cw: mention of a terminal illness & descriptions of parental abuse. graphic descriptions are censored.
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m] [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] [name_m]Richmond[/name_m] (17) is a part of [name_u]Haru[/name_u] and Florence’s friend group and the only boy in the group— their “token white man”. It was only after the breakup that [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] could contact [name_u]Florence[/name_u] freely: the girl’s ex didn’t “allow” her to have male friends, which [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] found absolutely stupid. He suspected that Florence’s ex was abusive but didn’t want to overstep. Once [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] got the news from [name_u]Florence[/name_u], he simply responded to her with a “Where does he live again?”— causing much-needed laughter and relief amongst the group. He hated the man for ruining his relationship with his friend but learning that he also abused [name_u]Florence[/name_u] turned that hatred into loathing.
The vice-president of the student council and president of the National Honours Society, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is your perfect example of a model student. He keeps up an easy-going front for the rest of the students and teachers, but only the group knows about Thomas’ severe atychiphobia. His parents raised him with high expectations, and there was no room for failure. The few times he did fail, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] was hit by his father or forced to skip meals. His mother doesn’t intervene because she can’t: she’s in the hospital for terminal cancer, and [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] won’t tell her bad news on what could be her literal deathbed. He wanted to keep this a secret from the group, but to no avail: [name_u]Haru[/name_u] caught him after a distressing phone call with his father and soothed him after a panic attack. [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] is thankful that they treated him the same after the incident— simply letting him know that if he needed a place to crash, their homes would welcome them.
For college, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] plans on leaving the country and thus the clutches of his family. He hasn’t told the rest of his friends yet but plans to during the summer. [name_u]An[/name_u] aspiring creative writing major specialising in poetry, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] has published several chapbooks under his pen name [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] [name_m]Richmond[/name_m]. Thomas’ next book will be under his real name, and he’s apprehensive yet excited about it. Outside of academia, though, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] has been playing wingman for the person who has a crush on the student council president, and he just set up a date for them…