Cleo Harper

**Cleo Harper** is a major character in Season 1 of Ward University. She is portrayed by starring cast member Alyssa Shadow and debuts in the series premiere, Freshmen.

After enrolling at Ward University as a shy and lonely ballet dancer, Cleo stumbles her way through classes mostly keeping to herself and trying to avoid any attention. This proves to be a challenge, as the friendly - and, sometimes, not so friendly - characters she meets along the way seem to want to do anything but leave her be.

In season 1, Cleo's arc is mainly focused on her journey from being the girl who sits alone at lunch to the girl who learns to feel at ease with a selected and supportive group of friends. Another improtant part of her story, this season, is the blossoming and sometimes awkward relationship with guitarist and fellow loner Ezra Hunter, as well as her attempts to overcome her insecurities and forget about her family's opinions and carelessness.

## Early Life

Cleo was born and raised in Windenburg. Her family was fairly wealthy and accomplished, and she had what many would describe as a normal childhood. Growing up, Cleo was a shy and reserved kid who struggled with being perceived and taking up space, especially compared to her older sister Bonnie Harper, who always seemed to fit in and never did anything to disappoint their money-oriented, overachiever parents - going from being a great student to a moderately successful lawyer in adulthood.

Despite their cold disapproval, Cleo's parents never hindered her passion for dancing in any way - if not psychologically - and if their younger daughter was truly set on becoming a dancer, she might as well go for the most prestigious school available. On paper, that school was supposed to be Ward University.

## Throughout the Series

* Season 1
* Season 2

Episode 1: Freshmen

The first time Cleo appears in the series, she is seen at the dinner table with her family, while we hear news about Thorne Bailey's recent escape from police custody on the TV. She looks tense and is barely eating. Later that same night, we see her excercising in her room and talk to her older sister Bonnie Harper about the upcoming beginning of the school year at Ward University. The two of them have a short fight about Cleo's future, with Bonnie taking her parents' side about ballet not being a remunerative profession.

The next day, Cleo is seen boarding a plane from Windenburg to Del Sol Valley and arriving at Ward University.

At the Freshman Party, Cleo isolates herself and shows clear signs of social anxiety. When she walks outside for a breath of fresh air, she meets Ezra Hunter for the first time: the two of them have a very brief and awkward conversation, before he leaves and she decides to go back to her dorm room to spend the evening alone.

Episode 2: What Are You Doing Here?

The school year begins and Cleo takes her first choreography class with Professor Eva Drawn who urges her students to try out for the upcoming school musical. While the students do their stretching excercises before the beginning of the lesson, Prof. Drawn singles out Cleo and gives her hell for being a ballet dancer and supposedly being unable to adapt. After this negative interaction, Cleo is approached by Kaci Reign who's a student in this same class. Kaci reassures Cleo that Prof. Drawn is a bitch to everyone and she shouldn't take her behaviour personally.

At lunch, Cleo is sitting alone in the cafeteria, staring at her classmates from a difference. Tia Frost sits with her, and she is revealed to be her roommate. Tia questions Cleo about her shyness and Cleo retorts mentioning the creepy rituals Tia performs in their room - one of the reasons why Cleo was hesitant to open up to her during their first week of living together.

One night, Cleo stays up late to keep practicing her dance moves in Prof. Drawn's classroom. Prof. Drawn interrupts her and scolds her about her stiffness and insecurity. Ezra, who was also up late after the Black Sheep auditions, witnesses this. He then watches her practicing from behind the classroom door.

During a montage, Cleo is seen keeping to herself and struggling to make friends. Kaci then approaches her again and introduces her to the rest of the class. Ezra watches Cleo from afar as she's sitting in the quad with her new friends.

Episode 3: The Auditions Begin

Cleo witnesses Candy Ward and Lori Caberera making fun of Erika Bell in the locker room: her and Kaci Reign warn her that the mean girls are just messing with her, but Erika doesn't believe them - always choosing to see the good in everyone.

One night, Cleo is seen commenting on Erika's strange behaviour in the past few days - it's connected to her issues with her brother, Jasper Bell, but none of her friends know about this at the moment.

