HILLSON HIGH Landmarks and Character Maps.

HILLSON, INDIANA

Founded by Oscar Hillson in 1915. A predominantly white, progressive suburb of Indiana. It’s residents sometimes resent the state of Indiana as being too “conservative” for their liking…

HILLSON HIGH

Home of the “Fighting Wasps,” Hillson High is a Class C High School that holds the shared antics, the heartbreaks, and the triumphs of the Class of 2023 and the rest of the students.

HILLSON NATIONAL BANK

Constructed and launched in 1965 by young entrepreneur, Marlin Hillson

INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Upon graduating high school and seeking a new place to go, ISU is the common university chosen by Hillson High’s best and brightest.

SCOOPS

A local ice cream shop and many students’ first after school job.

CAST OF CHARACTERS (STUDENTS; IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

JOEL BIDO

Joel Bido is in Hillson High’s Senior class; at the age of 19 pushing 20. In his second Senior Year, having already repeated Freshman year, Joel may come across as a heavy slacker in the classroom. However, when it comes to his aspiring music, he works hard as a stage performer and even a song writer. Obviously as a Senior, let alone being 19 years old by now, Joel has little business pursuing a Junior girl of 17. In the form of Cassie Cline, Joel has found a way to play the role of rock star rebel; and Cassie gets to show up an overbearing mother and absentee father…

CASSIE CLINE

Cassie is one of the prettiest and most popular girls in the Junior Class (the class of 2023). She is definitely the most vindictive. Currently, she leads “The Clique” with mean-spirited Cara Tesh and bubbleheaded Catie Caron as her acolytes. Dana Bragg had been one of Cassie’s best friends in elementary school until their bonds fell apart. Therefore, the entirety of “The Clique” finds themselves on the outs with her. Cassie could date anyone that she wants in her own class and she is well aware of her status of popularity; she (currently) dates Joel Bido instead as evidence that she can have access to a Senior guy anytime she wants it; not to mention that he’s 19 and their relationship could piss off her family. Cassie’s life aspiration was to be a movie starlet or T.V. news personality; until reality television really reached fruition. Cassie used to really enjoy chocolate cake; until her taste for the dessert strangely changed…

JOSHUA HUMMEL

At just 16, Hummel is the fresh-faced, youngest member of the Junior Class’s “Hillson 5” pop ensemble act. Josh is definitely the most open about wanting to meet the next woman; however, he might carry a secret with him. When not in school or with the band, Josh works at the local ice cream shop…

RACHEL JOY

Rachel is an average-faced girl who does the morning announcements for school and is on yearbook with aspirations to be a reporter one day. She is often overlooked by her other classmates as a mousy, forgettable face. She was Josh’s lifelong next door neighbor and one of his good friends since preschool. The fact that Josh seemed to notice Rachel more than other guys (and a lot of girls) did led to a dark secret between them. She and Josh work together at Scoops…

DANA BRAGG

Dana Bragg was Rachel’s best friend growing up. Naturally, she DID know about Rachel and Josh’s friendship and how Rachel had always seemed to want MORE from him. As Josh didn’t seem to understand, Dana had always resented him (that; and she had never believed in mere friendship between men and women).

Briefly in the Fourth and Fifth Grades, Dana had become part of the “In-Crowd,” led by Cassie Cline even back then. Naturally, Cassie’s prodding eventually wore off on Dana and, for a brief time, she left her old friendships on the wayside to make way for the “cool clique;” at nine and ten years old. As soon as Dana’s friendship with the in-crowd fell through following a birthday party debacle, Rachel was right there to patiently accept Dana’s friendship back. Their friendship was only stronger because of this and Dana, intrinsically, knows what it’s like to be treated as an outcast.

Dana has always been on the heftier side of her classmates and that meant that she was often ridiculed by her peers or overtly criticized by her own family. Little does anyone else seem to realize how hard Dana tries to change her appearance; or just how dramatic the results are of the consistent shunning and ostracizing…

ZACH KIRAC (CURE-AC)

Zach Kirac was Josh’s lifelong best friend and serves as “The Heartthrob” for the “Hillson 5.” Off stage and outside of his pop ensemble role, Zach is not the kindest person; especially when it comes to his own treatment of women or to Josh’s struggles with his lifelong singleness and virginity. These jibes only increase at the mention of Josh and Rachel together. If ONLY Zach knew what Josh knew about he and Rachel…

CHRISTIAN PRIDE

Doe-eyed, soulful, and bashful, Christian is the mysterious and quiet type. He serves the role as the “Hillson 5’s” Shy One, and his role with the band is really the most natural for his actual personality. As a member of Hillson High’s vocal music department, he is in fact a classically trained vocalist and is probably the best all-around backing singer in the band. However, it would be difficult for fans to know that as he doesn’t always showboat or sing out boisterously in the same ways that Zach or Josh do during a performance.

