Charles Hugh

### Personality

Strong-willed, tough, independent, intelligent, logical, analytical, creative, determined, confident, complicated, loyal, careful, pragmatic, vindictive, humorous, extroverted, emotionless, sarcastic, ambiguous, courageous, unbreakable, empathetic, merciful, unconditionally loving, compassionate, self-sacrificing, heroic, understanding, humble, protective, pure-hearted, accepting, mature, insightful, honest, meticulous, dilligent
**Previously**: arrogant, egotistical, insecure, vulnerable, bitter, resentful, cynical, reclusive, ruthless, virtually solitary, stoic, unhinged, depressed, suicidal, shallow, selective, calculating, disrespectful

### Appearance

Slender, muscular, pale, flat nose, dark-brown hair

### Goal

To graduate high school
To get Valiera Nelson to "crush back"
To unite with Carl Alex and his friends
To stop his mother and brother from being abused by the Phee family (all succeeded)
To become an artist
To become a better person in general (both in progress)

### Relatives

* Leah Hugh (mother)
* Omner Hugh (brother)

### Allies

Luke Norris, Valiera Nelson, Nicholas Nelson, Rose Johannson, Steven Thompson, Carl Alex, Hebe, Helen McKeen, Crystal, Summer Petersen

### Enemies

Mr. Phee, Nicholas Phee, Miranda Patrick, Blaise Parton, Emily Watson, Natalia Thornton, Will Oswald, Preston Rumsworth, Valiera Nelson (formerly)

### Likes

Literature, clean skies, Facebook, Instagram, imDb, sushi, macaroni and cheese, Ritz crackers, Reese's candy, mutton, potatoes, Diet Coke, sunsets, vape, fishing, hunting, cats, dogs, the Middle-earth saga, Insane Clown Posse, Krewella, Marilyn Manson

### Dislikes

The Girl-Team, pollution, "hipsters", "talking shit", foolishness, lies, illogical or unreasonable thinking, pressure, having to repeat himself, disgusting memes about body parts, people messing with Luke or Valiera (especially Blaise), Leah's shallowness, Mr. Phee's abuse, being hit, being mistreated, being rejected, Amber Heard, the *Twilight* saga

### Powers and abilities

Superhuman sensory
Peak-human condition
Master deceiver
Master literarian
Gifted artist
Gifted pilot

### Status/Final Fate

Begins dating Valiera Nelson and fights in the Battle at the Temple of the Relinquished.

### Type of Character

Irrepressible Artistic & Romantic Role Model

"*You know, Steven and Valiera have both changed you a lot."
"You mean because it took me forever to learn what they really wanted out of life?"
"No, seriously. You’re not just a better fighter—you’re a better man. Everybody has noticed.*"
―Luke Norris and Charles[src]
**Charles Jahan Hugh** is a member of the Armies of Organa, a love interest to Luke Norris and Valiera Nelson, and a supporting character in the *Boys vs. Girls* trilogy. He returns as the leading role in *Boys vs. Girls 2 Prelude*, which delves very deeply into his character and into his relationships with Valiera Nelson and Luke Norris. His early years were extremely sheltered and troubling, and he grew to become a brilliant and strong-willed, though arrogant and vindictive teenager. Going into high school, he formed a temporary enmity with a girl named Carrie, began working with a caretaker named Christina, gained an enemy in Blaise Parton, and got off to a rocky beginning with Parton's enigmatic girlfriend, Valiera Nelson. Although he disliked the Boy-Team and was once an objective, he was far less fond of their enemies, hence why he joined them when the School War began. In the mix, he was most unwillingly thrust into a horrific situation when his family moved in with a cruel man his mother loved blindly, and his narcissistic son Nicholas whom his brother showed blind fanaticism to. Charles also grew more distant from Thompson after they both spent several hours trapped on a rollercoaster, turning his attentions towards breaking up Nelson and Parton to save her from herself.

Things took an ugly turn when Valiera Nelson left Provo, seemingly forever. He also dated a girl named Madison, although they broke up after a week. Shortly afterwards, he met Luke Norris and fell deeply in love with him. In the mix, he assisted Thompson (mostly for Helen McKeen's sake) during the Coup of Utah. When the summer holidays began, he began making amends with people he had hurt in the past, including Valiera Nelson, but she became furious. When the new year began, Charles continued bonding with Luke Norris and the members of his clique and finally realized he found Nelson to be extremely attractive, actively seeking her hoping to become her loyal friend. Thanks to an ensuing chain of events, he befriended Valiera's brother, defied the leader of the Cavaliers of Thornton, Natalia Thornton, at a playground, and formed a rivalry with Miranda Patrick, who had become Nelson's Lesbian girlfriend after he successfully saved the latter from the now expelled Blaise Parton. However, he was finally forced to acknowledge Nelson hated his guts, but it was this moment of willpower to move on from her that made her more open to being his friend. In the mix, Charles became involved with the bullies in the posse that followed his role model Carl Alex and especially with a girl named Rose Johannson, straining his relationship with his family even further when they tried to stop him. Although they made a lot of progress, Charles refused to give up the only friends he had.

Although he initially ignored Steven Thompson's requests for help during the rise of the Cavaliers of Thornton, he and Luke Norris played a pivotal and momentous role in the Battle of Orem. Although Charles still refused to openly join the Armies of Organa, he finally got along with Thompson during the latter's search for his best friend, Summer Petersen. Eventually, Charles began making reparations with Nelson, with him doing everything in his power to prove he could take good care of her. In spite of his remarkable compassion and loyalty, Valiera did not always act grateful for his care for her. His relationship with his family began improving as well when Leah, who was in conflict with Phee, finally stopped trying to separate him from his friends, and when Omner and Nick were in conflict as well. He also graduated from therapy and befriended Crystal.

In May, Charles and his family left the Phees, taking off for a new beginning beginning with spending a limbo in the YCC. He took part in the Infiltration of Nexus Tower and later left Miranda Patrick behind on neutral terms. Following the conclusive skirmish of the Insurrection of the Cavaliers of Thornton, in which he fought to the death, he realized the real purpose of the Boy-Team and Girl-Team after witnessing the Cavaliers' liberation from Natalia Thornton's curse. This emotional revelation finally compelled him to openly join the organization until he found his own living quarters the following year. It is very likely he adopted Valiera's child she unwisely conceived with Phillip when they began dating. Together, they fought the International Alliance and won. It is unknown what became of him afterwards, though it is said that he remained in contact with his friends from Tower Placement.

## Biography

### Early life

"*There are loves that destroy what we are, what we were, and Mother cannot change.*"
―Charles[src]
Charles Jahan Hugh was born in Utah on June 8, 2005 to an ambiguous familial line. He had been begotten by a Fobble mother named Leah Hugh and a mutant father, who was likely a druggie and whom Charles never knew and he somehow had a brother. When he was a toddler, he received a backpack from an undisclosed source in preschool, which he would much later confess to being proud of. In the elementary school he attended, he came to find girls very difficult to trust, mostly for perceived wrongs to himself. This resulted in a general distrust for females in adolescence. Charles later admitted that his upbringing was "painfully sheltered", resulting in him being unaware of some basic concepts such as customs or exactly what a gang is. Indeed, many of his family members were considered to be naive and hopelessly short-sighted by others. In spite of this, it is implied that Leah taught him how to draw.

### Being drawn to fate

#### Beginning at Tower Placement School

"*You sound like Carrie!*"
―Charles, to Valiera Nelson[src]
In 2017, Charles Hugh began attending Tower Placement School in November. Around the time of his registration, he created for himself an art portfolio on the Internet. In the mix, Charles and his family met Nicholas Phee and his father shortly after their house suffered heavy and irreparable damage and they let them live in their apartment. Eventually, Mr. Phee's uncle smashed the television when he was immoderately offended by something undisclosed, which Mr. Phee gave him a long and "cheesy" lecture about, although why Charles was blamed at all is a mystery. Although he was very wary of both of the Phee family from the very beginning, Leah Hugh immediately clicked with the businessman while Omner immediately clicked with Nick. Nick was probably aware of this, as he was mean to Charles and was often condescending, although their altercations escalating to violence was not unheard of. He soon came to realize he had been painfully sheltered, devastating him to realize what Sol was truly like and beginning what would evolve into hatred for his own family. During his education there, Charles did not really make friends with other students, having an *"inner circle"* of friends that he bore little to no interest in expanding.

During his middle school years, Charles met a young girl named Carrie in 2019, since she consistently came over for band practice with the latter's family. The two had a shaky relationship because Carrie thought his *“energy brushed the wrong way”*, but they still had one or two civil conversations. At the age of eight, she had made accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. She also made a Pinterest account, which she deleted at some point before turning nine. At some point, Charles hurt her horribly. But upon assessing the situation, Charles was self honest and considered what he had done, and it horrified him. He sincerely apologized to Carrie and sought to make amends, but Carrie bitterly threatened him in response, saying she would kill him if he ever came anywhere near her.

#### Chance encounters

"*If you follow me, punk, I will have to hurt you.*"
―Charles upon retrieving his backpack[src]
When Carrie discovered Charles' account on Instagram and realized it was him, she became furious and threatened to bathe the Earth with his guts, concerning Omner Hugh. When Charles gave her a thorough and sincere apology for their enmity during band practice, Carrie still refused to forgive him.

The following year, in 2010, Charles ran into Carrie on the road and he once again apologized, eccentrically swore by his future career he would never hurt her again, and offered to make amends. Carrie broke into a strange smile and said he had talked her into it, yet the two are not known to have any further contact after that. In November, Charles began working with a professional caretaker named Christina, who had a young daughter named Karen. A month later, Charles encountered a boy named Blaise Parton, who stole his backpack and fled the school with it. Charles pursued him, eventually pinning him to a stop sign before "having a brief tug-of-war over [the backpack]". Charles threatened to beat Parton if he was followed, but Parton did not pursue him. He also met a student named Luke Norris, who developed a crush on Charles, outside an undisclosed restaurant.

#### Meeting Valiera Nelson

"*He must have recognized me, or perhaps Nelson had been talking shit about me. Sounds like the thing she'd do...but no more words were exchanged. My mind was racing. I'm not sure I wanted to continue the conversation. So I headed off to lunch full of grief and confusion.*"
―Charles[src]At the beginning of eleventh grade, Charles learned the names of who he would be in Health class with. Charles met Valiera Nelson following a game to determine seating that he participated in, but realized that Nelson cleverly did not. Consequentially, she sat discreetly in a seat in the corner next to their teacher. When he picked his seat, it was next to hers. They also ended up with a boy named Bronson, whom Charles took an immediate liking to, and two unidentified girls making a quintuple table. When Charles introduced himself, Nelson revealed that she worked at a daycare, as she loved children, and she simply had "no time for dumb people". Both of which he found relatable. He considered their first meeting a success, as they had gotten off on decent terms.

The following day, Charles greeted Nelson and she responded in an uncharacteristically friendly way, even though she had told him the day before that she did not trade words with other students at all. While Charles pretended to develop an instant crush on Nelson (much to the discontent of his parents and Steven Thompson when he found out), it was merely an ironic joke, especially because she was merely cordial towards him, making him question how long the mission would take.

Despite this, Charles decided he had no hurry as he was convinced such things would take time anyway. This resulted in his surprise and strong envy when he saw her hanging out with the same boy who stole his backpack, Blaise Parton, two days after their first meeting. He asked her where she had been, and she insisted that she had fallen asleep. He lamented that they *"seemed a bit friendly"*.

Around this point, Phee returned into the picture. Charles, despite making two attempts to stop him from seducing his mother, could ultimately do nothing to prevent them from arranging a wedding *before* they moved in. On April 1, Phee became wedded to Leah, though at the last minute, he refused to put it into writing, making Charles think there was still hope for his own family.

#### In class with Valiera Nelson

"*I don't like the Armies of Organa, Steven. People aren't my thing in general. But the Girl-Team, I hate with a greater passion.*"
―Charles[src]When the School War began in May, Charles reluctantly joined the Armies of Organa under Steven Thompson, in their war against the Girl-Team under Emily Watson. He disliked them, but was less fond of their enemies. Charles continued trying to appeal to Valiera Nelson. Nevertheless, he judged her rather harshly, thinking she was unusual, spending a long time in (admittedly blissful) ignorance of just about everything except the mission and what he projected onto her. Nevertheless, he still believed they were almost entirely alike, which Nelson inadvertently supported by making the accusation that he automatically agreed with every word she said.

However, Thompson noticed that their relationship was growing more distant but also that more enmity was forming, something also noticed by one of their teachers according to Helen McKeen. On one occasion, Nelson threatened to hit Charles, which he dared her to do in front of twenty students and a teacher. Nelson's furious retort was that Charles would probably enjoy any sort of physical contact with her, no matter how painful, to which he called her a creep. He noticed that Nelson initially showed up for class consistently, but as the term passed, she began attending class for the last twenty or so minutes and eventually every other session, sometimes even weekly and still for brief time periods. He disagreed with Thompson that she and Watson were conspiring during school hours.

The week after he met Steven Thompson, Charles pointed out that Nelson claimed not to trade speech with others when he saw her trading text messages with Bronson. Nelson irrationally claimed she only spoke with people she knew, and accused Charles of doing nought but asking her questions about herself. Charles pointed out that it was perfectly normal for friends to get to know each other by asking questions, and joked that she probably wanted him to prattle on about himself.

Having learned from Jamie Thompson that Nelson smoked, he asked her if she did. She was laughing with her posse and Charles kept asking, only for her to deny it. He later found her lie on Instagram and questioned her, telling her that smoking was not beneath him either. She doubted that he smoked at all.