At the end of September, Cleo is seen participating in the dance auditions for the school musical. She's very nervous at first, but still manages to give a good performance. Ezra Hunter showed up to watch her dance.

Episode 4: Flashbacks

Judith Ward announces the upcoming Halloween Dance and as Kaci Reign plans to retaliate for the strict dress rules by stealing something from her office, Cleo comments on how dangerous that would be.

At the cafeteria, Cleo is seen staring at Ezra Hunter from a distance while her friends are talking about the dance.

During a sleepover, Erika Bell asks Cleo why she's single and if there's anyone she likes, and Cleo talks about her brief meeting with Ezra at the Freshman Party. Later that night, Cleo lies awake on the floor while everyone's asleep. When Fatima asks her if she's okay, Cleo states she's not used to being around people and having friends.

When Raymond Stainfield discovers him, Erika, and Cleo got the parts in the musical, he immediately tells them and they plan to celebrate together. Cleo then calls her sister Bonnie Harper to give her the good news, but Bonnie warns her that she and their parents probably won't be able to attend the show due to work-related commitments. Cleo and Raymond then have a conversation about their respective parents and the concept of letting go of your parents's expectations. Despite Cleo wanting to remain alone, Raymond convinces her to go out and celebrate.

As dance practices for the musical begin, Professor Eva Drawn again singles out Cleo and reprimands her about her "uninspired performance". Cleo then complains about the way Prof. Drawn treats her to Kaci and Erika, who both think Prof. Drawn might be behaving this way in a misguided attempt to help her, but Cleo isn't convinced and thinks Prof. Drawn just hates her and picked her for the musical just so she can see her fail in front of the entire school.

Episode 5: The Halloween Dance

Before The Halloween Dance, everyone at Ward University begins scrambling to find a dance partner. Ezra Hunter approaches Cleo in the cafeteria with the intention of asking her out, but he's taken over by embarrassment and ends up asking her to pass him the SALT instead.

At the dance, Cleo hangs up with her friends for the most part. Ezra watches her - seemingly regretful and a bit jealous - as she slowdances with Raymond Stainfield. Later that night, Ezra finally musters up the courage to ask her to dance, and she accepts.

At the afterparty, Ezra observes the fact that Cleo looks a lot calmer than the first time they talked, and Cleo agrees, being amazed at the fact that she's currently hanging out at a party. The two of them bond over being both introverts at heart.

Episode 6: I Made You

Encouraged by Kaci Reign and Tia Frost, Cleo calls Ezra Hunter on the phone to awkwardly ask him out on a date. Ezra happily agrees, stating he loved hanging out with her at the dance. The two of them go to the movies, then stop by an arcade room. The date goes amazingly well, until Ezra has a vision of Venessa's dead body and has a panic attack - which causes the date to end abruptly.

Episode 7: Harvest Fest Heist

Ezra Hunter approaches Cleo while she's talking with her friends about their plans for Thanksgiving, seemingly wanting to talk to her about the date, but Cleo acts cold in return and yells at him in front of everyone: she hasn't heard from him since his mental breakdown at the arcade, and was worried sick. Ezra apologises and leaves, promising not to bother her again.

While back at home, Cleo and Tia Frost complain about their respective families on the phone. Tia then comments on Cleo's outburst with Ezra the other day, and Cleo expresses embarrassment - she clearly regrets her behaviour, which was driven by her thinking Ezra's breakdown might be her fault and that he wanted to break things off. Tia makes her consider the possibility that Ezra's breakdown might have nothing to do with her, and Cleo calls herself an idiot, then apologises to Tia for having to deal with her while Tia never complains to Cleo about anything. Cleo doesn't even know if Tia likes someone.

Episode 8: Gaslighting

Cleo sees Ezra Hunter in the school hallways and tries to talk to him, but he coldly shuns her.

At the dance rehearsals for the music, Cleo talks to Erika Bell about her insecurities: she's glad Professor Eva Drawn placed her in the back row, so less people will notice if she messes up the performance. A few moments later, Judith Ward enters the room and asks Prof. Drawn to see the choreography. After a moment of hesitation, Professor Drawn agrees, but Judith almost immediately orders the dancers to stop: she asks that some of the dancers move to the front row, and others to move back. Her motivations are clearly racist, and everyone notices that the students she asked to move to the back row are all black, but Judith denies race having anything to do with it - stating she hadn't even noticed and that she doesn't "even see these things".

