IV | Thomas Arclight

BORN to Trevor and Christine Kingston on August 17th, Alexander is an only child and often acts like it, too. Desiring the limelight even from a young age, he'd often pose for pictures without hesitation and eagerly butt himself into the conversations of others, even when he was still too young to form proper words. Though, he'd always managed to charm the hearts of women that would fawn over the son of their friends, and he had learned quickly that he could use it to his advantage, whether it be getting some toy he wanted or just getting a kiss on the cheek from an especially pretty little girl. He was considered 'intelligent', but he was just more mischievous than anything and knew how to work people to his advantage.

This behavior continued on as he got older and entered school; it often got him into trouble with his teachers and he rarely was able to charm his way out of those situations. Alexander had a certain fondness for getting the other kids to do things for him, finding their weaknesses and exploiting them for typically innocent things, like sharpening his pencil for him or giving him their glitter when everyone was using the color he wanted for a project. It reached a point with his teachers though that they seemed to have extra-sensitive hearing for specifically when he spoke, so any deal he'd try to strike would be heard and he'd get his few warnings before, without fail, his parents would be called in for a meeting.

"Boys will be boys" was an excuse they used at first, but as he got older - nine, ten, eleven years old - the disappointment Trevor showed was clear. Christine had attempted to be a little more understanding, but soon enough, Alexander wasn't quite capable of using his smile so he could get out of it.

Though he often got himself into trouble because of his 'charm', he had begun to fight with his parents around the time of his 12th birthday. They weren't ever anything serious, mostly just him protesting about picking up his clothes after getting dressed or not cleaning his hair out of the sink when he'd messily run a comb through it in the mornings. It had always been little things, and as time passed, it happened more frequently, lashing out because he wasn't able to get the same attention he used to. As much as he loved his parents, they could be infuriating with how much they were limiting him at times.

The eve of January 11th following his 12th birthday, the Kingston family had been out to watch a movie and have a bit of a late dinner. However, as their movie ended and it grew close to 9pm, a heavy snowstorm kicked up (heavier than they had expected when they checked the weather earlier that day) and they had decided it would be best to go home and they would just cook instead, let Alexander stay up a little, seeing as it would likely cause an hour or two delay for school Monday morning, then put him to bed. Though, as they drove, the snow fell harder and the roads were slick, the salt trucks and plows not able to work quickly enough to keep the roads as safe as possible. With a surly Alexander in the backseat begrudgingly buckling his seatbelt at his father's warning, the car slid a few times on the roads as Trevor maneuvered the curves in the highway, trying to remain on high alert so he could stay safe.

But sometimes, even the safest of drivers can still get into an accident in nasty weather, and while no one could tell which car was the first to slide too far, eventually a multiple-car accident had graced the freeway with deaths and injuries all around. Among the casualties were Trevor and Christine Kingston, as well as the unnamed, unborn child that Christine had been carrying; Alexander survived, as their car had been hit head-on.

 

 

AFTER spending a few weeks in the hospital to ensure that Alexander's injuries were minimal, he'd been sent back to school with nothing more than a bandage on his face to remain for at least another week, a gash over his right eye where glass had shattered and cut him where it later became a permanent scar.

A lot more than that changed about Alexander, however. Though he blocked out the accident for the most part, some things always struck him - he was 12 when it happened, and 1+2=3, and the date was 1/11 and that adds up to 3 as well. When he would find himself drifting too far into the memories of the accident immediately after, his schoolwork was often littered with different things that turned out to be the number 3. Someone could speak a sentence with nine words and he'd count them out, divide 9 by 3 to find that it was divisible by 3 three times. It became an obsession, and sometimes he needed to take his mind off of it.

He started up guitar as a way to not only feed his desire to be the center of attention, but to serve as a distraction from the way his thoughts would often run. Out of all of his different coping mechanisms, learning to play had easily been the healthiest, even if it was so he could also get the attention he could no longer receive from his parents. He could receive praise and applause, and it caused him to get back into the act of charming the wits out of anyone to get what he wanted from them.

Among his other ways of dealing with things was his obsessive need to make sure that one of the rooms in his house was kept perfectly clean; it was the room that had been prepared for his little sibling, and he made it a habit to go into the room every day, though as he grew older, it waned into three times a week but would never be any less. Sometimes he would just go to dust off surfaces, remove cobwebs, and keep the room in pristine shape. Other times, he would go to talk, the image of the infant he would see being nothing more than his own imagination. He had named the child after a while, and he liked the idea of having a little sister to spoil as much as he had been - he could have turned himself around after some time (he was more than aware that he would be selfish about another child entering the household to start), become a decent role model for her, and want nothing more than to protect her. So every few days by the time he was nearing his 15th birthday, he would walk into the room and say "Who is Vanessa's number one fan?"

After all, if he didn't pretend at least one of his family members were actually around, then the survivor's guilt would eat him alive.

Alexander progressed through middle school managing to make girls swoon but, realizing it wasn't quite enough, started going after the boys as well; he quickly learned which were more open to his advances by looking for simple signs as he observed them. It reached that point with girls as well, some thinking they were too good for him, so he watch and wait to see if they would fall to him easily or not.

 

HIGH SCHOOL
 

THROUGH high school, Alexander's ways of getting attention expanded. Instead of working towards simple things like copying homework, he began to explore things a bit more on the sexual side once he turned 15. He was a year into high school already and it was the perfect opportunity to start giving in to his more sexual thoughts, he felt. Others were as well, and if he wanted to be on top, he had to follow suit and push his way through the herd of sheep so he could be the shepherd of the student body.

He didn't necessarily get into trouble with the teachers, but definitely with other students - sleeping with someone's girlfriend, paying other students to get revenge on someone for him so he doesn't have to dirty his hands (it was rare, but it happened). He worked just hard enough to get slightly above average grades, though he often procrastinated on his work in favor of having his hands all over the squeeze of the night instead of his pencil and papers.

It was rare at that point for his advances to be turned down. He'd always been a bit of a handsome child, but due to puberty, he'd become eyecandy for all of the girls at the school (and sometimes, he'd catch a few glances from guys as well and pursue them quicker) whether he liked it or not. Though, as he neared his 17th birthday, he'd grown tired of giving attention to every person that wanted him. As entertaining as being the school's playboy could be, as much as he could get out of it and feed off of all of that attention, he realized he didn't want it forever.

But he still keeps up with the facade, even if he's growing bored of it - the way he sees it, if he can find someone that's worth more than a night of his time, be it someone that's just a friend or otherwise, he'll drop it. Until then, he has plans to keep up the act until he graduates. And to help with his 'acting' skills, he's definitely a drama geek, charming his way into roles like it's nobody's business. He's got this.