Appearance
Alyssa is 5'6", 135lbs, trim and with defined muscles. She has long arms and legs, but a bit of a short, wide neck. Her hair, a couple inches past her shoulders, is dark auburn, almost brown, and generally straight, though the humidest day will bring out a few curls. Her eyes are hazel and quite wide open and round, and set under wide, brown brows with a distinct arch. Her nose is a bit large, and very round at the tip, while her mouth is somewhat narrow and the upper lip so thin it is almost indistinct. The lower lip is quite full, though. Her face overall is small and diamond-shaped, with a pointed chin, and she has a mole on her left cheek. She has fair but pinkish skin, which freckles in the summertime and has a tendency to burn. She has moles by her belly-button, on her right upper arm, and above her left knee. She lost her left pinkie toenail while jumping off a cliff into the Mediterranean Sea when she was visiting the south of France with her family, and it has never grown back.
Personality
Alyssa is bold, adventurous, and energetic. She is always looking for new exciting ventures, and bullying everyone around her into joining her escapades. She has a very strong personality, and can be domineering, so she tends to overshadow most of her friends and peers. She is impatient of slow, lazy or weak people, and tends to just barrel right through them, whether in conversation or in life (not paying attention when it's your turn in the queue? Too bad, you're getting skipped).
Because she is so energetic, Alyssa gets bored easily and is often fidgety. Especially when she is in a bored or fidgety mood, she has a tendency to be reckless and impulsive, and often plunges others into ill-thought-out mischief. However, she has a bit of a knight-in-shining-armor complex, so even if she does get her friends in trouble, she is certain to rescue them from that trouble as well. She is always eager to defend the weak, and very helpful to people in despair. She does, however, fail to understand that most people have less energy than she does, and that often makes her impatient and inconsiderate of other people's needs or desires.
Alyssa is competitive about things she does well, like fencing, hiking, and history, and on those subjects can be argumentative. She is also bluntly honest, and as such is almost incapable of keeping secrets. She is frequently tactless and even flat out rude due to her frankness. But when she isn't letting her tongue get the better of her, she is very friendly and usually cheerful.
Fears
Geese (was once chased by several large ones as a child), getting old, incapacitation (from illness or injury) and generally being unable to act
Quirks
Fidgets often when bored or anxious – especially likes to tap pens on tables and tap one foot; annoyed by people who talk too slowly; talks faster and faster the more excited she gets; cannot stand whistling
Habits
Cracking knuckles, chewing on lips, singing to self under breath while occupied, doodling made up maps during classes
Strengths
Energetic, swift, agile, brave, honest, cheerful, imaginative
Weaknesses
Not much physical strength, aggressive, easily bored, reckless, often tactless, can't keep a secret, allergic to cats
Likes
Fencing, medieval weapons, red wine, hiking, Thai food, old castles, fantasy novels, history, maps
Dislikes
Tomatoes, geese, salads, soda, shopping, math, modern art, wearing skirts/dresses, jazz, hospitals and retirement homes
History
Alyssa grew up in Sonoma County, CA, where her parents own a vineyard. Her family was always fairly well-off, though living in a wealthy area she was perhaps not as aware of this fact as she should have been, taking her family's wealth a bit for granted all her life. She has one brother, Landon, 3 years younger than her, whom she constantly bullied and to this day still calls "brat". Her parents did not exactly spoil her, but she certainly had everything she ever needed and most things she ever wanted. Never particularly kid-centric people, the Whitakers loved their children from somewhat of a distance, supplementing their lack of hands-on education with a nanny in the early years, and copious after-school activities later on.
Alyssa took up gymnastics in elementary school, but quit when she decided she would never be able to do a proper back-walkover (she could get down into the bridge, but then no matter how hard she kicked, her legs just would not go over!) She tried soccer for a little while, but team sports weren't exactly her strong suit, much preferring to rely on her own skills and not trusting in others'. It was in middle school world history that she discovered her love of medieval history, weapons, and fencing. She took up fencing, and uncovered a natural aptitude. Her quickness, coupled with the agility trained through 5 years of gymnastics, proved very successful in the sport.
It would be too much to say Alyssa was a queen bee in high school, but her dominant personality and gregariousness certainly won her many friends. Her natural adventurousness served her well at that age, leading her classmates into many dangerous and occasionally illegal exploits. Since her parents were not particularly attentive, it never bothered them that their daughter periodically spent the night out and came home in the morning with red eyes and clothes smelling of smoke. But high school partying didn't hold Alyssa's attention for long – she was always looking for new and more interesting adventures. More active than rebellious, she preferred to try activities like spelunking, bungee jumping, skinny dipping, etc.
She went on to UNC to study Medieval European History, receiving a scholarship to join the fencing team. She is one of the stars of the team, but she has never been the best, much to her eternal frustration. She is a good student, but not great, because she frequently gets bored with studying and goes off on some cork-brained adventure or another. Being so far from her family probably doesn't help, either – not that her parents ever really bothered to interfere in her exploits, but all the same she feels even freer to be wild now that she is on the other side of the country from them. Currently she is a junior, and starting to realize that a degree in Medieval European History is not going to be particularly helpful when it comes to job prospects. Not that she has any idea yet what she wants to do, other than a vague plan to open a medieval theme park sometime in the distant future.
Mental Illnesses
None
Chronic Physical Illnesses
Allergic to cats
Relationships
Mother – Carolyn Whitaker: good but not terribly deep relationship
Father – Brett Whitaker: good but not terribly deep relationship
Brother – Landon Whitaker: always rub each other wrong whenever they meet, but for all that they love each other
Roommate – Megan Fuller: very close, but Megan is a bit dependent on Alyssa because she's naturally shy and nervous
Rival – Jessica Allen: rivals on the fencing team, Jessica is the star of the team and Alyssa can never beat her; mutually antagonistic
Ex-boyfriend – Josh van Hout: has become somewhat stalkerish since Alyssa broke it off with him (because he was "suffocating" her)
Grandmother (maternal) – Evangeline Carter: distant but friendly; lives in Cambridge, MA
Grandfather (maternal) – Matthew Carter: deceased
Grandparents (paternal) – Mary and George Whitaker: deceased
Aunt (mother's older sister) – Emily French: distant; the sisters quarreled years ago and barely speak now, so Alyssa never really knew her aunt; also lives in Cambridge, MA
Other Information:
Nothing right now, will add if I think of anything!
