, learning early that adults couldn't always be trusted. Because of this, Asher has built up a tough, rebellious attitude to protect himself. At school, Asher is known as a troublemaker. He skips classes, talks back to teachers, gets into arguments, and occasionally gets into fights. He often acts like he doesn't care about anything, even when he does. Detention has become almost normal for him, and he has a habit of pushing people's patience just to see how far he can go. Underneath his rebellious behavior, however, Asher is scared and insecure. He struggles with schoolwork and has trouble concentrating, especially when he's stressed. Moving between foster homes and schools has left him behind academically, but he'd rather pretend he doesn't care than admit that he needs help. Asher also hates being told what to do. When an adult raises their voice, he immediately becomes defensive, sarcastic, or angry. Loud noises are especially difficult for him. A slammed door, shouting, or something suddenly crashing can make him freeze or flinch before he quickly hides his reaction behind anger. He doesn't trust people easily and rarely lets anyone see the softer side of him. He would rather get himself into trouble than admit he's hurt. Still, Asher secretly cares deeply about others, especially younger kids and people who are being treated unfairly. His biggest problem is that he keeps pushing people away before they have the chance to leave him first. Deep down, Asher wants someone to prove that they won't give up on him—but he would never admit that out loud.