Kalissa Chhabra

***Spoiler warning:** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

**Kalissa** is a young teenaged girl with dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. She is a major character in Hopes and Dreams and the main and only antagonist. She belongs to Jenny's friend group and suffers from multiple mental illnesses.

## History

### Hopes and Dreams

Kalissa sits with her friends at the lunch table, and Jenny mentions how she always teased Kalissa about wearing leather jackets, saying that Kalissa didn't mind the jests. Ariana mentions that Kalissa was also interested in horseback riding, Kalissa protests that she hadn't committed to doing it yet, making Jenny wonder if she was hiding something.

In science class, as Jenny talks to Hope about her acceptance into getting into the horse riding program, Kalissa says she's surprised. Hope makes a comment on their principal and Kalissa insults her, hurting Hope's feelings. Jenny thinks back on Kalissa's words to Hope before starting on their lab.

### Hopes and Dreams scenes

Ariana and Jenny instant message each other on their computers in English class, and Ariana reminds Jenny that if anything bothers her, she can turn to her friends, but she specifically omits Kalissa because she doesn't have a good opinion on Jenny.

Kalissa and her family are invited to a dinner party at Jenny's house. When Kalissa sees Jenny, she glares at her and hides behind her father. When they come into the house, Kalissa apologizes to Jenny about her dad, then expresses her desire to be at home instead of at the party. When Jenny asks about how she's doing in school, she grows defensive and criticizes Jenny for being "Ms. Popularity" and "trying to be everyone's friend" before storming away. Hope witnesses the argument and talks with Jenny about her for a moment. Nikki begins to panic when she recalls how Kalissa had been eating less and the scars on her arms she tried to hide from her friends. The two cry about Kalissa's predicament.

In an alternation to the above described scene, as Jenny hands her mother the high-heeled shoes, Kalissa suddenly appears in the kitchen, and while it startles Jenny and her mother, Kalissa says that she only wants to greet her friend. Jenny's mother tells her to go upstairs, but before Jenny leaves the room, Kalissa comments on the shoes, remarking that they looked a lot like the pair she lost a few weeks ago. Later, in private, Jenny and her mother speculate how Kalissa's "shoes" had gotten into the house. Before dinner, Kalissa glares at her father for the corny jokes he made, and her mother sends her to the car to get something. Before Kalissa gets to the car, she meets up with Hope outside. While Jenny talks with her father about her life, she thinks to herself how Kalissa was ruining her life by bullying her. Jenny is uncomfortable around Kalissa when they eat dinner because she speculates that she stole the shoes Jenny hid in her room, and Kalissa shoots her a self-satisfied smile when Jenny talks back to her mother. While Jenny cleans up dinner, Kalissa approacher her and her mother with the shoes, accusing Jenny of stealing the shoes when in fact it was her who planted them in the house to make it seem like Jenny had stolen them. Jenny gets in trouble from her mother and bemoans about how Kalissa betrayed her. In her room, Jenny hears Kalissa and her mother discussing the shoes.

## Personality

Kalissa is shy at the beginning, but then adopts an attitude of scorn towards her "friends" and insults them regularly. She is very opinionated and holds a grudge against Jenny for some particular reson. In the scenes, she is described with having an explosive temper because she is jealous of Jenny and lonely. Hope and Jenny hypothesize that Kalissa is suicidal and that that's where her "horrible mood" was coming from. Kalissa is also scheming, as evidenced by her plot to hide her shoes at Jenny's house, to make Jenny look like a theft in front of her mother; she enjoys watching Jenny get in trouble.

## Trivia

### Interesting facts

* Kalissa has Native American bloodlines.
* Kalissa has anorexia and cuts herself.

### Author statements

* Kalissa was going to be the main antagonist in the story after she leaves the friend group and harasses Jenny. She was later going to commit suicide at school in front of her former friends, sending Jenny into a deep depression and allowing her to consider killing herself too.

### Mistakes

* Kalissa is described as having gray eyes instead of brown.

## Quotes

**Kalissa**: "*I never wanted to come to this dinner. I could be at home with my cat instead of with your crazy family.*"

**Jenny**: "*I'm sorry you feel that way, Kalissa. How are you doing at school? I noticed you weren't sitting with us today.*"

**Kalissa**: "*Do I have to sit with you all the time? I sat with some other friends today, okay? I'm doing fine at school. You don't have to be obsessed with my life these days!*"

**Jenny**: "*I'm trying to be friendly.*"
**Kalissa**: "*What are you going to do, punch me? Stop trying to be Ms. Popularity! Stop pretending that you are the most perfect person at this school! Stop pretending that everyone is your friend!*"

—Kalissa and Jenny arguing at a dinner party *Hopes and Dreams*, chapter scene 4

"*I should be the one who is sorry. I didn't want you to be so mad at her. She messed up, I agree, but you don't have to be so mad at her. Actually, you should be mad at her.*"
―Kalissa "apologizing" on Jenny's behalf to her mother *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 7, page 13

**Kalissa**: "*...how those shoes got here, Mrs. Claridge. I think I brought them over here, and Jenny stole them. But, maybe Jenny didn’t steal them. Maybe I left them here. But why would she try to hide it and not tell me about it sooner. The last time I came over to your house was over two weeks ago!*"

**Jenny's mother**: "*I’m sure you just left them here, Kalissa. Jenny would never steal from a friend. I wish I wouldn’t have yelled at Jenny. Maybe she was telling the truth.*"

**Kalissa**: "*B-but Mrs. Claridge! I-I’m pretty sure I saw Jenny steal those shoes. Honestly! I, uh, saw her snatch those shoes away from behind my back, er, at school!*"

—Kalissa talking to Jenny's mother about the shoes *Hopes and Dreams*, chapter scene 7, page 15*End of spoiler warning*
## References and citations

1. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, page 20
2. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, page 25
3. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 3, page 3
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 4, page 5
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 4, page 6
6. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 7, page 13
7. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 7, page 10
8. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, page 19
9. ↑ *Hopes and Dreams*, scene 4, page 3