Nathan Kemp

Nate and Max at the Halloween Carnival

Joy Gozar (cousin)

Joan Gozar (cousin)

Mr. Gozar (uncle)

- Max

- His Friends

- The Attention His Singing Gets Him

- People Judging Joy For Having A Child

Nate is a supporting character in the novel The Stalker Case of Max Fanheart and the main love interest of protagonist Mackenzie Fanheart. He performs *I See the Light* from ***Tangled*** in Kumar's Musicale Production.

## Appearance

Nate is of somewhat short height and has olive skin, mousse-brown hair, and chestnut-brown eyes. He is described as being quite skinny and lacking any kind of muscle.

He usually dresses in t-shirts and jeans.

## Personality

Despite being one of the more talkative characters in the novel, Nate usually likes to keep to himself. He is usually seen talking with Kash the most and often jokes around with him (much to the latter's chagrin).

Due to his autism, Nate often has trouble starting and keeping conversations. He also seems unaware of what can be offensive to people, though he isn't as concerned with this as much as his cousin, Joy.

Similar to Max, he has a love for horror films (though he isn't as avid of a fan as she is). He likes horror films in the fantasy genre, including ***Pan's Labyrinth*** and ***Pet Sematary***. Despite his love for horror films, he claims they scare him, though he seems to like being scared.

After falling for Max, he spends most of his time with her (mainly watching horror films). He is one of the main people to not be disturbed by her fascination with gory films, instead finding it interesting.

Similar to Joy, Nate likes singing in private; unlike her, however, he simply avoids doing so in public because he doesn't like the attention it gets him (compared to Joy, who avoids doing so due to stage-fright). He agrees to assist Laura in her performance because she is family, as well as she being the only one who received a duet performance.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Joy Gozar

Though he doesn't talk about her much, Nate loves his cousin. He is aware of what happened to her (though it's implied he doesn't know the actual story) and sympathizes with her. He is quick to defend her when Izzy jokes about her "not being careful with her boyfriend" after he mentions her pregnancy.

#### Laura Gozar

Nate loves Laura like a sister, having known her and grown up with her since she was a baby. After auditions for Kumar's Musicale Production, Laura is the only one to receive a duet performance; Nate steps up and volunteers to perform with her.

### Love Interests

#### Mackenzie Fanheart

Nate initially only saw Max as a new hire at the school and had a somewhat friendly relationship with her, though they don't share any interactions. When he witnessed her performing *Let it Go* and saw how happy performing made her, he fell in love with her. After this event, he takes every opportunity to spend time with her (Amber even mentions that his eyes light up when he sees her). He's also one of two people to go out and fight Darius after he attempts to kidnap her.

Nate is one of the few people who isn't disturbed by Max's love for horror films. Being a horror film fan himself (not as avid as Max, though), he finds her knowledge of horror and her love interesting.

However, despite his love for her, he's unsure of whether to tell her or not, believing her situation will cause her to reject him. He eventually gains the courage to tell her his feelings and is greatly relieved when she tells him she will date him once her situation ends.

After she's kidnapped, Nate feels extreme guilt due to the fact that he had decided not to go back to the school with her. His love for her motivates him to rescue her, doing four days of investigating before finding out where she might be.

In the epilogue, it is stated that they started a platonic relationship, which later became a long-distance relationship after she moved to New York.

### Friends

#### Kash Smith

Out of most of the characters in Kumar's, Nate seems to have a somewhat close yet combative friendship with Kash. Knowing of his crush on Greta, Nate innocently teases Kash, often times stating that Kash does things in order to see Greta. However, if Kash ever tries to turn the tables and tease Nate about his crush on Max, he responds with annoyance and threatens to hurt Kash (albeit in a sarcastic manner). Despite this, they seem to get along quite well, often talking when not doing anything.

#### Christopher Fowler

Nate and Chris have a casual friendship, sometimes chatting during free time.

## Mental Condition

Nate has Autism (high-functioning), a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. It's fairly common, with more than 200,000 cases per year. It affects males more than females. Symptoms include:

* **Behavioral**: inappropriate social interaction, poor eye contact, compulsive behavior, impulsivity, repetitive movements, self-harm, or persistent repetition of words or actions
* **Developmental**: learning disability or speech delay in a child
* **Cognitive**: intense interest in a limited number of things or problem paying attention
* **Psychological**: unaware of other's emotions or depression
* **Also Common**: anxiety, change in voice, sensitivity to sound, or tic

## Trivia

* Actors of choice to play Nate: Alex Wolff.
* The name "Nathan" is from the Hebrew name *נָתָן* (Natan), meaning "he gave", while the surname "Kemp" is derived from Middle English *kempe* meaning "champion, warrior".
* The idea for Nate to respond negatively to teasing comes from the author, who is, herself, high-functioning autistic and responds with anger when teased.
* It is revealed that Nate is the cousin of Joy Gozar, protagonist from the author's previous novella, ***Joy***.
	+ It's also revealed that ***Joy*** takes place long before the events of ***Stalker Case***, as Laura is shown to now be an eight-year-old.
		- It's also shown that Joy gave Laura to Nate's parents so they could raise her, implying the end of ***Joy***.

* It is implied that Nate likes reading, as he joins Harry's conversation about Stephen King's new book. He also dresses up as Jack Torrance from the King novel, ***The Shining***, which is said to be his favorite book.
	+ However, he carries a fake ax (from the movie) as opposed to the roque mallet Jack uses in the novel. However, he borrowed the fake ax from the auditorium, so it's possible he couldn't find a roque mallet.
* Nate was originally going to fall in love with Max due to her being a good singer; however, the trope was considered cheesy and cliche, and was changed to him falling in love with her after seeing how happy performing makes her.
* In a fanart done by the author (the pic in the infobox above), Nate and Max are surrounded by fireflies. This is meant to reference his familial relation to Joy.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan%27s\_Labyrinth
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet\_Sematary\_(film)
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex\_Wolff
4. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Pandora-Banister-ebook/dp/B06XBDMBDR
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen\_King
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack\_Torrance
7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Shining\_(novel)