CARA TESH

Her family is one of very few African American families in Hillson. She is definitely the only African American woman in her class at school. Such a divide between her and her classmates could make Cara self-conscious or could make her extra vindictive. She chooses to be extra vindictive; perhaps to COVER for self-consciousness.

As if it isn’t enough that Cara is the sole African American woman in this year’s Junior class, she knows the shame of her father being a police officer; while SHE is supposed to be a young and rebellious youth.

Somehow, Cara found her way into “The Clique;” and, while Cassie serves as their leader and the face of the movement, Cara rather seems to enjoy her role as possibly the MEANEST of the pack.

Cara’s mean-spiritedness does translate into a rough-and-tumble attitude and she enjoys her spot as one of the star strikers on Hillson’s Varsity soccer team. While going outside of the clique to participate in extracurricular activities does potentially expand Cara’s social circle, she brings with her an attitude and air of cockiness that dissuades friendships with her teammates once the game is over…

CATIE CARON.

Catie is probably the nicest, warmest, and most bubbly member of “The Clique;” which still isn’t saying much when she continues to follow Cassie’s marching orders about exclusivity, along with every other order that Cassie gives, whether it personally pertains to The Clique or not.

Catie takes probably the most pride out of any of the Clique members in her school; that pushed her to join cheerleading. Through cheerleading, she certainly knows other girls, including Adriana; however, the “other” girls on her squad have never met Cassie’s meticulous standards about who to pal around with. In fact, Cassie has always made it quite clear that she is “putting up with” Catie being a cheerleader on Friday nights during Football season and Tuesdays and Saturdays for Basketball season. Catie is also the most open member of the clique about pursuing an afterschool job of her own; Cassie has made it quite clear that she would draw the line of their friendship there…

Many people confuse Catie’s naivete and mental innocence for silliness. Cassie and Cara often express their displeasure for how “stupid” Catie seems to be; and guys will often try to take advantage of her childishness. Only Dana has ever seemed to really understand Catie…

ADRIANA ADANDE

Adriana is a foreign exchange student from a Latin American family that had settled into Hillson, Indiana in search of a new life. Adriana, intrinsically, knows that she is vastly different from her female peers and she is extra embarrassed by Cassie’s targeting of her as “unalike.” Therefore, Adriana has a difficult time opening up to her fellow classmates; however, she senses something of a kindred spirit, and a little bit more, in Christian Pride as a friend and performance partner…

AMANDA HILLSON

Oscar Hillson. Hillson, Indiana. Marlin Hillson. Hillson National Bank. Jack Hillson. Superintendent of Schools AND current Mayor.

Amanda is related to THOSE Hillsons; and that should give her a lot of sway in the local social hierarchy. Surprisingly, Amanda doesn’t seem to let the status of her surname go to her head; even when, at times, her surname prompts Cassie to extend the invitation to Amanda to hang out with The Clique on weekend getaways. Not a girl matching in Cassie’s particular penchant for snootiness, yet never one to pass up a friend, Amanda WILL, on occasion, hang out with “The Clique” girls, even if she does have her suspicions about Cassie’s intentions…

SCOTT HUNTER

Scott Hunter hails from Nebraska and his family transferred to Hillson for his father’s job. However, Scott is treated a lot like a country bumpkin; or even someone foreign to the parts of Hillson, Indiana. However, if his own classmates tend to overlook Scott, he still has at least one good thing going for him at school…

LAUREN MORAN

Lauren came from Texas with her mother to live in Indiana. As a woman from the South, she had found little familiar to her in suburban Indiana. Luckily for Lauren, she met Scott Hunter fairly early on in her tenure in Indiana when she had walked into “Scoops” to apply for a Summer job. From their inaugural meeting, the two of them just “clicked” with one another and were almost an instant match.

Today they would be heralded as the Junior class’s “hottest” couple; if their classmates didn’t choose to ridicule their relationship, and their places of origin, instead.

DANIEL PRIEST

Reverend William and Donna Priest’s youngest son, Katie Priest’s twin brother, and Cameron Priest’s younger brother, Daniel Priest tends to wear fairly flashy and flamboyant clothing. Nevertheless, he does share many of his father’s religious views and a more conservative stance than most of his classmates. He tends to wear t-shirts claiming “I Heart Jesus,” “I’m only gay for GOD,” and “LIFE begins in the womb.” This makes him a fresh target for a lot of ridicule and even some bullying from his classmates.

Despite his style of clothing and his espousing of his father’s opinions, Daniel DOES desire to be well-liked. Deep down, he is a lot like the other guys in his class in that he desires friendship from his peers and the heart of either Beth or Cassie; just like almost all of his other male classmates. His friends right now include Mike Fish and Adam Lunbarg. However, even the two popular athletes can’t quite save Daniel’s reputation; Daniel just doesn’t really HURT either of theirs.

