What's in a Name?

Wendy Nowak

Wendy Nowak- Polish-American ancestry; The classmate and long-term love interest of AJ Stankovic, Wendy is a slightly tomboyish, sporty girl with straight medium blonde hair that reaches her shoulder blades and is often held back in a ponytail, dark green eyes, and a light complexion, along with a distinguishably concave nose. Originally from Tampa, Florida, she is fiercely competitive, often besting the other boys with her athletic and physical capabilities. She is described as talkative, bossy and an extrovert, causing her to be recognized for her great ideas and resourcefulness during difficult times. She formerly ran successful a babysitting business with her girlfriends back when she lived in Florida, serving as their president and being acknowledged across town by her clients. Wendy is shown to be feisty and direct, but can also be compassionate during unexpected moments, showing an immense amount of loyalty to her close friends. She describes herself as a people person and is shown to be quite confident in her opinions, as she will always speak her mind on behalf of what she feels to be right. She was raised in a lower middle-class household by her mother after her father's passing away from a plane crash when she was young and lived with her three brothers. She led a comfortable lifestyle and felt overwhelmed by the big changes that took place after her mother remarried to a wealthy business owner named Walter and decided to move the family to his mansion in New York. Wendy tends to be practical and values efficiency, causing her to have great organizational skills and always plan ahead before she acts. She is always there to lend a helping hand to anyone who is in need and puts everyone's well-being above her own, although she admits that she has better listening skills than patience. 

Unlike her female friends, she tends to be disinterested in boys and dresses casually, being known for her boyfriend jeans, sneakers and turtleneck sweaters, along with her baseball cap. She tends to feel awkward during situations in which she is expected to act more womanly and is very much an active person who would much rather climb trees than go shopping. Wendy is also very energetic and is considered to be a doer, although she tends to be a realist and is not usually known for having an overly chipper demeanor. She shares a close relationship with her mother and was forced to mature at a younger age as she looked after her little brother Dylan, although she is often embarrassed by her older brothers Tristan and Nathaniel and their antics. She does above average at school and tends to get more Bs than As, although she is a member of the school's student council and considers her favorite subject to be social studies. She is also a defender for the school's soccer team and participates in track and field, in addition to being a member of her high school's camera club. Wendy has been best friends with a girl named Roxanne since she was 2 years old, and the two are often regarded as polar opposites in temperament. While her best friend was shy and sensitive and preferred domestic pursuits such as reading books or knitting, she always had a strong presence and liked to be the center of attention. The two remain close however, with Roxanne FaceTiming her frequently and having visited her in New York at one point with her stepsister Maeve, a typical California blonde. Even though her growing closeness to caused some feelings of jealousy on her behalf, she ultimately mends her relationship with her and comes to accept their new friendship. The most important thing to Wendy is her family, as she often makes time to show her very large blended family, which also consists of her stepsiblings, that she cares about them. 

She gets along well with her younger stepsiblings Liane and Silas, who she often plays and interacts with when they come to visit during the weekends. She secretly has sessions with a therapist every Tuesday and Thursday after school, which allows her to talk about some of her worries and feel understood by someone. She also keeps a journal where she records her private thoughts and records her events in a daily planner to keep her priorities in check. Wendy often throws her fist into the air and tends to say "Yess" when she's pleased, and she has a sense of humor that is as big as her ego. She likes to know what's going to happen, as revealed when her mother announced her engagement to Walter, and she was bursting with questions and curiosity. She played a lot of mean tricks on her attractive redheaded classmate Lilah Belpois due to believing she was a snob, showing that she can have somewhat of a devious side. She instantly regrets her actions however and bonds with Lilah after realizing how much her behavior had hurt her, leading her to eventually become one of her best friends. Wendy is described as being polite but not tactful, although she has an enormous amount of empathy and can easily put herself in other people's shoes. It is also mentioned that she doesn't believe in the supernatural and that she's good at whining, although she has a special fondness for the movie Ghostbusters. She admits that she doesn't really hold grudges and is a forgiving person who trusts in people's intentions and gives them the benefit of the doubt. She also appears to understand kids better then the rest of her old friends did, but claimed that she wished that her club weren't so busy all the time. Wendy's mother has stated that she wasn't a fussy baby and was more of a crier than a mover, and her first-grade teacher was a raven-haired woman named Mrs. Smith.