#1 Crush: Isaiah Rescues The New Girl
Forged Series: Character Profile, Isaiah Iverson
To learn more about the FORGED series, visit the Table of Contents.
Isaiah Iverson
Pronouns: he/him
Age: nearly 16
Birthplace: Bannock, Bannock Zone, United Pacific Territories
Occupation: second-year student at Bannock High School
Relationship profile: never had a girlfriend, but infatuated with the new girl from the Wilds
Family: Dr. Elsa Iverson and Lt. Gen. Peter Iverson (parents), Ben (age 6, brother), Lady (family dog)
Hobbies: basketball, swimming, lifting weights, running, target shooting, hiking, camping, skiing, video games, painting & drawing
Personality Traits and Quirks: huge fan of comics and superheroes, so likes to give nicknames from these universes to everyday people, has a lopsided smile, is self-confident and has an inferiority complex issues, jealous of his former best friend
First Day of School
An excerpt from Isaiah’s POV of Isaiah’s conversation at lunch with his friend group—Tony, Jere, and Swick—on the first day of school.1
The cavernous cafeteria buzzed with an energy amped up by the first day of school. First-years flitted about, attempting to find a safe table while the second- and third-years swarmed to claim their spots. Fourth-years easily defended their territories, forcing students already seated to move if they wanted to claim a table—the pecking order in high school, as dictated by the generations before them.
Isaiah caught sight of Jere at the far end of the lunchroom, waving his arms. His second-period class was closest, so he’d been tasked with staking out prime real estate for their group’s domain for the school year—center back of the room along the outside wall.
Isaiah eased his way down the outside aisle, cataloging the various student populations. His mom had always claimed that kids were either a lot like their parents or fell far from the tree. He picked out the science kids, debating or with their noses pressed to their tablets studying. The government kids, with their loud voices and brightly colored clothes. The military kids, like him, with ramrod straight postures. Yeah, he didn’t fall far, did he?
Isaiah skirted around the goon in the black suit and sunglasses, standing sentry along the wall halfway to the back. Zeke and his damn bodyguards. Sure enough, there was Zeke with the rest of the Elites. They stood out. Despite being first-years, they carried an air of superiority over even the fourth-years. The one exception to the rule. But I suppose the Grand Governor’s son would’ve gotten special treatment even without a security detail to intimidate everyone else. It’s always been that way for Zeke. Z always got what he wanted.
Isaiah gripped his tray a little tighter than necessary and walked past the table without a second glance.
He released his tray to the metal table with a thud and stretched his fingers. Surveying the chaos in the room again, the one person he wanted to see was nowhere to be found. The new girl, Tessa. Had she decided to skive off school after all? Standing at the base of the steps before school, she'd seemed pretty skittish. Isaiah told himself he didn’t want her to have no one to sit with, especially on the first day.
“Hey, Iverson, who we looking for?” Tony sidled up to him and asked, non-too-quietly.
Isaiah broke out of his trance and felt his face get hot. He cursed himself quietly and sat down with his back to the wall. Tony plopped down across from him and gave Swick a fist bump.
Jere grabbed his water glass and said, “He’s probably scouting for the new girl.” He took a swig of water and gave Isaiah the side eye.
“Damn. That’s right.” Swick rotated to glance at the tables behind him. “That stick’s worth scouting.”
Isaiah said, “Her name is Tessa, and she doesn’t know anyone here.” His voice sounded defensive even to him. He tilted his head side to side to loosen the tension building up.
“Iverson, way to swoop in and save her from the goon squad this morning. That took some balls,” Jere said, still not looking at Isaiah directly.
“I think it was his dick leading him,” Swick laughed and shoveled in a massive bite of salad.
Tony swatted the back of Swick’s head.
“Ow! What’s that for?” Swick asked, lettuce dropping from his mouth and rubbing the spot so his hair stuck out even more.
Jere put his hands up to block the projectiles and belly laughed.
Tony turned to look at Isaiah, a broad grin on his face, “It took brass cojones to save her from being trampled. Fast thinking, ché.”
“Thanks… I think.” Isaiah replied. He glanced across the room again, hoping to catch sight of her. He did tell her where to find the cafeteria, right? The school wasn’t that big.
His eyes landed on the table full of Elites, and Zeke was staring at him. Zeke lifted his chin in greeting. Isaiah did not return it. No way was he going to give Z the satisfaction of acknowledging him.
Isaiah gritted his teeth. He knew his face was probably shadowed over with anger. Not that he was still as angry with his former best friend. Isaiah just wasn’t ready to forgive him.
Zeke had always beat him at everything. Sports. Academics. Marksmanship. His parents had always included Zeke in family trips because the Ryker family was too busy running the country to go camping or to the movies. When they were younger, it was the mast to do so much together, like brothers. Then last December, his dad took the ‘bonus son’ title for Zeke too far. Instead of taking him, his actual son, on the planned skiing trip, his dad took Zeke and left Isaiah at home. That was the icing on the cake.
“Ché, so what did you find out about the new girl?” Swick asked. By the gleam in his eyes, Isaiah could tell that Swick was interested in getting into her pants.
Something stirred in Isaiah. A rage of… jealousy? Protectiveness? He took a breath to calm the growing irritation. “That she likes blonds”—he shook his shaggy hair—“and not black brillo pads.”