KATIE PRIEST

Katie is Reverend Priest’s only daughter and one of his youngest children. She finds herself under her father and mother’s constant watchful glare and has watched as Cameron Priest received a lot of freedoms that she is currently denied; the same can almost be said of Daniel as he is almost ENCOURAGED by their folks to meet a girl. The one obstacle to that encouragement is how the girls react to seeing him around. Meanwhile, Katie is always hectored at about “purity;” and the type of purity that Reverend William Priest is talking about DEFINITELY goes back to the mind, heart, and lips; certainly not just the body. Therefore, Katie can barely even bring herself to confide in her parents to a crush that she shares between Joshua Hummel and Christian Pride; and she would never be the one to approach EITHER OF THEM until she had made up her mind…

MICHEAL FISH

He serves the role as the rebellious “bad boy” for the “Hillson 5.” Off of the stage, this couldn’t be further from the truth as he is one of the gentler, more accepting souls in class.

Michael is the school’s top quarterback. However, like Adam on the baseball field or basketball court, he is accomplished and skilled enough in sports to not let his athletic prowess go to his head. Michael distances himself from the typical bullying behavior of his fellow jocks to befriend “others” in their class as well. However, he only ever steps away from the intimidating jocularity of his primary friends just enough to take in extra friends from other cliques without actually standing up to his teammates and losing his established comradery there.

TRAVIS LANSON

Second-string quarterback and basketball star, Travis exhibits the arrogance and snideness expected out of the “popular jock” archetype. He may not be as accomplished as Michael or Adam in sports; it hasn’t stopped Travis yet from ridiculing his fellow classmates or dating the best women. He even ridicules Michael for befriending “others;” yet is smart enough to not question his athletic prowess…

ADAM LUNBARG

Star baseball player, basketball lead scorer, and fast-tracked Class President candidate, Adam Lunbarg should, rightly, have it all from high school popularity; and he DOES. He currently dates Amanda Hillson. His teammates, for the most part, hold his athletic talent up on a fairly high pedestal. He extends friendship out to other social castes and they acknowledge his efforts while he continues to retain his friendships on the team. He was already Class President in Freshman and Sophomore years and can practically taste a three-peat in his Junior Year.

Lunbarg’s high school life is sunshine and roses. However, he carries a shame with him about his family…

SARAH BASTION

Sarah Bastion prides herself in her “Wokeness” and wants little to do with the higher social caste systems. In fact, if there’s ever any question as to just how “open-“minded Sarah is, all that a poor soul needs to do is ASK her; then prepare to give up a half-hour of their lives and part of their personal moral clout for having dared to ask. She goes so far as to believe that inclusion of “religious conservatives” or “the popular groups” is problematic rather than the type of unity to aspire to in society. Such outdated concepts of “disagreeing-without-being-disagreeable” or “agreeing-to-disagree” are ruled as giving away far too much leverage to a voice that is not her own.

Not only is Sarah out to tear down the “popular” social caste system, she has her sights set on Class Presidency as well; and she doesn’t care who she has to hurt to get there. Anyone else in class can see that Adam Lunbarg is a good guy with very little damaging on his own conscience; Sarah chooses to continue to push the message of him as “just another jock,” “a rich kid,” or go so far as to remind their classmates who his FATHER is to contaminate the reputation of the son.

Amanda is running for Class President too; and, surprisingly, given her last name and her own social standing, Sarah has left her campaign out of her mudslinging and even offered nothing but support; so far.

BETHANY ROGERS

Beth is the smartest, most accomplished, and, honestly, the prettiest girl in the Junior class. Cassie has notably marked Beth as a target for her ridicule out of clear and concise envy. However, along with Beth’s beauty and perfection, she also refuses to sink to “The Clique’s” level. That DOES gain her respect from her classmates.

EVAN FORRESTER

Evan Forrester definitely has the most book smarts and the best grades in the Junior Class. These do not always translate well to social smarts. His book smarts have led him to be Joel’s unofficial “Homework Buddy” in Business Math class.

Of everyone in the class pursuing Beth’s heart, Evan has probably fallen for her the worst of all. His blind pursuit is only exacerbated by Beth’s kindness, even toward him.

While Evan is definitely not on-stage material for “The Hillson Five,” he is their videographer and recording engineer in exchange for that much notoriety from the band.

HOLLY AND HALEY WANDOR

“The Wandor Twins” are both cheerleaders alongside Catie and Adriana. Between the two of them, they may be slightly more dense than Catie is; and they don’t always have the kindest personality to go with their sense of gullibility. In fact, they are viewed as just “simple” enough that even Cassie won’t take them seriously enough to invite them into “The Clique;” let alone the fact that they represent “the last types of people who Sarah Bastion would support.”