#### Abduction of Eegan Grover

Despite her intense romantic feelings for him, Leah Hugh eventually had no choice but to call off the move to Phee's house and they remained in their old house for a time. Overjoyed by this, Charles took his friends to an amusement park, where they ran into a girl at school named Summer Petersen, who reluctantly agreed to ride a rollercoaster with them. However, as the ride progressed, the boxcar they were in slid to the side and stopped abruptly, effectively trapping them several dozen feet in the air. Two hours later, Charles finally pointed out that no one was going to get them down, leading to Petersen speculating that they had been trapped deliberately. Hendersen disagreed, but Charles agreed Emily Watson may have sprung the trap. After they failed to get help from the partygoers below, Petersen was called by Helen McKeen. Charles furiously demanded for Petersen's reasons for keeping her cell phone a secret, but she had none in particular. Petersen tried calling the fire department, but she dropped her phone.

Rhett suggested they find a way to entertain themselves. Charles suggested a history lecture, but Miller and Petersen agreed that would be boring. Thompson suggested they tell jokes. Charles suggested they joke about each other, and despite no one agreeing with him, he still told a mean joke insulting Hendersen's height. Petersen was about to tell another one, when Emily Watson turned up and revealed that Charles had been right all along. But after she left again, Eloisa and Octavius Hendersen, Andrew's parents, arrived to rescue them.

#### Continuation

A few days later, on September 29, 2021, he met Jamie Thompson, inviting her into his clique, the two developed a close relationship, though Charles found her fun to tease.

In spite of everything, Charles was beginning to warm up to Valiera Nelson, if not slightly, and began doing everything in his power to protect her from Blaise Parton, her deranged boyfriend. However, his attempts to break up an estranged couple was born of selfish motives: he thought she would thank him enough to at long last join the Armies of Organa. Charles later encountered Luke Norris again, this time in the school library. Norris kept trying to talk to Charles, which he told him was *“touching, but annoying”*, though apparently agreeable as well.

At the beginning of eleventh grade, in the latter half of January 2022, he saw Nelson again and realized, much to his delight, that the two would be sharing classes again. At one point, she told Charles she had lost her mother because someone had followed her to the Main Office, but Charles did not believe her fib, as Lisa Nelson was very much alive.

#### Breaking contact

Charles arrived at the same time as Nelson and congratulated her for arriving on time. She sat with a girl named Kayla, whom Charles noticed was far more attentive in class than either of them. He attempted to get her attention, but she stood up and "bolted" to the Main Office. Offended, Charles foolishly followed her there to speak up for himself. One of the office personnel told them to avoid each other in class, and they returned. But thanks to what he gleaned by eavesdropping on her and Kayla, she began talking to him instead and giving him dirty looks. She revealed that she had blocked his Instagram account and accused him of stalking her.

With three minutes before class ended[*citation needed*], she packed to leave and Charles told her if she was not rude to him, he would not show her antagonism. She ignored him, this final straw goaded him beyond endurance and he pursued her back to the office.

On the way to the office, he was met by two members of her posse, who told him to stop following her. He defied their requests, but the second member persisted and followed them both into the office and threatened to turn Charles in to the police, to which he casually pointed out that they could not arrest him if they were unable to arrest a girl he despised, Emily Watson.

Two school administrators beckoned them both into a room and they were forced to create a No-Contact-Contract, forbidding them to communicate by any means. Nelson mentioned several things Charles spitefully called irrelevant and the two staff broke off to speak with both students in person. He told Charles to find other students to befriend, which was redundant as he already had a posse of friends that he navigated the school with.

At some point after this, a boy named Matt that he had never been particularly fond of claimed an entity was hiding in an invisible hole deep into the side of the Rocky Mountains, ready to initiate the end of days on the third of October, which Charles was extremely amused by.

#### Mr. Phee returns

Eventually, Charles somehow got the impression that Valiera Nelson had requested the No-Contact Contract. In a moment of grief and pain, he elbowed Nelson in the backside, directly on her spine, on his way to address their Health teacher. He sent Charles outside, but the assault was not charged. By the time he returned home from school, Charles felt extremely guilty for blatantly and unjustifiably taking his personal harm on Nelson, who had never done anything to him, to a physical level. He punished himself privately by rubbing disinfecting spray all over his *left* elbow, something he continued to do for four days afterward.

Around this time, Charles was most unwillingly thrust into a horrific situation when Leah decided to give in to Mr. Phee, an old friend of hers that Charles had always been suspicious of and had eventually come to despise, and her deepest temptations. However, Leah loved Phee blindly and had never trusted Charles' judgement. This caused Leah to prepare to move in with him. As they prepared for the transition, Charles and his increasingly divided family spent an entire night moving everything in, not sleeping until eleven in the morning.

#### The fall of Utah

"*I've spent years, in mistiness, trying to forget my past. Years of being brainwashed, naively unproductive, taking Mommy's negligence and her relationship with Daddy, and taking shit as far up north as is possible. This always seemed like the best place to smoke, and to change everything, make it the polar opposite, and to die someday."
"Well, any kind of smoking isn't cool, which every sane person knows, and you probably do it way too much."
"You can't stop my smoking any more than Helen's. But... there's a few select things where changing them won't do any good."
"That's absolutely true, Charles."
"Yes, and it gets harder and harder to stay away. Not because the fortunes of society are going ker-plunk, but because I owe homegirl huge-time. So... if I'm gonna die, well... it might as well be splitting that asshole's lovely head open.*"
―Charles, Steven Thompson, and Helen McKeen[src]
Following the capture of nearly every member of the Decemahead, Charles Hugh went to the house of Andrew Hendersen to investigate. Both Steven Thompson and Helen McKeen found him there. Charles briefly explained the situation to her, but then she had a panic attack. Thompson managed to calm her down and proceeded to ask Charles for help. In response, he confessed that his smoking habits were the result of his mother's negligence and her relationship with someone else, although he was very vague about who Mr. Phee was. As Thompson commented that his smoking was a bit too excessive, Charles affirmed him that he was unwilling to stop smoking but willing to fight the Supreme Leader of the Girl-Team this once with the intent of repaying McKeen for helping him out of a sticky situation once in the past and splitting Emily Watson's head open. Charles reconciled with Thompson as McKeen agreed with his statement, though he admitted he didn't know where the Boy-Team stashed their fleet. Hugh teamed up with Thompson and McKeen to rescue the leaders. The three Boy-Team members fought their way through the defenses to the Red Battlements, which was already under bombardment, and managed to infiltrate the base, only to find the prisoners being held at the very top floor being monitored by Emily Watson herself.

Hugh, Thompson, and McKeen fought against Watson, who furiously retaliated against all three of their assaults whilst demanding that they leave her alone. Watson tried to separate the group, but Hugh and McKeen managed to best Emily Watson, who fled from them after McKeen held her at gunpoint. Hugh moved to free the prisoners, but he disappeared after the Decemahead moved to conquer the Orc Devil, clearly not wishing to play a part in that and feeling he had already done enough and could no longer protect Helen.

Shortly afterwards, Charles and his family finished moving into Mr. Phee's house, making Charles realize his family's endgame had officially begun.

### Struggling to move on

#### Valiera Nelson's departure

At one point, Charles Hugh found Blaise Parton pinning Valiera Nelson against a wall and furiously challenged him to physical combat on the condition that he did not release Nelson. Parton reluctantly threw Nelson into Charles and leaving them in the grass, leaving him to question if Nelson was losing her nerve. None of them knew Summer Petersen had witnessed this and chosen not to interfere.

Immediately after Spring Break, Charles led Valiera Nelson outside and they "shared their most sensitive moment yet" together, something which Charles was mesmerized by, which ultimately led him to finally accept her for who she was. He also learned that she had dumped Parton. Three days later, Nelson unfortunately switched schools from Tower Placement, leaving Charles very upset.

Charles later encountered Luke Norris in the hallway again and the latter comforted him about Valiera Nelson and asked him what was on his iPod. When Charles told him what was on his iPod and explained how Nelson “disappeared”, Norris realized that the same girl he had encountered on Instagram may be Valiera. He showed Charles her profile and realized, to his utter shock, that his cyber idol and Charles' crush were the same person (which may have irritated him since he himself had a crush on Charles). They realized that along with Nelson, they had dozens of similarities. Norris, however, refused to give Charles his address since he barely knew him, though he did tell him his school schedule. The two of them sat and just stared at each other until the bell rang, both immersed in their own thoughts.

On Tuesday, Charles met up with Norris at Gate 14 so they could hang out.

#### Era of depression

Charles and Luke Norris began hanging out consistently and bonding heavily together. Charles spent most of the month thinking he was glad to be rid of Valiera Nelson, where nothing in the School War could hurt her. Around this time, Charles' self-inflicted injuries finally manifested in a mass of bloated dead skin on his elbow, which he attempted to hide from his parents for two days, with success. However, his stepfather finally noticed it and his mother Leah Hugh took him to the Emergency Room to examine it. The doctor there confirmed he would not have to be squeezed by metal devices to reduce the bloating, but he later claimed it *"would have been no more than I deserved"*.

On April 17, Charles had a vision and he saw the same girl from 2017 in his Health class, lighting the room with tendrils of radiant and glowing energy and wrapping him in a bear hug. He realized, much to his horror, that he could get to know her, but not be with her until he was ready, and that only through his failures could he change enough to be in a positive romantic relationship with anyone. The girl in his visions *was* Nelson. He became devastated, prompting Preston Rumsworth, who was nearby, to laugh sadistically. Charles stole one of his novels in retaliation and tore it to pieces to take revenge.

After this, Charles fell into a depression that the link that had been virtually prophecized, coupled with his one job, had failed so spectacularly, and even became slightly suicidal. In the meantime, his feelings for Luke Norris and for Nelson both deepened and became more complex. As he learned more about her, he became more aware of the kind of person he was really fraternizing with, and came to regret trying to hurt her, until he considered punching her in the spine as the largest mistake of his life.

At this point, Charles also dated a girl named Madison, although they broke up after a week; his peers would later falsely assume Madison had been an imaginary love interest.

Charles was not known to take part in the Liberation of Utah, which saw the Girl-Team fleeing and agreeing to a peace treaty, but he may have without being noticed by Steven Thompson or Summer Petersen.

#### Coming together

"*Whatever doesn't kill me… only makes us stronger.*"
―Charles to Luke Norris[src]
On the last day of school, Charles Hugh and Luke Norris shared “a really sensitive moment” together, which clearly made Charles confused since he was still devoted to Valiera Nelson.

Throughout the first half of the summer, Charles spent great deals of time making amends with virtually everyone he had hurt in the past. As he felt very anxious at the prospect of approaching Valiera Nelson again, he arranged to leave her for last. In the mix, Nicholas Phee, his temporary stepfather's narcissistic son, moved in with them, causing Omner to begin despising Charles quite possibly for no reason at all. A few weeks after that, Charles also helped Luke Norris move boxes around the latter's home.

On June 7, Mr. Phee and Leah suspected him of stealing an undisclosed type of comfort food, although the culprit was soon revealed to be Omner. Around this time, Charles endeavored to look for employment since he was almost out of high school, but Mr. Phee forbade it and cited he could only if three-quarters of it went to him, going to show just how selfish and greedy he was.

In the beginning of August, Nelson began following Charles on Instagram, after Norris reminded her about him. However, when she realized it was him, she became furious and threatened him, aggravating Norris in the process. Having realized that he had made the biggest mistake of his life, Charles gave her a thorough and sincere apology for their enmity during the war. In response, Nelson insisted that she was used to men using or debasing her in some way, filling Charles with understanding and confusing Norris.

#### Hospitalization of Luke Norris

"*Her pain is far worse than I was worried it might be.*"
―Charles mentioning Valiera Nelson[src]
On August 10, Charles planned to go fishing with Luke Norris, as he was bored with them “just hanging out and going to the gym together”. In mid-afternoon on the following day, Charles came to visit as planned, only to encounter Norris' stepmother, Debbie, and learn from her that Norris had been playing football in the morning and broke not only four bones in his torso but his entire right leg as well, resulting in him being hospitalized. Horrified, Charles used Debbie's phone to call home, and upon gaining permission to do so, asked Debbie to drive him to the store so he could buy Norris one of his favorite foods, a large tub of raisins. Upon making the purchase, Charles went to the hospital, bringing his boyfriend the raisins to eat while he lied in bed. Charles also spoke words of comfort to him and whispered song lyrics in his ear.

Aware that Nelson's birthday was coming up, Norris began to fret because he wanted to discharge in time to wish her a happy birthday, as he had come to acknowledge her as one of his best friends and apparently believed Nelson, Charles, and himself, and possibly Patrick, could all be best friends and make an ideal quartet. Charles picked up on this and wished Norris luck in healing on time.

Over the next few days, Charles spent up to two hours at a time jogging down the street and watching *The Lord of the Rings*, both as means to help him take his mind off Norris so he wouldn't worry about him twenty-four-seven.

On August 16, in the morning, Charles returned to the hospital right before Norris discharged and the two rode home together. The two hung out there for two hours before Charles returned to his own home. Norris got his wish and he wished Nelson a happy birthday just in time, explaining when asked that he had learned of her birth date through the description on her profile and where he had been since the eleventh.