Tony covered his mouth with his fist. “Ohhh. Guess you best step out of line for her attention, Swick.” He continued laughing while Swick made a face.
Isaiah darted a glance at Zeke again. He was more worried about the grand prince wanting Tessa. Z always took what should have been Isaiah’s.
Not this time, he thought.
Isaiah made a mental note to sit on the other side of the table going forward. He didn’t want to ruin his appetite by looking at Zeke every day.
Character Inspiration and Role
Isaiah is a complex character. His layers have been fun to peel back and explore. Externally, he is your stereotypical jock with the bonus of having important parents. His natural athletic abilities have perpetuated his image among his classmates. Although, he’s never been as good as Zeke and the other kids called the Elites. Just like how Isaiah’s father and mother are high up in the military and scientific communities but not as important as Zeke’s parents—the general of the national security forces and the country's leader.
Deeper than his school persona, Isaiah has a sensitivity fostered by his mother, a former behavioral neuroscientist with a government lab. Isaiah is an observer and artist. He has a sketchbook, takes every art class offered, and paints murals. However, he hides most of this from his classmates and family. The complex and fickle student ecosystem necessitates his attempt to protect his image by masking his true passion. It’s a shame, really, because he could be the da Vinci, Monet, or Rembrandt of his generation.
Isaiah’s inferiority complex stems from always being “second” to Zeke’s “first,” which is driven like a stake through his heart when his own father leaves Isaiah at home to take Zeke on a planned holiday trip. When that happened, a switch flipped. Anger took root in Isaiah, darkening his heart and shattering his friendship with Zeke. But as always, there are two sides to the story. Unfortunately, Isaiah (and his teenage brain) is unable to listen to the other side. He sees no way to forgive his father or his friend for the transgression.
When the new girl from the Wilds shows up, Isaiah is smitten at first sight.2 Of course, Isaiah is not the only person in the high school interested in the newcomer. And so another potential “lost” to Zeke is formed, at least in Isaiah’s mind, as he is already formulating defense mechanisms for what he senses is the eventual losing out to Zeke.
Inspiration for Isaiah comes from an amalgamation of high school boys: the jock, the class clown, and the artist. He is the one that everyone wants to talk to—the approachable popular kid (because Zeke is the unapproachable popular kid). His physical characteristics were inspired by a combination of social media influencers (I tend to get sucked into rabbit holes featuring dancers, gymnasts, and cheerleaders) and athletes (Isaiah’s physique is based on Olympic swimmers).
Names are important. However, when I started writing, I spent little energy deciding names. I used placeholders for several characters for the first draft; for the two main boy characters, I used the names of my two sons. Isaiah is “second” to Zeke’s “first” standing, so his name starts with an “I” because my second son’s name begins with an “I.” I bet you can guess with what letter my firstborn’s name begins. At some point, I knew I’d need to change their names, so I looked up other “I” and “Z” names to find suitable selections.
Though the world of the FORGED Series is purposely devoid of biblical references, I landed on Isaiah because of the meaning. The beginning root, “Yesh,” is Hebrew for “to save” or “to deliver.” As a prominent prophet in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Isaiah is steeped with themes of justice, hope, and redemption. Isaiah Iverson struggles with each of these throughout the series, so it seemed fitting for his name to imply the very things he seeks.
Check back next week as we dive into Zeke’s character profile. And if you missed it, here is Tessa’s profile.
What I’m reading
Here are some other SciFi and just plain entertaining fiction pieces available on Substack or as a published book(s) that you might enjoy.
Neon Hearts - This Sci-Fi/cyber punk short story from
might make you ask how much human does it take to be human?The Chronicles of Samuel Carter - If you are a fan of Indiana Jones, then check out this serial from
from his back catalog on .Always, whenever I look at you -
delivers a chilling short story that will make you wonder what is real? What is imaginary?Love Potions No. 1-8 - Have you ever wondered what it took to get to Love Potion No. 9? Well,
gives us the answer! If you enjoy his clever short stories, be sure to pick up his Tiny Worlds Volume One compilation.Reach - Pre-orders are now possible for
’s first book in the For The Stars Series. Read my review here.
To learn more about the FORGED series, visit the Table of Contents.
Before you go
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Questions
Have you ever been a “new kid” at school? How’d it go? Share your story in the comments.
What rabbit holes do you fall down when scrolling? Beyond dancers, gymnasts, and cheerleaders, my algorithm is thick with fitness influencers (yogis and PTs mostly) and foodie posts.
Picking names is hard. If you have kids (humanoid or of the furry variety), tell me how you decided on your child’s name?
The complete version of Isaiah’s POV will be available as bonus material after the release of Shattered, book one in the FORGED Series.
I was the “new kid” four times in my life. After my first move, I went door-to-door, looking for other little kids to play with. I was four. I wouldn’t want to do that now… and yet, at social events, I’d still rather strike up a conversation with someone instead of standing by myself. I troll the edges and find the other wallflowers. Probably because there is less possibility of rejection. We can stand and have a pleasant, low-expectation conversation to pass the time, and we both feel more at ease than if we were standing alone. I’ve met some great new people this way, right
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but I agree, character development is off the hook great.
great work, it's tough being a kid in HS, I remember the pain of not having a relatable, amazing identity. It's not easy for boys especially with sports, and academics, well adjusted kids always seem to thrive, it's almost unfair.