NICOLE MAY

Nicole is the quiet, studious type; only really surpassed in her grades by Beth or Evan. She, just like anyone else, wants to be well-liked. However, she does harbor a dark secret at home that makes her extra ashamed of her family…

COLIN QUILL

Quill is the “older brother” type for the “Hillson 5” and is definitely the most reserved member. He has a fairly dark, embarrassing home life as well and he and Nicole certainly get on well…

THE OTHER RESIDENTS OF HILLSON INDIANA…

OSCAR HILLSON

Town founder; Amanda’s great-grandfather

MARLIN HILLSON

Founder of Hillson National Bank; Amanda’s grandfather.

JACK HILLSON

School Superintendent and Mayoral Candidate; Amanda’s Father.

ROGER GUNTHER

Hillson High principal. He tends to juggle between trying too hard to be well liked or taking his authoritative role too seriously.

DENE HARGROVE

History teacher and football coach. He may be a hard-edged football coach; but he is probably his students’ best listening ear…

LINDA CLINE

Cassie and Molly’s mother and John’s estranged wife. Linda was a former model and actress. That made her “important” for her beauty. She has extended such life lessons particularly to Cassie.

MOLLY CLINE

Though being only ten years old, Molly already practices exclusion and rules over fifth grade popularity with iron vindictiveness. One wonders where she learned THIS from…?

JOHN CLINE

A businessman and, now, a bachelor. He loves his daughters and longs to be part of their lives ALMOST as much as he resents his ex and never wishes to see her again…

DARREL TESH

48-year-old Darrel Tesh is a high-profile local police officer. He and his family moved to Hillson Indiana in search of a new life when police work in Chicago grew too dangerous. Officer Tesh is well aware of his family’s status as one of only very few African American families in Hillson. He is also aware of what the “progressive” white populace of their new town say about a black police officer. He is only too aware of what his profession of choice has done to his daughter’s reputation amongst her friends. While he takes pity on her, Officer Tesh truly believes in police work and will not give up his call of duty easily…

WILLIAM PRIEST

Reverend William Priest watches over the Hillson Baptist family of parishioners in with much the same hawkishness as he monitors his own. He felt very highly of his eldest son, Cameron, and afforded him a lot of trust in his own moral compass. Therefore, the reverend blames himself for his oldest son’s fall from grace. He is bound and determined to not make the same mistakes with his younger son; and certainly not with his little girl…

DONNA PRIEST

Donna Priest is the penultimate minister’s wife as a smiling face and doting betrothed in public appearances. She is also a wiz in the kitchen, producing 95% of the foods and desserts for any church function. Behind closed doors, however, Donna hates her life with the minister almost as much as their own children do. She and Reverend William can barely sleep together in the same bed anymore; but no one outside of the home is to know that…

CAMERON PRIEST

Reverend Priest’s eldest son is currently in his sophomore year at Indiana University. There, he met the love of his life: Kyle Kilion. Much to the minister’s added chagrin, the couple got formally committed to one another during Winter holiday of their freshman year. Donna, Daniel, and Katie Priest had been invited to the ceremony; and had bucked the honorable reverend’s decorum by actually attending on behalf of the entire household.

Cameron still serves as Daniel’s advisor on survival in high school and lessons in love while Katie will still occasionally call upon him to share her own struggles. The fact that Cameron can serve as wise counsel as someone who’s high school career is still so fresh in his mind does flatter Cameron; however, he knows how much it hurts the reverend for the kids to go to Cameron and their mother for advice; and, deep down, Cameron does disagree with breaking his father’s heart a second time…

REX LUNBARG

“The Conservitasauras Rex/Libertariosauras Rex,” Rex Lunbarg runs a local talk-radio opinion program. The people of Hillson pledge to hate him; many others in the surrounding Indiana area helped to make him the “Number One Talk Show in Indiana.” Lovers and haters alike helped make Rex the success that he is. However, all of his success in the world will not win over his own son, Adam. While Adam disagrees with many of Rex’s bombastic sound bites, the two will often talk about life at school. This only awakens another beast altogether as it occurs to Rex that he can only rehash the same adult political talking points so many times in a row…

KRISTEN MAY

Nicole’s recently divorced mother. Kristen’s current relationship status, however, does serve as her daughter’s biggest shame and embarrassment. Nonetheless, Kristen remains the carefree type to just live life for her own happiness.

DAVID QUILL

Colin’s father. Now an out-and-proud man, David has been separated from Regina Quill for close to three years by now and now enjoys the exciting new relationship with Scott Wall. Nevertheless, Colin will take some time to warm up to the changing dynamics and, these days, will rarely have friends over at the house anymore and only really spends time with his bandmates. Furthermore, Colin and David’s old “son/father” relationship has undeniably changed as well…

There are several other locations and characters to be introduced throughout the novel. Nonetheless, life is never dull in the suburb of Hillson, Indiana!