### Search for Valiera Nelson

#### A new year begins

"*Sorry I couldn't find you. I got…held up. I take full responsi—"
"It's all good."
"So, how was your first day back?"
"All hell has broken loose! You were missing, I knew I would encounter my old, though admittedly, one-sided friend, and my enemy Chris, but I never thought it'd happen this quickly! God! On the bright side, I finally met Miranda today, and we're both interested in doing that. If you can call that encounter an introduction."
"All I asked was, 'How was your first day back?'*"
―Charles and Luke Norris[src]When the school year began, Charles Hugh entered the building intending to seek out Luke Norris, and encountered somebody named Chris. Immediately afterward, he encountered Miranda Patrick, whom he recognized from photos, prompting Valiera Nelson, who was with her, to run for it. Charles later acknowledged that had he seen the front, not back, of Nelson's head, he would have been terrified and sprinted first.

He encountered Nelson and Patrick a second time ascending a flight of stairs, and a third time in the hallway. During their encounters, they still did not say a word, but during the second Charles sarcastically said, "Not again", and the third, he simply smiled (though Nelson's back was probably turned as she spoke with Patrick). During lunch, Charles encountered Patrick, who was walking solo and gave him the middle finger, letting him deduce that Nelson had told her the boy they encountered was him.

Charles did not encounter Norris until the latter approached his neighborhood for the first time. He apologized for failing to meet up with him as agreed the night before, but Charles was very anxious, and when Norris asked him what had happened, he explained the events of the day and claimed that "all hell has broken loose". Norris left, saying he wasn't supposed to be there, confusing Charles even more.

It was later revealed that Charles took General Financial Lit during fifth period, with Patrick, whereas Nelson took it during third. Charles turned and asked her why she had given her middle finger, giving her the benefit of the doubt, but she ignored him.

#### Meeting Carl Alex and Rose Johannson

On Friday, Norris made a huge mistake in sixth period that disturbed Charles. That afternoon, he encountered an old and antagonistic friend and met a girl named Rose Johannson who was with Norris and a boy named Carl Alex. They also met Jamie and Wesley Denkenberger, a boy who loved weed and tripped on his skateboard. Charles jokingly called him an idiot and told him to get up. That night, Charles promised to give Nelson her space for awhile, as he could tell she needed it. He also took the opportunity to demand that Norris text him so they could discuss what he had done at school. At some point around this time, he met Hebe. While she may have met Steven Thompson before this, it is more likely she has known Charles for longer than Thompson.

#### Meeting Ray Eliott

On Monday, he briefly spoke with Patrick for the first time and sat with her. The following day, he tried getting a boy named Ray Eliott punished for smoking because he was with several of his other friends and Charles was interested in joining them. Later that day, he saw a glimpse of Nelson and immediately realized she was in a phase where she was furious with the rest of the world, just by seeing the look in her eyes, something Norris later confirmed because she yelled and cursed at the latter for no reason. Two days later, Charles realized Nelson was angry with him for speaking with Patrick or trying to get Ray in trouble. Nelson claimed that if this continued, then *"s\*\*\* is going to hit the fan"*.

#### Beginning of counseling

"*They all know I live to improve people, but in order to improve what is faulty and fix what is broken, I'll have to break out of this cage I'm in and start repairing myself.*"
―Charles[src]
Shortly after Labor Day, Charles also met Valiera's younger brother, Nicholas Nelson, when he passed the Main Office on his way to class. The two had a cordial introduction. In the mix, he spoke with his counselor about Nelson, and they agreed that as he had promised to give her space, he should keep his word until a meeting they hoped to schedule for the beginning of October. Three days later, he attended a special class session directed towards Senior students, where he mostly sat, rigid and impassive, and bored.

Shortly afterwards, he encountered Nelson again when he met up with his friends, and while he already knew this, Nelson was silently surprised to learn that they had several of the same friends. When Rose left the bench, Charles joked that he and Nelson were "just two losers on a bench", prompting Nelson to scoff and stand up. However, Rose asked him to leave, so as he headed for class, he bade everyone farewell, to which Nelson stated her refusal to respond (ironically doing so in the process). True to his word, Charles wished her well and left, snarkily saying "You're welcome" when she sardonically thanked him for leaving.

On September 17, Charles and Rose Johannson agreed to meet together at his house so he could help her with her homework. The following morning, he went with Johannson and three of their friends to get food from a gas station. Charles bought her a candy bar. An hour later, he went to the Counseling Office, where he met with his counselor a second time. They decided not to hold the meeting with Nelson until she was more cordial towards Charles. To verify she was being nice, he was given a homework assignment — to record all of the times they met and return to the office when he had three examples concocted.

#### A homework assignment

"*That's good, I'm glad to see a female getting her hands dirty and doing what she loves to do. What did you have to work on anyways?"
"I had some plugged tubes that connected to my eg-something sensor. I forgot what it’s called...?"
"O2 sensor, I'm assuming."
"Sounds about right. But we thought the sensor was bad but we checked to see if it was plugged and it was so we cleared that and my service engine light went off so it didn’t cost me any which is great?*"
―Charles and Valiera[src]
Afterwards, Charles Hugh saw Valiera Nelson and Miranda Patrick and the three formally acknowledged each other, making example one within the hour. Three days later, Johannson asked if he could meet at her house instead, and he said yes. Unfortunately, Jeff Johannson, who was Rose's father, prevented her from going.

During the second encounter which was subsequent, Charles smiled at Valiera and she gave a forced smile in response. The third time, he found her car in the parking lot and Nelson found him examining it curiously. She revealed she was behind him by asking if he was feeling curious, albeit in a confrontational tone of voice. Charles told her her car was very interesting and that he was very artistic like her, prompting her to lower her tone as he acknowledged she had an interesting hobby, leaving her evidently and mildly surprised he knew about cars at all, as he had once mentioned being unable to drive due to having a pessimistic family.

Throughout the latter half of the first semester, Charles Hugh noticed that his family's cat Callisto was not opening up to him as much as she used to and she was growing increasingly difficult to find. The feline had long dwelt with Mr. Phee, who had been frequently bringing in new pets and claiming he possessed a spiritual alignment with non-sentient organisms, and had bonded with Charles in a way she never bonded with a Phee before, making the two of them close friends.

#### The death of Callisto

After the cat Callisto experienced a number of concerning seizures throughout the month of September, Leah Hugh and Mr. Phee, who had long refused to take her to a veteranarian, finally took her in, although both of them were immoderately offended when Charles called both of them out on just how slow they had been on noticing Callisto's condition, especially Mr. Phee. Charles rightly confronted him, to which he was predictably mentally abusive to his stepson, refusing to see fault within himself.

Charles stayed home with Nicholas Phee while Omner Hugh accompanied them, but both of the twelfth-grade boys eventually received a phone call to come outside and be picked up by Leah so that they could hear the horrible news — Callisto was to be euthanized with a lethal drug injection. Charles sadly went with Leah, bade goodbye to Callisto, and witnessed her death. The following day, everyone held a funeral for her. Omner comforted Charles during the event, and he told his little brother about the constellation Orion.

Three days later, Hugh encountered Nelson in the hallway twice, first with Ray Eliott, then again with Patrick. He also attended a second special session mandatory for Senior students, but he could find no one he knew to sit with. Finally, he found Nelson and Patrick predictably sitting together on the right of the grandstands in the auditorium. Charles asked if he could accompany them. Nelson nodded, so he sat, but then she stood up and demanded he let her through. He asked her why, and she said she needed no reason, and he moved his foot, allowing her and Patrick to pass. Shortly afterwards, he learned that Nelson refused to meet with him, much to his disappointment.

On October 5, Charles accidentally wandered into one of the classes attended by the same dark girl he had affectionately referred to as "*Unidentified*" since the beginning of the year. Charles' interest was picqued when the unnamed substitute teacher called out her name, which turned out to be Jamie. When the girl answered to it, Charles made a face at her, knowing she had just told one of her friends not to divulge her name, mostly out of pettiness. Reluctantly, she explained why she had kept the secret. because her family was plagued by violence and conflict, and she had selected an alias upon ending up in a new home. Even the aforementioned alias she rarely told of unless they were close to her, and her real name she divulged to no one. Charles realized he was in the wrong classroom when Jamie told him they were in Juniors Honors, and he proceeded to his own class.

#### Meeting the Nelsons

Charles met Valiera's brother Nicholas again a day after learning what Jamie's alias was when he requested that Leah Hugh pick him up from his apartment. He also met Saul Nelson, who was playfully hiding under his sweater. Charles spoke with them and Omner, and they proceeded to go to Cracker Barrel, a Southern-styled restaurant, where Charles ordered fruit, french fries, turnip greens, and catfish. Having picked up on Lisa's resemblance to the woman he had met in March, and Nicholas having a brother named Saul, Charles questioned the possibility that this was the same Nicholas Valiera Nelson was related to.

Intrigued as he was, Charles attempted to put the pieces together by asking Nicholas several questions with a false implication of innocent curiosity, as he even went so far as to confess that he was extremely curious (a debatable claim). He did learn, however, that Nicholas *did* have a sister at Tower Placement and that she had moved in with a friend. When they returned home, Charles saw Nicholas examining the family's rock collection in the foyer before heading to his study while Nicholas and Nick played a game of chess. At this point, he realized that Nicholas and Nicholas Nelson were, beyond all doubts, one and the same. Near the end of the game, he told racist jokes with Nicholas Nelson and Nicholas Phee. Leah drove Nicholas home afterwards, with Charles in the car, who proceeded home and told his parents of the coincidence, which excited him. He enthusiastically greeted Nicholas a few days later.

#### Reunited again

On October 12, he met Carl in the corridors, who had been looking for Rose Johannson, whom Charles at this point distrusted. His distrust increased when Carl revealed that Johannson had dumped him (Carl) for a Lesbian named Madeline. On Friday, Charles asked Ray Eliott what had become of Carl, but when he told him not to worry about it, Charles asked another friend of his, who told him that Carl had run away from home, allegedly never to be seen again. He later asked Norris, who confirmed this.

On October 18, Charles and his family began Fall Break by partying and eating chili in the evening. Eventually, he was persuaded by Norris to hang out with him at the playground and leave the house while the parents were out. While they were sitting on the swings together, Norris admitted to Charles that he was very sensitive to “fart jokes” when they overheard someone mentioning it. Charles regretted agreeing to come without informing his parents (though ironically he probably just hated being caught for it).

In the mix, he began attending meetings held by a school club called the Gay-Straight Alliance soon after happening upon posters promoting it.

### Choosing a side

#### Gatsby Gala

"*While I am not perfect, and never will be, I left Tower Placement for a summer and I took a look at myself and made a change. I have a tendency to emphasize with people like that, for I believe there is no such thing as someone who did just that and doesn't deserve a shot at proving it. For more than three months I have held hope for redemption. But if we are meant to dislike each other, it's still one lousy night for creating an eternity in which we both are separated.*"
―Charles[src]
During the second meeting of the Gay-Straight Alliance, Charles Hugh acquired a door prize — a free ticket to the school dance that was to be held in a week — by sheer chance and as a result of sheer fate. Charles considered which friend to bring with him, as he considered several, but the answer quickly occurred to him. He hoped it would be Val Quintana, one of the only two people for whom he had failed to find redemption over the summer. He had already found an ideal gift — a peace offering — for her. He posted his proposition on Instagram, hoping Quintana would see it. On October 28, at which point Quintana had not yet seen his message, he ate a strange blend of macaroni cheese for lunch. That night, he went to a place called Rush with his family, including Omner Hugh, which he enjoyed.

#### Skirmish in Provo

"*Now I'm going to do to you what Amber Heard did to pirate-centric cinema in the late 2010s!*"
―Charles to Natalia Thornton[src]
On Halloween, Charles and Luke Norris discussed their plans for which the holiday would be spent. Charles went trick or treating with a small girl named Carolyn and a couple of high schoolers, which he really enjoyed. He was also finally willing to admit that he had enjoyed watching Hannah Montana as a youth.

On November 1, Charles went to a seemingly vacant playground. There, he was contacted by Luke Norris, and they told each other what they had done over Halloween. Charles told him he was hoping Valiera Nelson received his message soon. Minutes later, however, Charles received the reply, in which Nelson showed up after Charles tagged her and demanded that he leave her alone, offending him that she took his generosity for granted. Charles responded, but then he looked up, realizing something was wrong and he was not alone. After Nelson threatened to get cops involved, Norris pointed out Quintana was acting irrational by quoting Charles, but Charles, remembering what had happened in August, politely asked him not to interfere. But then he saw Natalia Thornton herself placing wards around the playground in order to initiate a deadly curse. Charles confronted her, using the radiation from his cell phone to siphon the energy while he messaged his peers on Instagram, taking advantage of the spells to conceal himself from a bemused Thornton and demand that Luke Norris not come anywhere near the playground.

Simultaneously and coincidentally, Valiera Nelson continued to offend and threaten Charles. Charles asked Nelson how she wanted their problem solved, pointing out that giving each other space was not working and asking her what she wanted him to do. However, after Charles realized the plague was spreading in spite of his efforts, and Nelson called upon Will Oswald and Miranda Patrick to help her cyberbully him, Charles realized all hope of redemption was lost and, sheathing his phone, confronted Thornton directly.

As if out of nowhere, Josh Hogan charged through the wards, undetected by either Thornton or Charles, and rescued him and backfired Thornton's curse by using an app on series of phones that had previously been rented by the Guild of Gourds. Hogan told Charles about Operation: Despair.

Still, when he returned to school the following day, he chose to be in a good mood. Charles subsequently followed through with his threat and reported Val's three-year history of smoking weed and vaping to school administration. He proceeded to ask someone else to the dance instead, but she was already taken.