Later, in the locker room, Cleo and Kaci Reign try to cheer Erika up, but Cleo suffers from a classic case of foot-in-mouth syndrome and accidentally invalidates Erika's feelings by saying Judith might've said the truth - that she truly didn't mean to be racist. Erika understandably gets mad and rushes out of the locker room, as Kaci reprimands Cleo for her choice of words.

During a montage, Cleo is then seen joining Erika in her room and holding her hand while Erika vents about what happened. The two of them seem to have reunited and come to an understanding.

Episode 9: Defying Gravity

At the end of the musical's first number, Cleo falls ruinously to the floor. As soon as Ezra Hunter sees this, he rushes to the backstage to check if she's okay. There, he finds Cleo being harshly scolded by Professor Eva Drawn. He interrupts the professor angrily, tired of seeing her treat Cleo like that. Then Ezra and Cleo are left alone backstage and have a conversation during which they both apologize - Ezra for disappearing after their date, and Cleo for yelling at him in front of everyone. Cleo then opens up about her anxiety and her insecurities, and Ezra assures her that she didn't do anything wrong. When Cleo then asks him to give her an explanation for his behaviour during the date, Ezra promises her that he'll tell her when he's ready. Ezra then encourages her to go back on stage and give the audience a performance they'll never forget.

Episode 10: I Won't Be Home For Christmas

Cleo decides to stay at Ward University for the Christmas holidays, so she can avoid her family and hang out with her friends. The group decides to go out on Christmas Eve. While outside, they run into Ezra Hunter, who decides to join them. They stop at an ice skating rink and Cleo proves to be really good at skating, while Ezra keeps falling on his ass and embarrassing himself in front of everyone. Cleo and Ezra then sit on a bench and, after an embarrassing moment, agree to count this outing as their first date. They have a short chat about the snow - Ezra, who has lived in Del Sol Valley his entire life, is not as used to snow as Cleo is. Then they seem to be about to share their first kiss, but are interrupted by a drunken Erika Bell.

After a while, they all decide to head home for the night. Cleo leaves with her friends, but then decides to go back and meets Ezra outside his apartment. The two of them finally share their first kiss under the falling snow.

Episode 11: If This Is Goodbye

Shortly after sharing their first kiss on Christmas Eve, Ezra Hunter and Cleo join Travis Lockhart outside the police station: Derek Fraser was arrested, and Travis is waiting in hopes of getting to talk to him. Cleo, who has never talked to Travis before today, sits beside him and comforts him as best as she can.

Episode 12: Crossing The Threshold

The Black Sheep are about to play their first concert at The Sait, and Cleo arrives at the venue with her friends. Kaci Reign questions whether the band is actually playing, as they haven't seen Ezra Hunter around for the entire hour they've been there, but Cleo assures her that Ezra wouldn't lie to her - to which Kaci replies calling her a "sweet summer child". Cleo then runs into Travis Lockhart who anxiously informs her that he has no idea where Ezra is, so the two split up to look for him.

A little while later, Cleo finds Ezra hiding backstage. There, he reveals to her that he's anxious about playing live because he's the son of Thorne Bailey, who was also a musician, and he's scared of turning out like him. He also confesses to helping him hide when he escaped - despite being forced to do so, he still feels guilty about it. Cleo is very understanding and reassures him that he did nothing wrong, then she asks Ezra to play something for her to warm up. After Ezra plays Cleo a romantic song, the two have sex for the first time. They then enjoy the rest of the night together at the venue, and Ezra thanks Cleo for helping him out.

Episode 13: Date Night

Cleo and Ezra Hunter spend lots of time in Ezra's apartment - mostly talking about their future and having sex. Cleo mentions she wants to be a professional ballet dancer, but that she'd love to be a teacher when she retires - she's tired of "teachers who can't get it right." When Ezra finds a scary warning spray-painted outside his apartment, the two of them wonder who it might be from. Cleo doubts anyone could've heard their conversation about Thorne and Venessa - why is this person bothering Ezra instead of talking to the police? She suggests they wait it out and eventually talk to anyone Ezra is suspecting.

