MONTGOMERY, Merle Katherine

[Merle Katherine Montgomery]

MERLE KATHERINE MONTGOMERY

FULL NAME: Merle Katherine Montgomery
NICKNAMES: M&M
AGE: Twenty Nine
GENDER: female
SEXUALITY: Straight
STATUS: Single
GROUP: Citizen.
GRADE: N/A.
MAJOR: N/A.
JOB OCCUPATION: CPA.

HAIR: Originally a light brown but she’s played with so many colours throughout the years. Currently, she’s a gold blonde and about shoulder length though she’s gone as short as a pixie and as long as her waist before.
EYES: Brown.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: Only those of the emotional variety and a beauty mark just above her lip on the left side.
TATTOOS: xx on her shoulder, a wave on the side of her finger, a crescent moon on her hip, the Latin quote “quod quid sumus id esse voluimus” which means “That is what we have wished” and a star on her left heel
PIERCINGS: Earlobes twice.
PLAY-BY: Elsa Pataky! <3

LIKES: Tattoos, numbers, comedy shows, books, games on her phone, playing video games with Kris, helping her brother anyway she can, iced coffee, big dogs, walks through the park, gardening, hitting the gym, music, dressing up, dancing.
DISLIKES: when the numbers don't add up, crime dramas, misplacing her mobile, being unable to help Kris with something, losing to her little brother (He almost always wins the game though), plain yoghurt, missing the obvious at first glance, ignorant people, jalapenos, cats, pyjama pants (She prefers shorts), medical dramas, reckless drivers.
FEARS: Losing her brother, getting into a car accident, hospitals.
SECRETS: At the time of the accident, Merle was contemplating taking a job in California. She'd applied, not thinking she'd even get through to first interviews but then she'd made it all the way to being the frontrunner. And then the accident happened and she declined the very generous offer to stay on the East Coast.
PERSONALITY: Merle had always been a fun-loving and adventurous sort, running off to see the world at every chance she got after she was finished school. At twenty-six, she became the guardian of her teenage brother and she lives in fear every single day that she'll fail him. She's still trying to figure out how not to do that but in her own time; away from Kris. Merle doesn't do have as much as she used to, not with Kris to take care of. But she still lets loose every once in a while. Her life quickly became all about taking care of what was left of her family. She still wants to be that cool big sister but she also has to deal with keeping Kris in line and for a kid who can't talk, may never talk again, he sure as hell gets into massive amounts of trouble. Merle isn't the carefree twenty-something she once was but she's trying to get back there for Kris. But she's also scared out of her mind that she won't be good enough for her brother. Merle doesn't always need to be in charge or in control but she does need things to add up. As much of a romantic as she had been, she doesn't think there's any room in her life anymore for romance. She is all about making her brother happy and making sure he's really okay.

MOTHER: Alma Montgomery & deceased.
FATHER: Johnny Montgomery & deceased.
SIBLINGS: Kristofferson Gene Montgomery & 17.
OTHERS: N/A.
PETS: TC & Newfoundland
Topher & Newfoundland!
HOMETOWN: Rochester, New York.
HISTORY: Johnny Montgomery grew up in a family that was so straight arrow and boring, he was surprised he made it out alive. He was the black sheep, the wild child, the bright in a sea of bland. He liked himself some rock music, the long hair and the overall metal look of his generation but that wasn’t all he was. Johnny was a huge fan of the Outlaw Country boys. Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and all the rest were what really got through to Johnny and turned his life around. He’d felt like he was following a potentially dark path and he knew he could be better than that and his dull family. It was through his parent’s proudest moments for him, attending out of state college, that he met Alma and fell head over heels for the woman; two years later. She was a pretty goody two-shoes girl with dreams of becoming a housewife. At least, that was what she seemed on the outside. It took two years and one fateful run-in at an Outlaw concert to change their mind about each other. Alma had assumed, and rightly so, that Johnny was your average metal head. In college but going nowhere in the fast lane.

From then on, they were near inseparable and were married three years after graduation. Alma took her teaching degree and continued on until she was certified to teach at a college and university level, but she also did real estate on the side, enjoying the rush of selling homes to new families and young couples starting out. Johnny spent his days as an architect and loved it. They had their daughter young and thought she would be all they’d have. And then when she was twelve, Alma came home with Kris. The loving parents named their children after their heroes but the pair were quite proud of the names they’d been given. Merle and Kristofferson fought back whenever someone said anything about their names, which landed both siblings in trouble more than once but none of them particularly minded.