#### Aftermath

Following this event, Charles finally acknowledged that Val Quintana hated him, something he no longer intended to attempt to change, as he believed it may be years before she healed entirely. Hurt by her words of rejection, he attempted to procure her access code, only to realize the endeavor was worthless. Following this, Charles was reprimanded by the staff for his role in the Coup of Utah and his right to work independently at home was revoked by his parents.

Two weeks after Nelson's rebuttal, Steven Thompson asked Charles for help, as he considered him an invaluable recruit due to his determination and "elegant cyber tongue", and because he felt that he would not be able to fight Natalia Thornton. It was rumored that Charles was seeking Val Quintana's approval on Thompson's orders, as he believed her help would be even more priceless than his own. While certainly unconfirmed, these rumors reached the Guild of Gourds.

While on a walk with Norris on November 19, Charles encountered a black-colored dog he recognized from having passed him by regularly, and he admitted to his friend that the dog was probably abused. Considering being left out in the cold proof of this, as he had seen the same dog hours ago, Norris suggested having some fun with the bored creature. Not having a phone, and unable to play the tunes on his mp3 player out loud, Charles asked Norris to search up "devil h2o" on YouTube. Norris did so, and they began dancing with the dog, much to its delight and excitement. However, the owner came out and seemed livid with them, so Charles explained what he'd seen. When she threatened to call the police, Luke told Charles to leave and he would handle the situation, as it was his idea in the first place. When he saw Luke again on Monday, Charles was delighted to learn the dog was on its way to a new home. Luke amused him by playing a clip he cleverly recorded for legal purposes of the lady from earlier berating him and repeatedly calling him "a b\*tch".

A couple days later, Mr. Phee reportedly punished Charles grievously for pulling Omner’s hair, for which Leah was more than happy to help him torment her own son. On November 25, Charles posted four memes on Instagram that, to him, perfectly described people in his life.

### Reunited with Carl Alex's posse

#### Seeing old friends

On December 5, Charles Hugh prepared to go to Tutorial. However, on the way down, he encountered Rose Johannson and two of her friends, and he asked her where Carl was then. She told him to follow her, but then she spotted several people and asked Charles to hold her red backpack. Charles obliged, but not trusting her completely, followed her to the edge of the stairwell after he heard her screaming. To his surprise, he also saw Val Quintana and Ray Eliott behind the door, which was sealed, and Johannson showing them her middle finger after they knocked on it. Matthew left with the two teenagers, but then Charles realized Johannson had led him directly to Carl, who let Quintana and Eliott inside.

During the conversation that followed, Carl refused to reveal where he had been, much to Charles' annoyance. He was embarrassed when he revealed that he was a virgin and somewhat literal due to growing up "painfully sheltered". He also told Johannson he smoked weed and was homosexual (the latter being disputable but not proven false), and she asked him for a dollar he did not have. She also apologized for ditching him, which he accepted, as he realized he deeply cared for them, in the long run. Carl said he was not allowed to wear a blue flag or carry drugs, and he and Johannson playfully bickered over possession of said flag.

Suddenly, Eliott and Quintana came inside. Charles noticed that "the fire in her eyes [had] died out…looks genuinely scared but strangely content (as per usual) at the same time". Quintana pleased Charles by complaining about Miranda Patrick, whom Johannson believed deserved a punch in the nose, and they lamented that they always woke up smelling like smoke, angering Charles, who realized Nelson had never truly given up on smoking. The four had a merry conversation as they headed for the alcove near the science classrooms, at which point Charles called Carl a "dumbass" for not knowing who Quintana was. He also shouted at Carl not to chase Johannson since she was clearly struggling. However, they met up at the door and agreed to split. Charles sat with Johannson and Carl and they pointed out a girl who had hurt Johannson.

Hours later, he contacted Johannson on Facebook, who told him she was in the office crying, shocking him. He also became very confused and offended because he thought she proceeded to unfriend him. Johannson was as confused as he was and he simply sent her another friend request.

#### The following days

The following day, he saw Quintana, Eliott, and Carl in the hallway, confirming to him that they had gotten back together. He noted that "the fire [was back in] Quintana's eyes". He encountered Carl again at the end of the day, who invited him to come upstairs and smoke weed. Eliott offered a girl passing by a cup of cheerios, but when she declined he gave them to Charles. He was also messaged by Johannson, who invited him to hang out that same day.

The following morning, Charles headed upstairs with intense anticipation, only to find Carl was not there. He saw Quintana and Eliott passing by and asked them for Carl's whereabouts, but Eliott said neither of them had seen him. He returned upstairs to keep a lookout. This worked in his favor as he watched Carl enter the room and rushed downstairs to question him. Carl said he had failed in his attempt the night before to procure weed and said he would not fail on Monday. Charles, ever the type to give second chances, immediately agreed. He proceeded to ask Carl what plans he had for the weekend, and he agreed to hang out. He also arranged to ask Johannson for Charles' address.

During Tutorial that day, he saw Carl leaving with his friends, and he called out to them wishing them a good time. Twenty minutes later, he became suspicious that Carl had lied about his lack of possession of weed, as he was presumably going out to smoke with his friends, but he ran into a girl who told him she found Carl "well-meaning, but certainly interesting" and said it was not in his character to lie. Charles trusted Carl Alex and he agreed.

#### Visiting Rose Johannson

The following morning, Charles confirmed that he was interested in hanging with Rose Johannson and in the evening, they provided each other's address. He and Leah confirmed that they had her phone number and drove to her house with Leah. When Johannson answered the door, Charles expressed his delight at seeing her and hugged her while both of their parents introduced themselves. Charles told Johannson she had an adorable new haircut. Johannson also said Leah was pretty, especially her eyes.

After their parents parted ways, Johannson introduced Charles to her pets, something he enjoyed, and they went downstairs to smoke weed. Johannson was surprised, as she had not fully believed that Charles really did smoke. She and her friend Nina taught Charles how to use a pipe, which he enjoyed immensely. The two remained downstairs, with Johannson going on longer than Charles in smoking. While they were downstairs, Charles also met her young, caramel-colored cat, Little Sister.

They eventually went upstairs to Johannson's room, where Johannson told Charles about her boyfriend and that while he considered Carl and his friends to be very respectable, they simply found him annoying. Charles was very confused by this. When asked, Johannson also confirmed that Val Quintana had not given up smoking and that she barely knew her. Charles, who was aware of his imperfections and was glad one of the people he liked made him feel secure enough to display honesty, told her this. Johannson told him again that he was one of her best friends, and he told her she was one of his, and they watched several YouTube videos, during which time Charles learned more about her music taste and that she liked the Marvel franchise. Eventually, she convinced Charles to sneak up to her friend's bedroom door and scream, *"Snank!"* Johannson, who had recorded him, came bursting outside and collapsed to the ground with uncontrollable laughter as he knelt down laughing with her.

#### Returning home

Rose Johannson, feeling very lonely and still needing homework-related assistance, asked Charles if he wanted to sleep over that night. Charles would have, but his mother said she was sending a friend to pick him up and that if they wanted to spend more time together they could do it on Saturday or Sunday.

Eventually, Johannson's parents went to Smith's and bought them both something to eat. Charles asked for Reese's candy,and Johannson asked for seaweed wrap and a drink. Several minutes later, they returned home with the ware and they spent a few more minutes together watching videos until Charles' ride arrived. They fist-bumped and hugged and Charles left her room with his belongings. She also directed him to where to throw his trash away. He proceeded to drive home with his mother's friend.

The following day, Johannson felt ill and asked Charles to come visit her at 9 p.m. Charles was very concerned and he asked his parents, but due to the lateness of the hour and the fact that Leah did not feel well either, he could not come over. On Sunday, Charles was contacted by Andre, who was concerned Johannson did not like him anymore. Although he did not understand why Andre would talk to him about this, he assured him Johannson still felt close to him, as she had shown him several videos of them which he found to be adorable. In the evening, Charles invited both Carl and Johannson over for dinner. However, Carl assumed Johannson would be there and said they were on bad terms, whereas Johannson was still ill, so both of them declined.

On Wednesday, Charles deduced from seeing her posts that Johannson's condition had improved, relieving him, as he had been worried about her. She confirmed this, but she surprised him the following day by saying she wanted to hang out, as she had never spoken up.

#### Another proposition

"*I was thinking earlier…my homeroom teacher has been really kind. She's bought tickets for the dance tomorrow for everyone in her first period class (science). We're going as a group and I was just wondering whether or not you wanted to come with? Just as friends? I was going to ask you in person but I obviously can't. I just couldn't think of a (female) friend I'd rather ask instead. Well, I thought of two but they'd probably respond with something really demeaning.*"
―Charles' proposition[src]
On December 14, Charles asked Rose Johannson if she wanted to come over to his house. She hesitated, as her father was distrusting, but his mother refused to drive him over, even though he very much wanted to go. He tried to convince Leah to let him go, and he tried to convince her to persuade Jeff Johannson, but quickly gave up on both, realizing it was fruitless. Three hours later, however, he asked her if she wanted to go to the dance with him, and she told him it was certainly a possibility. For the last dance, he had asked Valiera Nelson, who had been extremely rude. He arranged to ask her at noon the following day, by which time she said her mind would probably be made up.

When he did, she said yes and asked if he could come visit her afterwards. Leah said no, and in addition, Jeff said she had to be home by 10 p.m. He promised to pick her up and she assured him she had a dress.

#### Winter Dance

"*Winter Dance with this girl was really great! And after that, Red Robin's! Poor Rose is fighting to the death right now and I am so proud of her for refusing to accept defeat.*"
―Charles[src]
Before the dance, Mr. Phee took him and Nicholas Phee to buy roses. When Charles arrived at her house, he introduced her to his entire family and they took off to Tower Placement. Upon arrival, he let her wear her coat inside and they entered the doors to find Charles' science-class entourage. His teacher photo-bombed one of their photos they took. Eventually, Johannson called Alex by snatching Charles' phone and yelling at him. Alex called Johannson a fool for crying, but an unidentified student yelled at him and said Johannson did not deserve the abuse he had inflicted. He sadistically relished the idea of Johannson being murdered, and proceeded to go on the run. Charles took his phone back and, much to his horror, he learned that she was crying and feeling suicidal, just as he had been in May.

Afterwards, everyone went to Red Robin's Gourmet Burger, where Charles and Johannson agreed not to speak of Alex anymore. A few hours later, Charles realized Mr. Phee was "really butthurt" since he had joked about his weight and his stepfather was unaware Charles was being funny. Although he asked for forgiveness, he did not truly desire it, as this was "the candle on the slime-flavored cake".

The next day, Johannson asked him to bring her food, to which he casually suggested she cook some eggs. He also ensured she was not speaking with Alex, who was now on the run. In an extremely calculated decision, he unblocked Carl solely because he thought Quintana might know if he didn't, even though Johannson desperately did not want him to and his mother had told him not to.

On December 18, he learned Johannson was not at school, but she did not tell him what she was doing. The following day, he realized Hebe was ditching eighth period and was going home with three of her friends. Initially, she had doubted they would all be allowed to come over, as her father had a rule that only two friends could come over at a time and he was "kinda petty about male company". They took off afterwards, leaving Charles to decide the universe didn't want him to get to know her yet. He even defended Carl Alex to Leah Hugh shortly afterwards, considering Alex to be more supportive and less likely to hurt him.

### Making a change

#### The semester ends

"*I can't believe it's already Christmas break in a matter of hours. […] I just barely picked out your Christmas present, by the way. I'll have to give it to you at some point during the break."
"Oh my God, you did not even have to! Aweeee."
"Still did though.*"
―Charles and Rose Johannson[src]
On December 20, Charles Hugh assembled presents for several of his friends early in the morning. He also messaged Johannson and promised her he would give her her gift later and in person. After third period, he brought them down to the office, and an administrator told him he needed to give her everyone's surnames so it would be easier to know who to call down to the office to retrieve the gifts. They were for Hebe, Matthew, Carl Alex, Valiera Nelson, Luke Norris, Miranda Patrick, and Will Oswald. After school, Johannson asked what the gift was, but Charles pointed out that it would no longer be a secret. Johannson said she had plans for Christmas and they agreed to see each other on Christmas Eve.

#### Christmas shopping and winter solstice

December 21 was the day of the winter solstice, something Charles' family spent a great deal of time preparing for. In the morning, Johannson asked Charles if he was in the mood to hang out, which he immediately agreed to do. Both of them were annoyed that Leah never awoke until noon. When he asked her, she denied him because Johannson's father was gone, but changed her mind upon learning that Johannson's uncle was home. Johannson asked him to bring her food and he offered to bring two boxes of macaroni and cheese so they could cook lunch together.

However, Charles was then reminded that his friend Christina was picking him up to do Christmas shopping. He confessed this to Johannson and invited her to join him, which she said was possible. Although he was annoyed that his mother was *"cleansing every intricate detail of her sixth eyelash on the bottom half of her right eye and proceeding to the seventh"*, they still made it to her house, and on the way, Charles texted her and asked her to start two pots of boiling water. They cooked together, but Charles' hand was scratched severely by Little Sister. Johannson, who was on her period, decided not to come, and Charles and Christina, accompanied by two-year-old Karen, did the shopping without her. Christina also needed to go to the Dollar Store, which they went to prior to Walmart, which Charles acknowledged was one of Quintana's favorite locations to go to. He bought bathing soap balm for Leah, candy for Omner, and socks for Mr. Phee, wrapping all of the gifts at Christina's house. More than once, he worried Karen was sick or unusually tired that afternoon, but she turned out to be fine.

