Kate Messner

**Kate Messner** is a main character on *Everything Sucks!*. Kate is a Sophomore at Boring High & a member of the A/V Club. She is portrayed by Peyton Kennedy.

## Background

### Childhood

Kate's mother killed herself when Kate was five years old. When people ask Kate about her mother, she and her father said it was because her mother was ill.

### Season 1

Kate is currently operating the camera and has technical issues, Luke has entered the video club for the first time. When he offers her to fix the camera together after school, she agrees. On the way home together and in Luke's garage, the two get to know each other better and even if Kate likes Luke very much, she has no romantic feelings for him. When she finds a magazine with naked women in Luke’s garage, she secretly tucks it in her bag and seems to be confused about why she is attracted by the pictures. When she arrives home from Luke’s house, she’s shown to be sitting down in her bed with her headphones on. As she pulls out the magazine she previously stole from Luke’s garage, she unbuckles her belt and starts to unbutton her jeans. Not a second in, Kate’s father walks into her room on her. Luckily enough, she hugs the magazine quickly against her to cover up that she has started to undo her jeans. It seems like Kate’s father misunderstands the situation, telling Kate that she “doesn’t have to look like the girls in these magazines”. After physical education the very next day, Emaline, who is dressed in only a bra and shorts over top of what seems like fishnet leggings, is shown talking to her friends about her breasts. When Emaline catches Kate looking at her and encourages her to feel her breasts, Kate does not respond. Despite this, Emaline grabs Kate's hand and claims Kate had touched her boobs. From now on, Kate is teased and when Luke offers her a self-help Oasis in front of the whole school, she takes the chance. However, she can not live with the lie and after she activates the fire alarm when Luke wants to kiss her, she confesses to him that she thinks she is a lesbian.

Luke then attempts to help Kate work through her feelings via books, where Luke decides to be her beard and they begin fake dating. Kate is put in charge of costumes for the movie, which leads her and Emaline to go thrift shopping together, where Emaline has Kate try on a dress, marking a change in their relationship as they begin to become friends. Ken, Kate's dad invites Luke over for dinner where it is revealed Kate plays piano and sings, and Luke is falling in love with Kate, who was against the dinner.

During filming Luke invites Kate to a Tori Amos concert with him. In order to attend Kate drives the movie's car to Portland, where they park in a no parking zone and are subsequently towed. The tickets are far away, but Kate is thrilled to be there, leading Luke to continue falling for her. During the concert Kate watches two women clearly in a relationship and smiles. Following the show Luke announces how great the date was, prompting Kate to suggest they break up as she realizes Luke thinks they could become a real couple and she knows it isn't possible. After discovering the car was towed, Kate and Luke argue while waiting for Ken to pick them up, ending in a quiet ride home.

While home alone, Kate realizes her room, doesn't truly reflect who she is and decides to change it, ripping posters of male celebrities off her wall, replacing them with female ones. She also decides to change her appearance, taking a safety pin and piercing her nose. After screaming, Ken comes up to her room, commenting on the posters and getting a first aid kit. While tending to her nose, Ken and Kate have a talk about Ken's new relationship with Luke's mother, whom he doesn't name to Kate. After putting a jewel in her nose, Kate asks Ken for the funds for the A/V club to take a trip to Dominguez Rocks for filming. Kate then goes to Luke to let him know, making up with him as well.

During the AV club's filming trip Kate shares a hotel room with Emaline and Leslie. Kate and Emaline have a heart-to-heart after Kate sympathizes with Emaline over Oliver leaving her. Kate discovers Emaline thinks Kate is cool without trying and is actually very self conscious over just being Oliver's girlfriend. In turn, Kate tells Emaline she thinks Emaline is the most sexiest and attractive person Kate has ever met. Emaline asks Kate if she really thinks so, in which Kate replies that she thinks Emaline is perfect, leading them to almost kiss, being interrupted by Leslie. The next day they flirt during filming, but when Emaline asks Kate to go swimming later, Kate turns her down as she brings Luke on a little trip to see his father. Luke is unable to tell his father who his is and is upset with Kate. On the ride home, everyone on the bus sits in silence.

Kate is relaxing on the couch after returning home when her father walks in and makes a call to Luke's mother. Kate listens in to discover their relationship. At school later, Kate is surprised to see Emaline dressing differently, more for herself. The two go have a talk in private where Emaline and Kate reveal they have feelings for each other and make plans to go to Emaline's house after school. During this conversation both girls are clearly nervous and don't talk while anyone else is around. After talking with her dad about his relationship, Kate has to cancel on Emaline and brings Luke to a bridge to talk. She tells him Ken is happy for once, the relationship between their parents as nothing to do with him, and Luke should be less selfish.

Prior to the film premier Kate is waiting outside in the dress Emaline picked out earlier, when Emaline approaches sporting a new nose ring inspired by Kate's. She is also wearing a ring pop and gives Kate one as well after they establish they are sitting together at the showing. During the film, Kate leaves to check on Luke who is anxiously waiting outside and gets a big round of applause upon returning to the theater. During the after party, Emaline takes Kate’s hand and guides her back to the empty theater where she plays a slow song and the two dance together. This culminates in a deep yet passionate kiss between the two girls, just as McQuaid walks in looking for Emaline. The two continue to kiss before returning to the party where Ken congratulates Kate on the film. Right before Kate can come out to her dad, she’s interrupted by Luke and his mother. Sherry and Luke invite Kate and Ken for dinner. The final shot of the show is the four eating while Luke's father goes to knock on the door.

## Personality

Kate Messner is very withdrawn and very shy. She has few friends and is not very popular either. She joined the video club because she wanted a quiet club and did not want to run for her as a spokesperson, unlike her father's. It's also hard for her to raise issues that might hurt others. However, it is also very important to Kate that her friends are fine. For example, she wanted to do something good for Luke by bringing him to her father. Besides, she has shown him that with his actions he can hurt others, her father, as he threw him out of her house. Kate has seen that her father was finally happy again, so she was ready to get louder, which she rarely does.

## Gallery

1. ↑ Episode 4, "Romeo & Juliet in Space"
2. ↑ Episode 5, "What the Hell's a Zarginda?"
3. ↑ Episode 6, "Sometimes I Hear My Voice"
4. ↑ Episode 7, "Cheesecake to a Fat Man"
5. ↑ Episode 8, "I Just Wanna Be Anybody"
6. ↑ Episode 9, "My Friends Have Been Eaten by Spiders"
7. ↑ Episode 10, "We Were Merely Freshmen"