While she's going back to the dorms, Cleo fights with her sister Bonnie Harper on the phone: Bonnie refuses to represent Derek Fraser in court, stating "no one in their right mind would go against George Flint and his army of demon lawyers". Cleo then relays the information to a seemingly puzzled Kaci Reign, who's hanging out in her room with Tia Frost - the two of them were just talking about the recent cancellation of "The Witching Hour", Tia's favourite show.

Episode 14: Spring Break

Cleo and Ezra Hunter pay a visit to Diego Lobo - whom Ezra suspects to be behind the threatening messages he's been receiving. Diego denies any knowledge of these threats, and is very understanding of Ezra's anger towards him - after all, they both used to date Venessa Jeong and they're both grieving her. Cleo notices a lot of boxes lying around Diego's apartment, and Diego confirms he's in the process of moving, as he can no longer afford to live in this big San Myshuno loft.

To celebrate Spring Break, Cleo travels to Sulani with The Black Sheep - minus Candy Ward, who's already there with her boyfriend Ryan Flint. When Ryan tries to call a truce between him and Charlie Zimmer, Cleo and Travis Lockhart whisper to each other that Charlie might be on the verge of smacking the guy - but she doesn't.

That evening, The Black Sheep play an impromptu concert on the beach, and Cleo live streams the entire thing. After the concert, Candy goes missing, and the group splits up to look for her on the beach - fearing she might drown due to the amount of alcohol in her bloodstream. While she's looking for Candy, Cleo is struck in the back of the head by Thorne Bailey - who was currently looking for Lori Caberera on behalf of Judith Ward and mistook Cleo for her.

Episode 15: Clipped Wings

Cleo wakes up in a basement. She's handcuffed to a radiator and appears to be heavily sedated - it's unclear if due to being hit in the back of the head or drugs that were given to her. She overhears Thorne Bailey speaking to someone on the phone - he's fighting about a mistake he's made and talking about getting rid of Cleo. When he notices Cleo is awake, he informs her that there's been a misunderstanding, but as he's holding a gun, he promises she soon won't have to worry about it anymore. Cleo asks if this is about Ezra Hunter and Thorne sounds extremely puzzled - he had no idea that Cleo knew his son. Cleo falls asleep again.

When Cleo wakes up once again, Thorne is still talking on the phone - this time we can hear Judith Ward's angry voice on the other side. He informs Cleo that his "partner" wants him to take Cleo out of her misery, but he clearly has no intention of doing so. He tells Cleo that there's been "a little switcharoo", as he was "supposed to grab a different girl". Now that he knows that Cleo and Ezra are close, though, he's incredibly interested in having a chat with Cleo before disposing of her. Cleo refuses to talk about Ezra and Thorne threatens her by showing her a mysterious and ominous barrel - the contents of which he doesn't reveal. Thorne promises Cleo she'll soon find out what's inside the barrel if she doesn't talk to him. When Thorne leaves her alone, Cleo freaks out at the prospect of dying in that basement and no one ever finding out what happened to her.

During a flashback, Cleo is seen talking to Erika Bell about the incident with Judith during the musical's dance rehearsal - this is a continuation of their brief montage scene in episode 8, Gaslighting, where Cleo apologises to Erika about her behaviour and offers her a shoulder to cry on, as well as a listening ear.

When Thorne offers Cleo a bowl of soup, and yet again threatens her with the barrel, Cleo agrees to talk to Thorne - one on condition: for every question he asks, she gets to ask one too, and she won't reveal any information about where Ezra is and how Thorne can contact him. Thorne promises he just wants to know how Ezra's doing. Thorne's questions are about how Cleo and Ezra met, how Ezra's band is doing, and whether Ezra and Venessa Jeong were still together when he had sex with her and murdered her. Cleo, instead, asks why Thorne killed Venessa, whether Thorne knew about Ezra and Venessa dating, and who Thorne was supposed to be instead of Cleo. Thorne replies to most of the questions, and he does so truthfully. He doesn't tell Cleo about Lori Caberera, and while she waits for an answer, the drugs he put in the soup starts kicking in. As Cleo feels her strength leaving her, she attempts a desperate escape, but Thorne catches her almost immediately and pins her to the ground as she drifts asleep.