He offered to pick up Johannson around six o'clock, but she was spending time with Andre. Charles suggested he come with, but they agreed not to. Charles proceeded to meditate upon the winter solstice.

#### Delivering a gift

On December 23, Charles told Johannson he would bring her the gift. In the mix, he also told her off for claiming to hate Alex upon saying he had a gift for the latter. Unfortunately, he had an quarrel with his parents and was unable to come see her until around 10:30 p.m., at which point he had promised himself he would choose his friends over his family if the need arose. Johannson was delighted to receive the gift and they hugged twice. He briefly explained what had happened, though he omitted most of the situation until he contacted her on Facebook upon returning home.

On December 27, Leah pulled Charles aside right before dinner and told him that she had a restraining order set between him and Johannson, and between him and Alex. He also moved all of his belongings downstairs, as Leah and Mr. Phee both thought it sounded like a good idea, something he would much later imply Christina may have helped him with. While looking for tire parts with Leah and Omner, Omner confessed his allegedly undying hatred for Charles, citing that he only used people despite having no idea what he had been up to since the beginning of the now ending year. Citing that he'd seemed more interesting to Omner during the Coup of Utah, he scornfully told him that his undying hatred was reciprocated, leading Leah to sarcastically say this was a riveting turn of events.

At some point over the next two weeks, he also went to the store with Mr. Mr. Phee, only for him to make fun of his opinions about animals. On January 4, Charles went with Leah to the store and they *"got stuff for pets"*. Charles had to get a blood draw for medication. Eight days later, he got a second blood draw.

#### Battle of Orem

Much to Charles' surprise, he was contacted by Steven Thompson on January 14, who implored him to come to Ulysses Quarters and join the Battle of Orem. However, Charles told him he could not afford to sneak out a third time, leaving Thompson disheartened. However, as soon as he hung up Norris told him to "go get them", to which Charles expressed confusion. Norris eventually convinced him to go and accompanied him.

The two teenagers arrived at Ulysses Quarters about halfway through the battle, wondering what to say to Helen McKeen when Norris pointed out that Rose Johannson was present. They both watched helplessly as she seemingly agreed to join Natalia Thornton right in front of them, and together they resolved to finally confront the witch in order to buy the Armies of Organa time to escape. Swearing himself to McKeen, Norris gave her a good-luck charm as a good omen. Leaving the room, Norris helped Charles scale the command tower, but then they realized a moment after Andre did that Johannson had turned on Thornton and wounded her. Swinging forward with a rope, Norris grabbed Johannson and swung back onto the tower; the three stood counterpoised. As Charles dangled from a wire, he called up to Thornton and began taunting her. She ignored him, but all three of them continued provoking her until she agreed to challenge him. His addressing her as a "soft-bellied, messed up mom wannabe" was too much for Thornton, who ordered the two remaining C-Cars to shoot him down. Charles leaped off just in time, and the artillery aimed for him hit the command tower, destroying it, leading Norris to take cover with Johannson still in his arms. Thornton swooped down to to face the teenager, who called her a "fool of a wannabe Dark Lord", prompting her to attack with three spells, which Charles, heeding McKeen's recent words to stop fearing failure, simply danced around, not offering a counterattack. As he dodged a subsequent flash of blue light, Charles saw Andre driving towards him with Norris in tow. Charles leaped aboard just as a hatch let down by Andre closed and they sped away with the others.

However, Charles suddenly arrives, wondering what to say to her when Luke Norris points out that Rose Johannson is present. They both watch helplessly as Johannson joins Thornton, despite the protests of Andre, who has been there the whole time. Charles tries to comfort McKeen and introduces her to Norris, who pledges his services to her and gives her a good-luck charm as a good omen. The two lovers step out through the gate to confront Natalia Thornton directly in order to give the others time to escape. Norris helped him scale the command tower and they proceed to trick Thornton into destroying her own command tower. Goaded by their subsequent taunts, Thornton confronts them personally. Heeding McKeen's words to stop fearing failure, Charles fights Thornton in tandem with Norris, playfully dancing around her attacks. Charles sees Andre driving towards him and leaps onto his car so he can leave with the others.

During a rendezvous, Charles properly met Josh Hogan, Trinity, and Andre, and was once again implored to join the Armies of Organa and obtain a high rank because of his cunning and overall intelligence. However, a part of him still obsessed with Valiera Nelson recalled that she was a Cavalier and thought the last thing he wanted to do was fight against her cause.

#### Enmity in limbo

Apparently, Charles began going to therapy. On January 24, he ran into Rose Johannson, who called his name and hugged him tightly. Assuring her that he could not care less that she was a Cavalier, Charles returned the passionate embrace. She asked why they had no contact and he said that legally speaking, they weren't supposed to talk because Leah had placed a restraining order on her. Johannson suggested that they meet in secret over the weekend, but this apparently did not happen.

By this point, Charles' relationship with Nicholas Phee had become far more strained, as Nicholas was more consistently attempting to hurt Charles' pride deliberately, and make cruel jokes about Val Quintana, causing Charles to lose his empathy for Nicholas entirely. Despite this, he still tried to help him mend his relationship with his girlfriend, Allie, but they reportedly broke up by Valentine's Day because Allie's mother had enforced it.

#### Laser Tag

"*No, Valiera doesn't even have any real friends. She's just got people who're afraid to say she's not their friend anymore."
"Even if you're right, which you rarely are, she clearly has a personality only a genius could love."
"No! She has a personality only an idiot and a zealot of a brother could love!*"
―Nicholas Phee and Charles at an arcade[src]
When their family went to an arcade, Charles kept in touch with Steven Thompson as he played Laser Tag and won second place on the scoreboard, pleasing him. Prior to the game, he realized two small children could not be accompanied in the arena by their father because there were only twenty-four players, not twenty-five. Realizing this, he spent most of the session flanking them or targeting Omner. At some point after the game, Nick went so far as to spitefully claim that Val Quintana was disliked by nearly everyone, considering Charles moronic just for thinking otherwise, and has said that her friends only remain her friends because they feared doing otherwise, the sole exceptions being Charles due to his perceived stupidity and Nicholas due to his perceived zealotry. Unfazed since Nick had spitefully lied about people he disliked in the past and considering the possibility that Nick was projecting his own social circumstances, Charles dryly joked that she had the personality type only a genius could love, making Nick angry and amusing Thompson, who had seen his true strength of character and finally stopped disliking him.

The next time he communicated with Thompson, Charles claimed to have seen Quintana entering a room when he was half awake, half unconscious.

### Bonding with Val Quintana

#### Reparation

Around this time, Charles Hugh was unexpectedly approached by Valiera Nelson, who confessed that she had treated him far too poorly. Noting how he took accountability for his part in it, and astounded by his increasing maturity since the playground incident, and amazed by his courage in Orem, Nelson asked for his forgiveness. They had a heartfelt conversation, during which time Nelson said she did not care if he supported the Armies of Organa as she had no real loyalty to the Cavaliers of Thornton, believing they were doomed to fail even if their methods were becoming far more aggressive since Orem, and asserted that he didn't need to feel disloyal at all.

Three days after their reconcilation, he saw himself with his cousin, Scott, and Quintana sitting together at a grey table. He and his cousin briefly went over their literary collaboration together, but Quintana butted in to childishly correct his grammar. Unable to take her intense gaze directly, Charles found it just as hard to look away as she inched in towards him until their faces were mere centimeters apart. He told her there was nothing wrong with using "twenty eleven" instead of "two thousand eleven", and she shook her head, making her hair whip his face lightly, and then he came to. He regaled this dream to Thompson, to which he merely replied, "Hm, kinky."

Over the next few weeks, Charles and Val Quintana began to bond together, with him doing everything in his power to prove he could take good care of her, and still hoping they could begin dating someday. In spite of his remarkable compassion and loyalty, Valiera did not always act grateful for his care for her, though sometimes she genuinely did. Both Charles' morale and schooling seemed to improve with Quintana's approval, as his grades leveled up considerably and he began developing a much brighter demeanor. It is known that his attendance record began improving as well.

#### Eating with Rose Johannson

On March 19, Leah had a change of heart regarding Rose Johannson, and surprised Charles and his brothers by picking her up when they prepared to eat out, having very recently had their restraining order revoked. As they drove to the restaurant, they discussed what both of them had been doing, and upon entering, Leah went to use the restroom. While she was gone, Charles revealed that he and Quintana were finally together. This cheered up Johannson, who tearfully revealed that she had broken up with Andre. When Leah returned, they discussed it for a long time, with Charles doing his best to comfort her. He also learned that Carl Alex had broken up with Kayliah Galibraith. Leah surprised Charles by purchasing him and the others ice cream, but not ordering any herself. On the way home, they decided to pursue a happier subject before Charles walked Johannson inside.

Shortly afterwards, Charles got on Facebook and learned, to his shock, that Johannson was allegedly pregnant. Knowing of her intense sentiment towards Andre, and also of her sense of humor, and the fact that Val Quintana had pretended to be pregnant with a watermelon, Charles was very confused on whether to believe her.

Charles morale improved even more on March 28, where he had another dream about Val Quintana, in which they were shopping alone, at a grocery store named Winco, and they agreed they had moved on from their pasts and therefore, were free. Curiously, they were with Leah Hugh, Nicholas Phee, Omner Hugh, and Nicholas Nelson. When Charles woke, his confidence was bolstered that this dream would come true, when the time was right.

At the very end of the month, Charles hung out at Val Quintana's house, where she lived with the currently absent Will Oswald, and they ate dinner together. Quintana served small portions of "dry" wine, though she was alarmed when Charles enjoyed it. At some point before this, he had apparently brought Quintana to his house and she met his parents.

#### End of an old program

Three days later, Charles went to therapy in the afternoon. In the evening, he went to a dinner for an old program's closing night, and Leah suggested he invite Johannson to join them. He excitedly texted her, but when she did not respond, Leah called her on the phone. They set out in the car, where Leah said they would drive to her house unless she failed to answer. At the last minute, she said she was at a skate park, disappointing Charles. Nearly three minutes later, however, she told Leah how to find it, shocking them both. Charles listened to Johannson give Leah directions and they arrived at the park. Charles left the car, greeted her, and met her friend she had been conversing with.

On the way, Johannson put the rumors about her pregnancy to rest by saying she had no idea, and Charles shocked her by being one of the only individuals who immediately believed her when she confessed it wasn't truly a joke or a truthful claim. He also told her her navel piercing, which she had just barely gotten, was beautiful. When they arrived at the complex where the dinner party was being held, Charles introduced her to his old friends and beckoned she go first since she was female. Johannson didn't care, and when Leah went in front of her Charles ended up being third in the group to retrieve his meal. They listened to a final speech about the ending of the program and Charles shared some memes with Johannson, who spent a lot of time texting other individuals. Johannson told Leah she was craving ice cream and they arranged to go to Smith's and purchase some. Before they left, Charles assured Johannson that he did not despise Andre at all.

#### Purchasing ice cream

While they were at the grocery store, Charles saw Rose Johannson ask if she could try a piece of shrimp from the deli, and the woman kindly allowed her to. He got a piece from her as well and the group began checking out different types of ice cream. The play-dough flavor caught Johannson's eye, something Charles agreed should be purchased, even though Nick was disgusted by the idea.

Afterwards, Johannson visited Charles' house for the first time, where the ice cream was served. Charles and Leah introduced Johannson to the family's pet bunnies, as Mr. Phee had been collecting animals for a long time, mostly out of sentiment and what Charles later told Nelson was "egotistical altruism". They ate their ice cream, but Charles clumsily dropped his and ended up retrieving it with a paper towel. He also pointed snarkily to the roll of paper towels Johannson was nearly staring at when she asked for their whereabouts. Despite this, he did show her around. Johannson asked if they could take her home at once and Leah agreed. Charles accompanied them and walked Johannson inside, where she shocked him by telling him that her grandmother was threatening to kick them out of their home. Shortly after the visit, Charles and Nick overheard Mr. Phee threaten to beat up Omner.

#### Val Quintana's revelation

On April 9, Charles and Valiera Nelson went to Wendy's, one of Nelson's favorite restaurants, and although they just wanted to be alone, Leah insisted on joining them, and so she picked up Nelson, at which point Johannson texted Charles and asked if she could join them as a third wheel, which Charles reluctantly approved of. Upon returning home with take-out, Quintana, Johannson, and Charles all discussed the ethics of the Cavaliers of Thornton and Quintana revealed that Luke Norris was told by several other students that Natalia Thornton had recruited the hugely mutated avatar of a solar body, named Charlie Corner, to her cause. Rose also flirted with Nick, looked at memes on Omner's phone, and frowned when Nick kept giving Valiera dirty looks. Rose fed Oak, Mr. Phee's pet goose an apple while Charles held his phone's flashlight for her and Valiera encouraged her to approach the goose and not be frightened. While Johannson resumed flirting with Nicholas Phee until she realizes he doesn't like her back, Charles and Nelson shared an awkward moment of intense affection together.

Charles and Leah drove them both home, where Rose claimed she would be moving away. Upon arriving at Valiera's house, she hugged Charles, covering up by saying she was getting the door, but Charles gave her a knowing smile and, without a word, got into the car.

#### Meeting Crystal

On April 12, Charles asked if Quintana could come over the following day. Leah denied, but she did suggest he invite Johannson over instead. Charles texted her and asked her if she wanted to go to the movies. She immediately responded and said she did, and asked if she could bring her friend Crystal over. Charles approved, and Leah said she could come over as long as she met up at Johannson's house.