And while Merle wasn’t the most popular in high school, she had her friends and she had her family and that was more than enough for her. When she was old enough, her mother hired her on at the real estate office, answering the phone, booking appointments and directing anyone who walked in off the street to the agent that best fit what they were looking for. And when she had spare moments, she tried her hand at other parts of the job. She was surprisingly good at it all, especially keeping the books. Merle had a good head for numbers and decided when she went to college, she would study to become a CPA. People thought it was boring and her career choice habitually got overlooked but Merle was exceptional at her job. Merle had been living in NYC, cleaning up in the big city living category. People thought little of accountants but she invested some of the money she made and turned it around to have quite the nest egg sitting under her. She had a house only two years out of school that was all her own, she had her own car, which she rarely used unless it was absolutely unavoidable and she had two dogs to tear up the large back garden she had. Not to mention she was able to hightail it up to Rochester whenever she wanted to see her family again. A few hours drive, a spent night and then a few hours drive back again.

At twenty-six, she got the worse phone call she could have ever imagined. Her family was in a car accident and it was serious. She rushed from her quiet home, stopping just long enough to ask her neighbour to watch her dogs for her because she couldn’t bring them with her. She got to Rochester in five hours, no doubt breaking more laws than she could shake a stick at, she was positive of it but she didn’t care. When she got there, all three were in surgery and she was left to sit in the waiting room with periodic updates from a nurse. And then finally a doctor came in to speak with her. He started immediately with telling her that her father hadn’t made it through the surgery and that he was sorry for that but her mother was in stable condition and her brother should make a full recovery. Her emotions fought to see which would win, sadness for everything, grief for her father or complete relief that her mother and brother were okay. Merle spent hours in the hospital before the doctor that spoke to her told her to go home, get some sleep and something to eat. She would have done exactly that if she’d been able to focus enough to drive anywhere. Her mind kept drifting to how she was going to tell her mother and brother so instead of leaving her alone in the sterile walls, he drove her to her childhood home, made sure she got in okay and sat with her for a little while so she could talk it all out. Dr Grady was very understanding and let Merle get out all the fears and concerns she had telling her family the bad news and he stayed with her until she fell asleep before leaving her a note and letting himself out.

The note was his number and telling her to call him so he could get a ride into the hospital with him. She called him when she was ready and was surprised when he actually showed up. But it wasn’t all good news when they got back to the hospital. Her mother had complications and didn’t survive through the night. Merle was devastated that she hadn’t been there but her brother was still doing well and that needed to be addressed as well. She needed to be strong for him. He woke up the next day but something was wrong. The explanation washed over Merle in a blur and she didn't get anything more than a couple words that didn't make any sense to her. She just knew that something happened during surgery, something with a tube and now Kris couldn't talk. Merle said she would be the one to break it to her brother and she did as best as she could before she waved the doctor on to finish what she'd started. It was hard to see her fourteen-year-old brother break down and cry the way he had but she promised him that she would take care of him, that she would do whatever it took to give him a life he could be proud of.

For the following six months after Kris was released from the hospital, Merle took him to all his appointments and brought him to all his new language lessons because they were also her language lessons. She wanted this transition to be an easier one on her brother. Kris already had to deal with the pressures of being a teenager, and then he had to deal with the pressure of being a teenager and being unable to talk to anyone who didn't know sign language. It was tough and there were long stretches when the only people the teenager spoke to were his care professionals and his sister. He could hear everything going on around him and for a long time, people thought he was deaf and that was the reason he didn't speak so they spoke around him without a care. Merle hated that for her brother and decided they needed a fresh start. She did some research and found a school that would help Kris. She spoke to their language therapists since she also needed to learn ASL, about finding someone in New York that could take on their case. A fresh start would do him good.

She spoke to him and Kris agreed that a fresh start would be more than welcome. So they packed up the family home, put up a for sale sign and said goodbye to the city they’d grown up in. It had been a while since she’d made the quick trek back to get her dogs and some more clothes and it was so strange to see her house now that it wouldn’t just be her and the dogs. But they settled into life rather well and after three years, developed a good routine. Merle worked from home so it wasn’t a huge issue to rush off whenever Kris needed something at his new school. But she’s still seeing a lack of the old light in his eyes. She wants to surprise with him something to bring back that brilliance he’d once had.

YOUR ALIAS: Cali.
RULE WORDS: I’ve taken these!
WHERE YOU FOUND US: In a Spellbook.
SAMPLE:

TC DID IT!

[Cali]