Nearing the end of the episode, Ezra accidentally discovers the place where Cleo's been trapped this entire time: it's the basement of Ward University. As he tries to wake Cleo up, he's ambushed by Kaci Reign and Derek Fraser, who believe him to be the person behind Cleo's kidnapping.

Episode 16: Rags To Riches

Cleo wakes up in the middle of total chaos: Ezra Hunter has been tied up by Kaci Reign and Derek Fraser, who mistakenly assumed him to be responsible for Cleo's kidnapping, and are currently fighting against Thorne Bailey, who has just come back to the basement after a food run and is out for blood. After Derek is knocked out by Thorne and Kaci is shot, Cleo manages to free herself with the handcuff keys Ezra pushed towards her and hit Thorne in the head with his own baseball bat. Thorne falls unconscious and is promptly disarmed by Kaci. Cleo questions Kaci about what is going on, and Kaci reveals that she's been spying on her and Ezra this entire time - her goal was to find out more about Venessa Jeong's murder, and she suspected Ezra to be involved with it. Cleo yells at Kaci for lying to her and invading her privacy. Then they all hear police sirens outside. Derek frees Ezra and runs away alongside Kaci. Then, weakened by the drugs Thorne gave her in the soup, Cleo faints again and is picked up by Ezra, who carries her out of the basement.

Once outside, Cleo is placed on a stretcher. Officer Patrick Cameron questions Ezra about the events of the evening, and Cleo finds enough strength to tell the police officer that Ezra had nothing to do with her kidnapping, and that he saved her.

Episode 17: Boys Will Be Boys

Cleo is out of the hospital and back home in Windenburg. As she's watching the news about her own kidnapping, her sister Bonnie Harper enters her room and puts the TV on mute, suggesting Cleo watches something "more lighthearted". The two of them discuss Cleo's recent trauma, and when Bonnie suggests that Cleo stay home instead of returning to Ward University, Cleo counters that she doesn't intend to undo all the sacrifices she made this year to pass her final exams. Cleo then asks Bonnie if she can make a phone call, and while Cleo's phone is still in police custody after being found on the beach in Sulani, Bonnie suggests Cleo use the landline.

Cleo calls Ezra Hunter to ask how he's doing, to which he's surprised: he should be the one to ask her. Ezra reveals that he's struggling to leave his apartment after his relationship with Thorne Bailey was exposed on live television. Cleo then asks Ezra if he's heard any news about the mysterious barrel Thorne showed her, but Ezra hasn't.

During a montage, Cleo is seen going back to Ward University and being welcomed by her friends - especially Erika Bell and Raymond Stainfield, who are her classmates, but also Tia Frost, her roommate.

While her friends are still struggling to make sense of the reveal of Kaci Reign being a spy, Cleo cuts the conversation short - she's clearly still resentful of Kaci after what she almost did to Ezra, not to mention her deception. Erika then asks Cleo if she wants to work together on their coreography exam, to which Cleo agrees. A few moments later, Fatima Antar and Raja Banerjee invite the group to Raja's apartment to watch the documentary about Professor Barry Rutledge that they've been working on.

Cleo and Erika work together on the choreography exam, and Cleo insists for Erika to be in the front row this time - this is referring to the incident with Judith Ward back in episode 8, Gaslighting. The exam goes smoothly, and their performance is a show-stopper.

After the exam, prof. Eva Drawn approaches Cleo in the locker room. She apologises for the way she treated Cleo during the first months of her stay at Ward University, and reveals that Cleo reminded her of a friend/possible lover she lost when she was young. Eva then unloaded all her pent up anger on Cleo, and though it wasn't personal, it certainly wasn't fair. Despite initially being cold and distant towards the professor, Cleo shows empathy and accepts her apology.