On the following afternoon, Charles picked her and Crystal up and was introduced to the latter. He thought she seemed very familiar, but when he asked her she simply gave him a dismissive hand gesture. Charles, Leah, and Crystal questioned each other on the way. During the movie, Leah left for the restroom and Johannson asked Hugh to share his wi-fi connection with her, which he approved of doing, pocketing his phone just before Leah returned. When he walked them inside, Hugh gave Crystal what Johannson called "the weakest handshake ever". She told him to text her, which he did fifteen minutes later.

Hours later, she replied and told him she and Crystal were still hanging out. He futilely asked if she was willing to text him Crystal's number as she was his new friend, with her permission, as he clearly cited.

#### Final days at Lynn Boulevard

On Sunday evening, just after Charles Hugh arrived home from school, Rose Johannson texted Leah and asked if she could come over for dinner and if they planned on eating out. She also asked Charles, prompting him to call Leah and ask. Although they had a myriad of coupons, Leah insisted on eating at home, resulting in the coupons expiring and being wasted, something which Charles did not find particularly troublesome as he disliked Golden Corral, even though Luke Norris still worked there. They picked up the two girls from the residence of Johannson's "cousins", a name she affectionately called her friends. They wound up making sandwiches and french fries. Suddenly, Johannson learned from Luke Norris and a female friend of his that another friend was contemplating suicide and Charles, Leah, and Crystal all offered their assistance. However, Johannson was confident she and Crystal could handle the situation alone. Charles cited that their friend needed them more than the bunnies, whom they had been planning on feeding. They drove them to Johannson's house, where Crystal gave Charles her number.

On April 17, Charles was reluctantly informed by Quintana that she was moving to Arizona, and he admitted that he desperately wanted to join her. Around this time, on Easter, Charles learned from Leah that Mr. Phee had been made the godfather of the very young daughter of one of his friends, prompting her to admit that Mr. Phee had recently confessed to her that he hated children. At some point before that, Nicholas Phee broke Leah's car window because she had grounded him, much to Charles' amusement. Nick became increasingly abusive towards Omner Hugh, and Charles recorded one of the incidents on his phone. Although Nick also began threatening Leah on a consistent basis, he was not as hostile towards Charles because of his frequent savage retorts, though it was obvious Charles was glad he and his family would soon come apart from the Phees.

Very early in May, Charles and Omner went outside to help Leah weed the yard and they had a heartfelt conversation, finally seeing each other clearly for the first time in years. He learned that Omner, fearing Mr. Phee's verbal abuse and Nick's torments, had very much wanted to stay at a friends' house for two days and would be remaining there until further notice, in spite of Leah's incredible reluctance. Two nights later, he accompanied Leah to see an old friend named Jared and seek advice from him, during which point Charles wound up reconciling with his daughter, who had known Carrie in the past but not well enough to understand what the two of them had gone through together.

### Sealing victory

#### Deserting the Phee family

On May 12, Charles Hugh was alone in his bedroom while the other residents of his house were attending to business. Feeling more worried than ever since Omner had begun staying at his friends' house, Leah phoned Charles several times. Mr. Phee suddenly came downstairs only to awkwardly leave him again, which was the last straw for her. Leah finally made up her mind that her family must move away, and that it couldn't wait, not even until evening. Upon returning home, Leah helped Charles gather his possessions, during which time Nick and his father were restrained in the backyard by police officers. Leah and Charles both suspected that Nick and his father were delighted by their departure. They proceeded to go on a prolonged drive after spending some time in a grocery store without buying much, in contrast to how long they spent there. They drove to the same skating park they had once picked up Rose from, where Charles hung out on the playground equipment and phoned Valiera Nelson, telling her that "it's finally happened".

 File:Charles-temporarily-homeless.jpg
The family proceeded to go to a homeless shelter, sleeping there for the next two nights. On the first night, Charles used Leah's orange jacket to shield him from the light and cover him up halfway, and on the second, he snuck off to the bathroom with his phone and had a four-hour call with Luke after neither Valiera nor Rose would call him back. However, at this point, Leah learned there were registered sex offenders there and no longer wanted anything to do with the complex, leading her and Charles and Omner to proceed to go to a hotel, which had been booked for them. Omner, who had been nervous, reticent, and almost mute since their departure, began opening up to Charles and they began playing around in the hotel, with him trying to shove Omner into the cabinet next to the refrigerator for fun and them doing crazy stuff in the elevators.

 File:Omnerisinacabinet.jpg
Although Charles was clearly infuriated by Leah's gullibility and hesitancy to believe him without extremely overwhelming evidence, and for the suffering it brought to him, their relationship still seemed well-pressed to eventually improve considerably.

#### Maintaining contact

"*We are a package deal. You can't just have one of us. We will always be together. Love ya, Charles. Love ya, Will."
"Thanks. Love you too."
"Yeah, thanks, sis! I've really been needing this. Me being all depressed and shit's been keeping me down and drained. So thanks.*"
―Valiera, Charles, and Will[src]
Charles had, for the last two months, been helping Quintana open up. By the beginning of May, Charles had entirely mended his relationship with Val Quintana and they became close friends. Throughout the month, he frequently contacted her.

On May 15, Charles greeted Hebe, who presumably still went to Tower Placement School and was still on friendly terms with him. Still in conversation togeher, they contacted Steven Thompson on hologram. Hebe told him Val Quintana and Carl Alex were both gone, and that she did not like Rose Johannson because she did the same illegal drugs as Alex. She did not see Miranda Patrick as a spitting image of Quintana, considering her to be far nicer. She gave Charles a hi-five when he cited good riddance to Alex and Kayliah Galibraith.

On May 23, Val Quintana returned to Provo from Salt Lake City to go swimming with Charles. She asked if he was disconsolate over the idea of Will Oswald joining them, and he reluctantly agreed. While they were relaxing in the hot tub, Quintana posted a photo of them on Instagram, which was seen by Summer Petersen. She proceeded to reveal she had a more pressing motive for her return, as she intended to warn Charles that the Cavaliers of Thornton knew about the ambush planned by the Armies of Organa at Tower Placement School, and that she intended to compensate Natalia Thornton by consenting to her wish to work more closely with her for the remainder of the war.

#### Infiltration of Nexus Tower

 File:Charles in cord combination.png

"*Who would take my word for it, huh? I'm... a madman. I'm not even presentable for an interrogation.*"
―Charles[src]
The following day, Charles took part in the infiltration of Nexus Tower. He had a more personal motive for going, however. To his surprise, he learned that Val Quintana had been impregnated by her boyfriend and had kept it a secret from him, leaving him to ponder the reasons. However, he was captured and bound. Charles revealed that he knew the truth, but nobody would believe him as he was perceived to be insane. During a gruesome battle with Cavalier forces, Charles had a brief argument with Luke Norris, and the two made their peace. He acknowledged that Norris and Nelson were the two dearest friends he had ever had.

#### Encounter with Miranda Patrick

On Friday, Charles found Miranda Patrick sitting near Jones' classroom and asked her if she was all right. Patrick calmly replied that she was fine and suggested he hurry to his class. He casually suggested she do likewise, told her to have a good day, and trotted off after Patrick wished him a good day in turn. The following morning, Steven Thompson thought that he would even put it past Charles to betray the Armies of Organa to Natalia Thornton, implying that Charles was probably part of the plan discussed by the group's leading body, the Head of Twenty. Whether or not he is a member, however, remains to be confirmed, but as he is more comfortable serving them now, it is certainly possible.

#### Defending Tower Placement

"*Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I come at a bad time?"
"Of course not. Summer and I were just hanging out. Chillin'. Seriously. She's such a cutie."
"For sure. People are looking for you, trying to see if you made it back. They want the truth. We won."
"What?"
"It was incredible! While we were fighting, a green wisp appeared in the sky, and the Cavaliers stopped to watch it. It was as if something was affecting a type of spell they were probably under. They tried to flee as the green cloud grew over the top floor of Tower Placement. We're all in your debt.*"
―Charles and Steven Thompson[src]
On May 26, Charles went to a museum with Omner and Leah and three old friends, as Leah in particular had been trying to reconnect with several old friends. On May 27, Charles went with the Armies of Organa to put a decisive end to the Cavaliers of Thornton. He presumably fought to the death, and when the Cavaliers fled after Thornton faked her own death, he was astounded, realizing he was in the debt of Steven Thompson. Charles searched for him in several places, before finally finding him in a small room on the thirteenth floor, with his girlfriend, Summer Petersen, laying on his shoulder as they looked out of the window. Worried that he had just walked in on a very sensitive moment, Charles asked if he should leave and return at a more appropriate time, but Thompson bade him stay while Petersen continued breathing deeply.

Agreeing with Thompson that Petersen was lovable, he told them what had happened to the Cavaliers. Petersen prepared to leave once more, Charles heavily protested until Thompson pointed out that she had earned that right. Taken aback, Charles watched Petersen make out with Thompson and ask if he could tell Andrew Hendersen and Vincent and Jay Organa that she was about to depart, but Charles pointed out that all three of them had just arrived together. After Neil alerted them to the imminent arrival of President Roxanne Waterston to the school, Charles told Petersen she could leave, and to hurry.

 File:CharlesOmner&Sushi.jpg
During the reunion that took place, Charles realized the real purpose of the Boy-Team and Girl-Team after witnessing the Cavaliers' liberation from Natalia Thornton's curse, something he soon confessed to Luke Norris, who had given up his rank as a member of the Decemahead. He ultimately went looking for a way out and finally phoned Bronson, who told him sunrise was imminent and that Valiera Nelson tipped him off that his family was waiting outside. That afternoon, he and his family went on another outing with old friends trying to reconnect, this time to a sushi restaurant and the sushi rolls were quite decadently served on a boat. Charles greatly enjoyed that, especially because he had not been to such a place in months.

### After Tower Placement

#### Eighteenth birthday

"*She didn’t chase them away. Even when she yelled at them, ghosted them, and... and was always a butthole. And swore at that gay kid and blocked him for no reason. And almost distracted his best friend and got him killed because she wanted to be a cyberbully."
"Well, of course not.*"
―Valiera Nelson and Charles[src]
Charles Hugh would become of age less than two weeks after the Cavaliers' defeat. For his birthday, he invited several people, including Nicholas Nelson and Christina. He also invited Luke Norris, but he was unable to come because he was sick in bed, much to the disappointment of them both. Prior to the event, Charles went to Christina's house following a trip abroad with three Autistic kids at a childrens' museum, at which point she and Karen helped him make a birthday cake. However, they did not have time to finish cooking when the time came for Charles to return home to his family. Christina promised to finish the cake overnight. By this point, Charles had stopped teasingly calling Karen a baby and started affectionately calling her a bagel instead. This was because at some point prior to the end of the Cavalier insurrection, the toddler had told him that he could call her a *"big girl baby"* if he wanted to. Since her voice was high-pitched, it had came out as *"a bagel baby"*, which gave Charles the idea. While Karen was tolerant of her nickname, she wanted Charles to call her a peach or a hot dog instead.

To Charles' surprise, Nicholas Nelson agreed to come and gave him ten dollars of birthday money, citing that it is impossible to know what people his age liked as far as materialism was concerned. His family picked him up and they departed with several other individuals.

After the movie ended, they went to the park. Christina and Karen arrived with the birthday cheesecake. To Charles' surprise, the entire Nelson family arrived from in a corner, including Valiera Nelson. He learned that she arranged to go on a road trip to Wyoming with her friends. He noticed that she spent most of the party isolating either on her phone or in conversation with Lisa, looking uncomfortable when Charles sat by her before warming up to it. Leah asked Charles to introduce her, so he did, and Nelson said she was glad they were acquainted. Charles told her that he and Miranda Patrick had parted on neutral terms. He confesses to Steven and Vincent that he had realized the real purpose of the Boy-Team and Girl-Team after witnessing the Cavaliers' liberation and that, coupled with Val Quintana's indifference to whom he joined and Luke Norris' commitment to the Armies of Organa, finally compelled him to openly join the organization until he found his own living quarters the following year.

Charles also contacted Luke Norris, and Nelson realized that she didn't chase them away even when she shut out two nice people without provocation and later cyberbullied them, which Charles then realized she was talking about herself. He and Norris then shared a moment together as they watched Valiera's siblings on the playground equipment, and they agreed everything was working out.

#### The way forward

Immersed in his services to the Armies of Organa, Charles was approached by Steven Thompson on November 24 with an agenda: he was to provoke Ken into challenging him to a duel. That way, Ken could be brought to justice for his criminal activities. Charles waved at him on Facebook, enraging Ken and starting a brief and petty online argument between them that was laden with insults. As Ken continued to heckle Charles, the latter found Arcus and Valiera Nelson and together they sought him out.

Ken told Charles he would beat him senseless if he was brave enough to see him in person, but Charles arrived and invited Ken, who had assembled an entire gang to team up against Charles, to deal the opening blow. Ken screamed in horror when he saw what he and his friends were up against. In the mix, he also took to helping small children at a medieval summer camp.

Months later, Charles found his own living quarters. Eventually, he began dating Valiera Nelson. He may have already been dating her as early as her eighteenth birthday and helping her care for the child she unwittingly conceived with Phillip.

