Jacob Hunter

Biography
Jacob Hunter was born on in the passenger of a Ford f-150 on Friday the Thirteenth, in the October of 2000. Born to Marina Rosas and Tyler Hunter, Jake's early years were spent in a three person family, where his mother, an aspiring poet, worked as a waitress, and his father worked as a construction worker. Jake's maternal grandmother, Lillian Hunter, looked after Jake while his parents were at work until her passing in 2002.

After Lillian's death, Tyler Hunter became somewhat more aggressive, and in 2003, he got into a bar fight which ended badly, leading to him being convicted for third-degree homicide, with his release date being set for 2028. Jacob hasn't had any contact with his father since being placed in foster care, and doesn't know his father's location.

Marina raised Jake on her own following her husband's arrest. The death of her mother-in-law hit her very hard, and her husband's incarceration broke her heart, but she was able to keep it together for her son. However, in February of 2004, when she was driving back from visiting Tyler, her vehicle slid off the road and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Jake was subsequently put into foster care until his eighteenth birthday.

For the following seven years, Jake was moved between a variety of foster homes, their quality varying greatly. Throughout his time as a foster child, Jake developed a knack for gaining the affections of his better foster parents, and skillfully avoiding the wrath of the worse ones. Jake got by in life by saying what others wanted to hear, flashing a charming smile, and figuring out ways to survive off the kindness of strangers.

In 2011, Jake was moved into a foster home with fellow foster child Nigel Giocondo-Jones, who initially intimidated Jake. Like recognizes like, after all, and Jake could tell that Nigel was skilled in deception from the beginning; however, Nigel took Jake under his wing, and the two became brothers, inseparable. They shoplifted Christmas presents for one another, and the two had an incredible talent for getting themselves out of trouble. They refused to be separated in the process of relocating them to a new foster home.

For the following three years, Jake and Nigel were moved from home to home together, and were, for all intents and purposes, brothers. However, in 2014, Nigel ran away, leaving both Jake and the foster care system behind as he struck out on his own.

In 2017, Jake began attending Wormwood on a full scholarship as an English major, moving into a foster home in Wheldrake to accommodate his schooling, because he was sixteen at the time. It was at this point that Amelie Bates became his social worker, and Jake reunited with Nigel. Upon turning eighteen, Jake was released from the foster care system and forced to care for himself financially- meaning, he was forced to mooch off of Nigel to an even greater extent.

For the past four years, Jake has lived in the dorms at Wormwood, operating a radio talk show called "Jake's Vibe Check" for CHWW Campus Radio, as well as writing for WormNews under the pseudonym Dr. Sue Us.

Personality
Jake is a dumbass, but he has a heart of gold. Or, at the very least, bronze. He's developed a way with persuasion, using it as a survival tactic through his years in foster care. Jacob learned early that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and he's used a noncommittal politeness and a way with words to his advantage, always anticipating what he thinks he's supposed to say next for the best possible outcome. He's always had a love for literature, and his need to be thought well of coupled with this interest, leading Jake to narrate his own life in difficult situations, as a way to predict what he needs to do and say to get what he wants.

Jake hesitates to be completely candid with people when talking about serious subjects, because he fears that if he stops playing a part, the people around him will lose interest. Ultimately, he craves stability and safety, and he's internalized the idea that being totally himself will lead to some sort of negative outcome. However, he's able to hide this quite well, and he allows much of his genuine personality to surface when interacting in a casual manner with people he considers friends.

Jake's naturally curious, wanting to know as much as possible about any given situation he's in. That's the main reason he's interested in Sam's disappearance; Jake, to some degree, relates to Sam's inquisitiveness, and his lust for information. However, Jake was not totally surprised to hear that Sam's outward nosiness lead to his demise. Jake believes that Sam didn't know how to fly below the radar and deal with the wandering eyes of powerful people, and he wishes he could have helped Sam before it was too late.

Relationships
tbd

Trivia

 * Jake has a habit of coughing to alert others of his presence, dating back to a foster home where his foster mother was hard of hearing and was often startled by his silent enterances.
 * Due to a mix-up while moving between foster homes, Jake skipped a grade. Between this and his late birthday, he's usually the youngest in his classes.
 * Jake is diligent about doing his laundry, and his clothes always smells like detergent.
 * Jake had a crush on Meryl Streep when he was a child. This probably relates to his mommy issues.
 * Jake has a cat, gifted to him for his twentieth birthday by Arden Rockefeller. He's yet to give the cat a name, and simply refers to it as 'dude.'
 * Jake loves wintergreen altoids.
 * Jake likes The Catcher in the Rye. Maybe just a little too much.