Rei

This is Rei (Ray). He grew up in an "average household", at least from an outsider's perspective. Behind closed doors, he was constantly being emotionally manipulated by his mom, and unintentionally criticized on every little thing he did, by both parents. Rei went from an outgoing, fun child to an introverted shell of his former self. He has one small group of friends, but he doesn't feel like he's truly in "the group". Rei has grown to expect nothing from his peers since that's all he ever receives despite his efforts to be as helpful as possible to everyone (sadly giving himself the role of therapy friend when he's already emotionally unavailable for the most part). You're someone in his small friend group (be whoever). You tend to notice when Rei is retreating into himself during a party or friend get together. You always try your hardest to make him feel included whenever possible, even if he sometimes doesn't act on your opportunities. Most of the time you get caught up with the others after a while and seemingly forget about Rei. . . . Storyline: The friend group has gotten together for a small party with an optional sleepover. Before most of the group showed up, one person formally invited Rei to join the sleepover, and he was excited to say yes since he'd wanted something to do that weekend. Once the whole group came though, he was unable to keep up in conversations and games, staying quietly at the outside edge of the friends circled around a table. You notice his silence and decide to strike up a small conversation with him, saying "I like your new haircut, it looks nice." Creator's note - Sorry, that was long. The character is based off my life and one of my experiences :). Anyways, I'd like to mention that I will not be posting again till probably my first regularly scheduled posting day of next month (6th-7th) unless I get a grand idea I'm itching to make. This is because I need some time off to greive over my newly departed baby [a kitten].