#### Battle at the Temple of the Relinquished

Charles Hugh was one of the individuals who accompanied Steven Thompson to the Temple of the Relinquished in 2026, flying on Team One, in an attempt to destroy the International Alliance and doubly rescue prisoners Vincent Organa, Helen McKeen, and GTR-10. The fleet converged on the *Gemotre*, Charles flew with Quintana and Norris. Quintana's ship was shot down in the battle and for a moment it appeared that they would not be able to defeat the Magistrate's fleet. Nerved by this, Charles continued fighting oncoming skyfighters.

Eventually, he landed near Quintana's skyfighter and pulled her out of the wreckage before hugging her tightly, and he held his arm around her with equal vigor as President Roxanne Waterston arrived at the scene. Like his fellows, he was given sixty thousand dollars of reward money for his contributions to toppling the International Alliance.

It is unknown what became of him afterwards, but it is said that he remained in contact with his friends from Tower Placement.

## Physical description

Charles Hugh is large and very slender and muscular with a tight stomach and firm shoulders. He was initially slim and of average build before bulking up by autumn of 2022. Despite being one eighth Native American, he has fair and slightly pale skin with healthy veins. He has a flat nose and wears a pudding bowl-style haircut. His hair is dark brown, as are his eyes. He generally dressed casually; he wore a yellow button-up shirt during the Coup of Utah and again during the Infiltration of Nexus Tower, even though it was a tight squeeze by then. Charles wears white shoes. He is confirmed to lack any tattoos or piercings on his body.

Charles has a small, light-colored, circle-shaped scar on his left elbow where he used disinfecting spray to punish himself for attacking Valiera Nelson; it may have never healed entirely.

## Personality and traits

"*If reality falls short of delusions, a high price will be paid. Give people hope and dash it to shreds, and they'll destroy you.*"
―Charles to Steven Thompson[src]
Perhaps best defined by the *"keep moving forward"* philosophy, Charles Hugh was a strong, charismatic, and intelligent young man who almost always knew his mind. Charles had a lot of confidence and was very strong-willed. On the other hand, he was also an extremely complicated and prideful person whose life was overwhelmed with many complex emotions that he never fully disclosed. Troubled and withdrawn, this made him more vulnerable to the abuse at the hands of his paranoid and controlling mother, Leah Hugh, and the neglect and shortsightedness of both of his fathers. He viewed all three of them as abusive, shortsighted, preferential, and overprotective, though the two latters have arguably proven themselves as solid facts. This could explain why Charles latches on to Valiera Nelson and Luke Norris for being similar to him, is conflicted over considering Steven Thompson a friend or an enemy, and hated his own family for their utter lack of understanding and kindness. Indeed, his regard for his family was extremely spiteful, as he has told Norris he could not care less if he ever saw any of them again, but also quite understandable. He and Nelson both consider themselves 'disappointments' in this field. Charles initially found it difficult to completely detach from these toxic relationships, and he was grateful to Quintana for helping to give him the strength to recant them entirely. His grim family life could also explain why he is so pragmatic. This could also explain why he was so unstable, stoic, and moderately egotistical, though he eventually improved on all three traits.

Charles initially refused to take sides, though he ultimately joined the Armies of Organa because he despised Emily Watson. After her death, however, he was reluctant to move against the far less evil Natalia Thornton as he did not take sides. He was known for his disapproval of risk taking. He was tough and independent, though he was also slightly unhinged, which made him even harder to read but also left him prone to unexpected outbursts and vulgar jokes. He had also admitted that he'd "never been able to get into sports", which was one of the primary ways he differed from Luke Norris. He was extremely confident and arrogant, believing no one was quite like him, only having respect for a small group of people, and never faltering from his goals, thinking the future would be bright and that everything happened for a reason.

Charles was reasonably intelligent and creative, as he possessed an IQ of 109. It had been mentioned that his mindset was far more logical and analytical than emotional or reactive. He has made several calculated decisions, such as when he met Nicholas Nelson and fought in the Battle of Orem, both of which benefited him: in the first case, he learned several details of Valiera's backstory, and in the second, he rescued the Armies of Organa from being massacred. Charles was known to be capable of assessing people in a near-expertise fashion when pressured into it, notably making Will Oswald furious on two different occasions. While this can be a benefit, several people, notably Nicholas Nelson, have felt uncomfortable and questioned how he knows them or their friends so well. Charles was also well-versed in star system history, once offering to kill time by discussing it. Like Valiera Nelson, Charles has been known to make up phrases, such as when he said he was pulling his life as far north as he could, said all Nelson was doing was digging a deeper hole while he had been frantically trying to kick mounds of dirt back inside.

Throughout the war, Charles fell in love with Valiera Nelson, who he loved at first sight but did not become romantically interested in him until after a great deal of drama and effort from both sides, a search which influenced many of his future actions. This goes to show just how willing Charles is to work hard for what he wants. Charles' instincts and exceptional deductive skills have allowed him to realize he shared many traits with his crush, even before he knew her very well. However, while Charles despised alcohol consumption, Valiera's love for vaping and smoking weed intrigued Charles and made him hate himself for considering smoking himself. However, he has not been known to vape or partake of weed frequently, though he did so with Rose Johannson, who he was close with, and has mentioned doing it before, so occasional illegal smoking turned out to be influenced by Nelson and not one of the more savory concepts he picked up from her.

"*You must stick up for yourself and what you cherish, no matter what the cost.*"
―Charles[src]
Charles would not hesitate to defend himself or whatever he held dear, no matter the cost to others. He was pragmatic to the point of ruthlessness in this regard, killing anyone he deemed a threat with minimal hesitation or remorse and an attitude that was almost casual. During the Coup of Utah, he attempted to kill any enemy who crossed his path, silently driving Standard Heroism into many Girl-Team members without any sort of guilt, but also not with any evident satisfaction. Charles is very different in this regard from Steven Thompson and Summer Petersen, both of whom could not kill without being haunted by thoughts of the lives they had ended. One of his least favorite teachers has labelled this as selfishness. Charles was also a bit vindictive, as he stole Preston Rumsworth's book and ripped it apart because he had laughed at Charles' suffering the day before, and later attempted, futilely, to procure Valiera Nelson's access code after the skirmish in Provo.

Because of how complex his mind is and how young the man himself is, Charles has shown to have ticks implying moderate mental imbalance. This is shown by him rubbing his arm against a display case at Ulysses Quarters or fingering a crevice in a wall during his conversation with Valiera Nelson in March, although he has even been shown to have fits of psychotic frustration and rage when talking to several people and not knowing what to say, due to his highly convoluted mind being otherwise occupied at that moment. Hence, when Nicholas Phee pettily calls him "psychotic" in February, Charles smugly dismissed that word as merely referring to "any concept reality is rich in comparison to." Although he is no less prone to emotional episodes or vulnerable traits inevitable with adolescence, he refuses to willingly confide in anyone except for Luke Norris and his Instagram followers, and eventually Valiera herself. Indeed, Norris has often claimed that he can tell Charles is either crying or raging internally. His refusal to show weakness has resulted in Omner calling him "emotionless". Likewise, there is also evidence that Charles is difficult to intimidate. Facing off against hordes of Girl-Team skyfighters and warriors, he appeared calm and relaxed throughout. He was also willing to speak with Valiera Nelson in late 2022, to her face, believing this was by no means different from speaking online. He has also stood up to Blaise Parton three times, and while he [Parton] loves intimidating his peers, especially females, Charles has never displayed any fear around the bully. He had a lot of confidence, to the extent of being arrogant and virtually uninfluenced by threat of force. Indeed, one of his greatest weaknesses is that he tends to underestimate the intelligence of the people around him. Overall, while actually sane and only feigning insanity during his temporary Nexus Tower capture, Charles had in fact grown increasingly unhinged, due to the existential crisis that seeking Valiera's approval induced within him.

Out of fear, Charles is very reclusive. He speaks to no one that is not already close to him of his past or future. His earlier social interactions with Valiera Nelson suggest that he had poor interpersonal skills and that he may have suffered from depression. Charles was a repressed and virtually solitary man with few friends. In his early teenage years, he was insecure, vulnerable, and yearned to be part of something greater, even citing that he was more than willing to smoke himself to death. As a child, the bleak normality of working-class suburbia compounded with his overprotective mother and abusive stepfather and spiteful siblings, inspired in him a contempt for ordinariness. This urgent desire to be a part of something powerful and important was what drew him to Carl Alex's circle. Charles' bitterness and resentment towards the star system was exacerbated even more by the teasing he went through for his conflicted feelings for both Valiera Nelson and Luke Norris and by the relentless abuse he endured at home, causing him to shut himself in even more. Sadly, this blinded him to the fact that Leah and Omner truly loved him, at least for a time.

Still, while he is extremely sarcastic, he behaves like a free spirit. He has a vulgar sense of humor that is bolstered by his sarcasm, a trait that seems mitigated in him compared to Valiera or seven-year-old Andrew Hendersen. Charles was also extremely skilled at telling people off by humorously mocking or humiliating them with a phenomenally well-timed joke, diss or comeback. He creatively did this to petty individuals such as Nicholas Phee, but also to people as nice as Omner Hugh or to considerably intelligent people such as Steven Thompson, Natalia Thornton, Valiera Nelson, and several others, though it should be noted he rarely used this skill against women, minus the time he sarcastically told Nelson she had no idea how taxing it was to be stupid, which she later used on him, and only subjecting Thornton and Miranda Patrick when heavily pressured into it. Charles was a huge fan of rock artist Marilyn Manson. He was also fond of band Insane Clown Posse (ICP), as he was very pleased when Valiera recommended *My Axe* and *The Joker's Wild*. He also likes dubstep duo Krewella. He is far less charitable in his regard for Amber Heard, going so far as to indirectly claim she destroyed the pirate-rich side of cinema in the late 2010s.

Charles was also considerably empathetic. Hence, he eventually became aware that he and Nelson were the exact same people at their core of what both of them are truly like on the inside, saying that they are the same type of person in the sense that, while they genuinely care about the people around them, they refuse to show it out of fear and insecurity. Charles was known to be extremely fond of children and posted several photos on Facebook of himself with small children from his family, including one or two photos of Karen. He did in fact become far more mellow as he finally found a group that accepted him for who he was, and became less isolated and hell-bent on proving himself.

"*Stay yourself when everyone wants you to change. Stay strong when you feel the storm coming your way so when its over you're stronger then you were before. Fight for your goals until you get there and then make more."
"You're not wrong. It's just as foolish to let others put you down and get to your head when you're intelligent, beautiful and talented, and they're just jealous.*"
―Valiera Nelson and Charles[src]
Charles, because he does not tell much about himself and does not react emotionally to narrowly anything, is also extremely difficult to trust because his loyalty is always ambiguous to an extreme. Like Valiera (and probably alleviated because of her), he fears commitment, claiming that indifference is the best way to shield oneself from being hurt. He seems to view this as getting stuck in an organization, which explains why he is only somewhat loyal to the Armies of Organa. He occasionally helps them carry out minor tasks and heroically preserved the cause at Ulysses Quarters, but he refused to join them as he fears their drama is not his drama and he knows Valiera and Rose would never do it, seemingly operating under his own claim that someone who casually betrays an oath is a coward or worse and a second motive: he did seem to think the ends justified the means.

Like Jay Organa and Valiera Nelson, Charles is known to be fond of watching sunsets and occasionally taking photos of them. He posted many photos on social media throughout the latter half of 2022.

"*I've had to be quiet and hostile sometimes just to pass my classes and not get plagued by so-called friends who would actually use and make a fool out of me! I know who you are, girl, because you and I are one and the same, which I've been trying to get to your head since bloody January!*"
―Charles angrily telling Valiera Nelson exactly what she is like on the inside[src]
Charles also believes in second chances and redemption, such as Rose Johannson, for example. He himself is striving to solve his own problems before he sets out solving others. This is also shown by his relationship with Valiera and the fact that owing to the grudge Valiera had on him, no one would suspect they would fall in love, and they did. Charles himself was far more forgiving than she was and he himself always gave people second chances when they wronged him, such as when he thought Johannson was avoiding him on purpose, only to learn it was half of the truth, and when another girl borrowed money from him and paid him several days after what was promised.

Charles' greatest strength is, arguably, his unconditional love for Valiera Nelson and his undying loyalty to his friends. His loyalty also extends to him being very compassionate and understanding. He went out of his way to give ten different students at school Christmas presents, including Miranda Patrick, even panicking briefly because he feared he would not have time to shell them out, and making a frenzied compromise with staff in the Main Office. He even gave Will Oswald a Christmas present. He is shown in 2026 to also be extremely protective of Nelson and a somewhat possessive boyfriend. Due to everything they have been through, it is extremely understandable why Charles was so protective and possessive of his significant other.

Like Baby Intelligence, he has severe *"trust issues"*, especially towards female adolescents, which build on to some of these tendencies. He quite possibly used to have misogynistic tendencies as well, citing that most girls' mindsets are fairly two-dimensional as they simply reveled in the attention paid to them, sadistically and inaccurately viewed males as their superiors, and were usually “so arrogant that criticism simply ricochets off of them.” Despite this, he had been shown to bond with or more often despise people very quickly, something Josh Hogan has pointed out, though his opinions regarding other people were not often misplaced. For example, he barely knew Luke Norris or Valiera Nelson and he immediately fell for both of them, thinking one of them were the one for him, which turned out to be true. He once ruefully called meeting Blaise Parton *"hate at first sight"*. He also came to hate Emily Watson without seeing her face-to-face until the Coup of Utah (though in all fairness, the Boy Trap she constructed made all the boys hate her). He also hates Miranda Patrick for obvious reasons, though he has only ever spoken with her once. He was also quick to challenge Natalia Thornton simply for being a threat to Tower Placement School, although he rarely knew her either. Charles also had a deep sense of respect for Carl Alex and considers him one of the coolest people he knew, despite seeing him infrequently. He is also very understanding of Rose Johannson and evidently wants to understand her better; this, coupled with his firm belief in redemption, goes to show Charles' ability to love so unequivocally. Partially because of this, he has gotten to know Norris, Quintana, and Johannson far better by 2026. Still, Charles had always been an insightful and charismatic person in general and managed to overcome these tendencies to a limited extent.