At the end of the year party, Cleo sees Ezra for the first time since coming back to school: she awkwardly says hi to him with a hand gesture, then walks away, not wanting to speak to him at the moment. She hangs out with her friends for the rest of the party, but seems to be back to her introverted self, not really wanting to engage with anyone. When she notices people talking about her - she just survived a kidnapping, after all - she takes a moment to herself in one of the school's bathroom. There, she is joined by Lori Caberera, who questions her about Thorne's actions and motivations. Cleo is understandably annoyed about having to talk about the whole ordeal, especially with a stranger, but reveals that she doesn't know what Thorne wanted - in fact, he was supposed to grab a different girl. Lori is seemingly terrified by Cleo's words and rushes out of the bathroom, to which Cleo is puzzled, but seems to understand that Lori might have personal reasons to ask her about such things.

The night after, Cleo joins her friend at the Casbah Gallery in San Myshuno, to support Tia during her first art exhibit.

Episode 18: TBA

text here

TBA.

## Personality

Despite her incredible talent as a ballet dancer and her breathtaking beauty, Cleo is extremely insecure and socially awkward. She's rarely the life of the party, and would much rather spend her evenings alone in her room doing dance exercises or bingewatching TV shows. This somewhat changes when she becomes a student at Ward University: she's lucky enough to meet a group of friends that gently pushes out of her comfort zone, and despite being an introvert still, she learns to let go and enjoy herself in the presence of trusted people. Despite her friends' encouragement, her insecurities keep taking over her life - preventing her from standing up for herself and her friends when needed, and poisoning her relationships with doubt.

Her biggest qualities can be found in her kindness and empathy. She's a good listener, who is always ready to admit her own faults and mistakes and will do anything to make up for her failures. She is also a very hard worker: she devotes almost every moment of her free time to improving and perfect her art, and her response to criticism is to do her best to improve - rather than give up.

Cleo goes through some drastic personality changes after the traumatic experience of being kidnapped by Thorne Bailey in episode 15, Clipped Wings. Her introversion, which she had managed to keep under control up until that point, resurfaces once more, but it's less driven by insecurity and more driven by her need to bottle up her emotions at this point. Her approach to life and relationships becomes avoidant, in the attempt to pretend that nothing bad ever happened. She also seems to develop a bit of an attitude, often acting cold and distant, or even aggressive.

## Relationships

* Ezra Hunter
* Bonnie Harper
* Friend group

Cleo and Ezra are kindred spirits. Despite having seemingly different interests, they have a very similar idea of what it means to have a good time - usually a quiet evening alone, just the two of them. Both being socially akward introverts, they struggled a bit in the getting-to-know-each-other phase of their relationship, and while for Ezra it might've been a little too soon to start dating after losing Venessa, Cleo's insecurities made her believe that his odd behaviour was a result of him not being interested in her. This, paired with the fact that neither of them have stellar communication skills, sets the stage for a lot of potential misunderstandings. They do have a lot of love and respect for each other, though.

After Cleo was kidnapped by Thorne Bailey, her relationship with Ezra stiffened a bit. Despite his attempts to connect with her, Cleo has been avoiding him - his face too painful to look at, because of how much his eyes remind her of his dad's. This has left Ezra puzzled and frustrated, but he's trying his best to accomodate her - still not knowing the exact details of why she's avoiding him.

Cleo and Bonnie - her older sister - have a very strained relationship. While Cleo sees Bonnie as a selfish social-climber, Bonnie sees Cleo as immature and not grounded enough. The lack of emotional support coming from Bonnie and their parents has caused Cleo a great deal of pain over the years, making her feel isolated and unwanted in her own home. That's not to say her family doesn't love her: they just have a very different love language and set of ideals that are incompatible and frustrating at best.

Since enrolling at Ward University, Cleo has become part of a very large and lively group of friends. She's closer with Tia, whom she met first as her roommate, and her classmates Raymond and Erika. She also used to be really close with Kaci, but began despising her after the events that transpired in episode 16, Rags To Riches. She doesn't have that deep of a bond with Raja and Fatima, but she still very much enjoys their company.

## Notes and Trivia

* Cleo is a Pisces.
* Cleo's sim was created by Raiella. You can witness her birth here.