Despite having come across on multiple occasions as arrogant and genuinely self-centered, Charles has, ultimately, has always had good intentions. After he began bonding with Luke Norris and spending several several hours every week with Christina and Karen, Charles began to see his own failings reflected in his best friend and also began to view Christina as a role model. As a result, he slowly became more civil towards Karen, eventually teasing her far less often and opting to find a nickname the little girl was neutral about. During the summer of 2022 when he spent most of his time either with the three of them or on the Internet, Charles matured greatly and began showing signs of both enacting and desiring self-improvement. He repeatedly and genuinely apologized for his past treatment of Valiera Nelson and showed a newfound trust in Steven Thompson. During his talk with Norris before the Battle of Orem, Charles admitted that his fear of failure was what pushed him to be what he was. However, Norris wisely stated that his fear was exactly what kept him from greatness, as well as learning the simplest and most important lesson of all; it's not about him. Charles took this very much to heart, and when he faced Natalia Thornton, he showed strong selflessness, distracting her despite knowing he had a severe martial disadvantage against the witch so the Armies of Organa could live and came to stop fearing failure.

Despite his tremendous maturity that developed over the following months, Charles maintained some of his old habits such as making sarcastic comments and jokes when talking to others, similar to Summer Petersen and Zachary Brown. He also never forwent his penchant for heavy smoking. Whilst he compensated his lack of discretion by looking up to his friends and his intelligence allowed him to imagine unorthodox solutions to problems, Hugh had also learnt to comprehend his limits and despite his success at the hands of both Natalia Thornton's defeat and Valiera Nelson's redemption, he had begun to realize no one deserved to be disturbed and came to acknowledge he had been stalking Nelson. This was his second greatest lesson to learn - that most things were beyond even his control. He also retained his meticulous and diligence as shown by his actions after the war including those at the Temple of the Relinquished.

For Charles, his exploits with the Armies of Organa have been a journey of renewal. The trauma he suffered after his imprisonment by his own parents and his rejection by Valiera Nelson have left him entirely grief-stricken and an unfeeling instrument of pure career-driven will. Yet the new family Charles has found has given him more serenity and allowed him to come to terms with these tragedies and attempted to find peace and calm within himself. In his blood family, he finally began bonding with them and acknowledged they sincerely loved him despite making some horrible choices that affected him severely. Yet in the Boy-Team, which he initially disliked, and Carl Alex's posse, which he initially idolized, Charles finds an adopted family that share similar experiences of loss and hardship and has his happy ending with Valiera Nelson in spite of everything.

### Sexuality

"*I may be as pretty as an angel, but I sure as hell ain't one.*"
―Charles on Instagram[src]
Charles Hugh is not heterosexual at all — he has been proven to be bisexual, as he is determined to win Valiera Nelson's romantic affections and formerly dated a male, Luke Norris. His love for Luke is less obsessive than Valiera's love for Miranda. He was also somewhat odd in his ideas of romantic and physical attraction — he is primarily attracted to individuals who are particularly intelligent or morally flexible, regardless of gender, being the most turned off by those who are either stupid or self-righteous, not by men, yet another trait he shared with Valiera Nelson as well as Troy Zonko and quite possibly Savannah van Dukas. He eventually admitted this to Luke Norris, who assured him he was *"no angel"*, inspiring his Facebook catchphrase.

Charles, for instance, was attracted to Carl Alex until he threatened to kill Rose Johannson, and even then he refused to block him nor was he moved by Leah's monologue about who Carl was at his core, although whether he actually had some kind of a crush on him is never confirmed. Steven Thompson was extremely disturbed when he noticed his eye twitch when Helen McKeen confessed to being a serial killer. Omner (who in all fairness was something of an absolutist) even showed surprise that Charles had never hit on Blaise Parton before. While Valiera was certainly not unintelligent or innocent, he feared he would never get her to like him, but he kept trying and eventually succeeded, in part by proving he indeed possesses a stable moral balance.

## Powers and abilities

*For information on Power Box, review the Power Box page.*

### Powers

**Super Sensory**: Charles Hugh possesses an unusual ability, the ability to detect vibes, or how people are feeling. He can accurately detect people's vibes and interpret them, and has even tried to teach this to others, albeit with little success.

### Abilities

"*Don't nod off at me, assholes. And relax. Not just any rando can think on this level.*"
―Charles[src]
* **Peak-Human strength**: Having bulked up over 2022 summer, Charles Hugh had a reasonable degree of physical strength, and while he was easily outclassed by the likes of Valiera Nelson and Beion, his strength was still such that he held off five Cavaliers simultaneously without a weapon in hand.
* **Peak-Human agility**: Charles possesses great agility, dexterity, balance, and body coordination, allowing him to easily jump and fall on his feet in Nexus Tower.
* **Peak-Human stamina**: Even before working out, Charles already possessed noteworthy agility, allowing him to overtake the psychotic bully Blaise Parton and keep up with who were arguably three of the five strongest students at Tower Placement School in a vicious brawl in the Red Battlements. His stamina was shown to have increased by the Infiltration of Nexus Tower.
* **Combatant**: Charles was a skillful laser sword duelist, fighting with a graceful one-handed style ironic to his complexity. His skills in fencing allowed him to survive facing three of the most dangerous students ever to attend Tower Placement School, such as the psychotic bully Blaise Parton, maniacal warmonger Emily Watson, and evil sorceress Natalia Thornton, the latter of whom he fought twice, all without sustaining any injuries.
* **Gifted intellect**: Charles is a logical and tactical thinker, as he possessed an Intelligence Quotient of 109 (placing his intelligence above approximately 73 percent of the population). He is also resourceful, such as when he and Luke Norris distracted Natalia Thornton, which also proved his quick thinking. He was also capable of making several calculated decisions without anyone else realizing it until it was too late. Charles possessed an uncanny ability to understand and experience the feelings of others and get into their heads, being able to make swift breakdowns of the psychological profiles of Steven Thompson, Luke Norris, Helen McKeen, Valiera Nelson, as well as every student in the Learning Center that included Preston Rumsworth, as well as to some degree Miranda Patrick, knowing exactly what to say in order to get under their skin (even knowing what Will Oswald was thinking, even while couching his words and proceeded to taunt him). He could manipulate people by feigning emotion of his own when necessary.
	+ **Master deceiver**:  File:Charles in cord combination.png  While not a skill he employs particularly often, Charles is very skilled in deception, with the extremely gifted deceiver Rose Johannson claiming that he could be a horror in of itself using such an ability, and the slightly manipulative Valiera Nelson claiming very irrationally that she had allegedly been played for months, although she realized this was untrue. Hence, he remained quiet about knowing Nicholas was related to Valiera, hoping for a more ideal opportunity to get to know the Nelsons. He was even able to deceive both his real and fake families into remaining oblivious of his undying hatred for Mr. Phee and all of his kin, with Leah claiming irrationally that she had been played for years, and even then she was unable to accurately deduce the full truth until it was too late. His impressive deception genius was even effective following his capture at Nexus Tower, as Charles very convincingly feigned insanity, thereby making himself unfit for interrogation at the hands of the Cavaliers of Thornton.
	+ **Master literarian**: Charles has an encyclopedic knowledge of literary works, possessing many books in his own private study, with him being particularly well-versed in American pop-culture, making references to Cara Delevingne, Isabelle Fuhrman, Led Zepellin, Marilyn Manson, Krewella, Termik, deadmau5, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Celldweller, and Amber Heard. He is also well-versed in star system history, once offering to kill time by discussing it with his peers.
		- **Language Arts**: Out of all the school subjects, Charles was particularly gifted with English and Creative Writing. Like Valiera Nelson, Charles relished the fact that writing gave him more time to consider what he would say than verbal communication did. He has created a lot on paper but prefers to use technology to create his writings.
	+ **Gifted scientist**: Charles is knowledgeable in various fields of science, including physics, astronomy, and biology. Despite his young age, he was able to grasp the content of a paper written by Anthony Ruth on interdimensional travel.
	+ **Gifted leader**: Charles is somewhat skilled at leading, particularly members of his clique.
* **Vehicle mastery**: Charles had mastered usage of a handful of vehicles, and he had a general theoretical knowledge of cars and automobiles despite having not yet learned how to drive one himself, notably knowing what an O2 sensor was when Valiera realized she wasn't sure what engine to reference. Charles was also a skilled pilot, flying aggressively over the Temple of the Relinquished.
* **Artistry**: Charles' career is best suited in art, particularly drawing and coloring. During his education, he created an official portfolio shortly before his twelfth birthday. Due to being taught by Leah Hugh, he developed quite a bit of skill in creating masterpieces in his spare time. He also taught himself a lot in this field.
* **Love**: Charles' greatest power of all was his ability to feel strong and unconditional love. In spite of his rocky upbringing and history of being manipulated and hurt by his peers, Charles remarkably turned out capable of very strong love. For example, Charles' love for his friends caused him to nearly sacrifice himself for the Armies of Organa during the Battle of Orem, making the eventual defeat of the Cavaliers of Thornton possible. Charles' love also prompted him to join the Boy-Team despite knowing almost everyone he knew would find his allegiance controversial. His undying loyalty to his friends is incredible, and it has provided him with compassion and empathy. His love was strongest when directed at Luke Norris and Valiera Nelson, as he admitted that Norris had caused him to stop being suicidal and he, as well as Nelson, had been the driving force that kept him going until the end of the Insurrection of the Cavaliers of Thornton. He went out of his way to give ten different students at school Christmas presents, including Miranda Patrick, even panicking briefly because he feared he would not have time to shell them out.
* **Indomitable willpower**: Charles Hugh appears to possess an unbreakable spirit and though not above depression, he has never truly given up on anything. He's been shown to rise from pain and loss, such as child abuse and physical fights, even stronger than before. Indeed, Charles remained fearless and incredibly resolute even while bound in Nexus Tower. His willpower may be what makes it so easy for him to conceal his emotions, which is something Omner Hugh has been known to complain about.

## Facilities

* **Tower Placement School**: Hugh attended Tower Placement School with his close friends Luke Norris and Carl Alex.
* **131 Lynn Boulevard**: Hugh was forced to move here as it was where Mr. Phee lived.
* **Homeless shelter**: Hugh and his family dwelt in a homeless shelter for two days before Leah learned they had registered sex offenders.
* **YCC Family Crisis Center**: Hugh and his family went here late in May; how long they actually remained here is unknown.

## Possessions

* **Backpack**: Charles Hugh has a navy camoflauge-themed backpack which he has owned since preschool; he has admitted how proud he is that it has held up for so long.
* **Laser sword**: Charles has a green laser sword.

## Relationships

***The D.I.T. Wiki*** has an article focusing on the relationships of ***Charles Hugh***.
## Behind the scenes

* D. Isaac Thomas based Charles Hugh very loosely off his own seventeen-year-old self.
	+ Hugh's relationships with Nelson and Norris are very loosely based on his relationships with real-life individuals Nikki Nelson and Tyson Petersen. Charles, however, had a crush on Valiera ever since he met her, something Thomas wanted to do so their relationship made more sense and because the trilogy didn't have time for "anything too complex for supporting characters", as *Prelude* wasn't initially going to be a thing until 2017. In addition, Charles never despised Valiera at all, which contradicted the idea that Thomas used to despise Nelson.

## Reception

Charles has been a well-received D.I.T. character. A user called "MaleficentFan2017" says, *"It really is a credit to Thomas' skill at characterization that Charles, like a new Eragon, is cold, calculating and still lovable"*. However, he is also one of the most criticized characters in the franchise, and possibly in D.I.T. history. It is argued that his character is too dark for a protagonist, as D. Isaac Thomas focuses more on his quest to find peace with Valiera Nelson than his role in the School War. He has also been criticized for being self-centered and for perceivably only liking Nelson because he hates everyone else.

## Author's comments

D. Isaac Thomas has said that he loosely based Charles in his teenage years on himself in high school, with very few changes:

"*If anyone is directly taken from life, it's Charles and his soulmate. Ideally, he is a caricature of what I was when I was in my Junior and Senior years — a real exaggeration, I didn't smoke weed or whip out a laser sword — Charles at times is Machiavellian at most — and I hope I wasn't that cruel… sometimes he is an incredible bastard.*"
## Trivia

***The D.I.T. Wiki*** has a collection of information and fun facts related to ***Charles Hugh***.
## Gallery

Charles-temporarily-homeless.jpgCharles sitting on the playground equipment.Omnerisinacabinet.jpgCharles and Omner's brief hotel stopover.Charles in cord combination.pngCharles, derisively mocking his enemies.CharlesOmner&Sushi.jpg
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 *Boys vs. Girls 2 Prelude*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Boys vs. Girls: The Coming Darkness*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 *Boys vs. Girls: The Rise of the Serpent*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Boys vs. Girls: The Fate of the Towers*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Valiera Nelson's Instagram" on D.I.T. Website
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Boys vs. Girls 2*
7. ↑  *D. Isaac Thomas' Official Site*
8. ↑ Omni Calculator