What's in a Name?

Erick Montenegro

Erick Montenegro- Mexican ancestry; Erick Montenegro is a cocky and pretentious boy who pursues a romantic relationship with Meygan Duncan throughout the course of his early high school years. He was originally born in Monterrey, Mexico to immigrant parents and became a naturalized citizen upon moving to San Antonio, TX with his family at the age of 5. He formerly attended an all-boys Catholic school in his hometown before he relocated to Valley Stream, during which he went through a period of self-consciousness regarding his sexuality. He takes great pride in his heritage, participating in the Spanish club at his school and playing on the intramural soccer team. Erick is often perceived as humorous by his friends and tends to be very straightforward, although he had been relatively unsuccessful in his love life prior to his involvement with Meygan. He can be socially awkward at times and admits that he has a difficult time relating to most people, causing him to be closest to his older sister Yvonne and regard her as his best friend. He is generally perceived as an average kid who is image-conscious and is desperate to be popular, which leads him to resort to means such as being associating with the jocks at his school to boost his social standing. Despite his faults, he is very family-oriented and devotes his free time to helping out at his father's restaurant, in addition to leaving reviews on other eateries on Yelp. Erick has a side to him that enjoys nerdly pursuits, which is seen in his love for Marvel films and open fascination with the Spider-Man franchise. He also enjoys listening to rock bands such as Nirvana and the Foo Fighters with his friends and likes to go to music festivals for live entertainment. 

As a boy who was diagnosed with ADHD in his childhood, he is not a fast reader and often lacks patience when it comes to reading, particularly if it involves large blocks of text. This tends to affect him when it comes to his academics, although he enjoys his psychology courses at school and does fairly well in them. Erick can also be quite prideful and tends to have a bit of a mean streak to his personality, which is evidenced in his competitive attitude. He tends to be particular when it comes to his specific passions and can be extremely goal-oriented, as he initially aspired to attend college to study pre-med. His compassionate side is mostly shown with a select few, namely his sister and the small amount of close friends he has, to whom he can be quite loyal. He can also be incredibly sarcastic and always appears to have a quick response to everything, which can something grate on the nerves of his teachers. Erick has a surprising history with that goes back quite a while with Meygan, as the two were both involved in the same church choir as kids. They were later partnered together for a science project and despite a mutual dissatisfaction with the initial choices, the two took care of an egg. When Erick damaged the egg, he asked for the instructor to give Meygan a better grade in hopes of averaging it for both of them, which is altruistic by his standards. On a side note, he received four days of detention from for referring to her as "clitty litter" and when the girls were harassed online by a troll, she was the first to openly accuse him of being behind it despite his denial. Erick is shown to be very much a doer and likes to keep himself active, having a boundless amount of curiosity and energy. He prefers to live in the present moment and has trouble planning before he acts, which can potentially lead him to make rash decisions. 

He has a bit of a nervous energy to his demeanor, although he can appear more laidback and approachable depending on the circumstance. He has also shown that he is protective of his loved ones and will quickly come to their defense if their safety or well-being is threatened in some way. Apologizing for her earlier accusations, he and Meygan began comfort each other over the isolation they found themselves in, particularly when she quit Twitter. This would later lead the two of them to form an unlikely friendship when Erick was cast out of social media by his own friends. They took their relationship even further when Meygan settled his dilemma as to whether girls do have balls by briefly seeing her private area in the dark with a flashlight, triggering a "spiritual awakening" for him that would result in them officially becoming a couple. The two of them constantly held hands, hung out and referred to each other by pet names like "boo" or "babe", and despite the disbelief of their classmates would defend each other and work to create positive changes in the school. Erick is shown to have his license by the time he is 16 years old and drives himself to school, as well as a part-time job he has at an Office Depot. His relationship started to show a lack of depth on his behalf however, as despite appearing to be genuinely happy at the prospect of being with Meygan, he never actually respected her, but merely spoke about respecting her. A common phrase he had used was to constantly say how she was "really smart and funny", but after a foreboding chat with his father, he started believing women were actually conspiring against men. These tendencies are also shown in his dismissive behavior toward his overweight classmate Marianela Trevino, whom he repeatedly made fun of with his friends. Erick has a close friendship with Dylan Turner, a fellow classmate of his with whom he would bond over their mutual love of South Park. 

The two have a shared Tik Tok account where they post random videos together, which has earned him a significant virtual following. He looks up to Justin Bieber as a role model and has secretly aspired to be more like him, appreciating the content of his music and attitude towards life. He can often be found sitting with an extended group of boys during his lunch period and sometimes throws in Spanish words during his conversations. Erick also appreciates Mexican cuisine and considers it a speciality to acquire Tamarindo, a spicy candy from his homeland every time he and his family cross the border. He is considered to be a terrible cook however and admits that he cannot make anything more than a cheese quesadilla and tends to burn everything else in the kitchen. His favorite television series is the Walking Dead, which he records in order to view new seasons his spare time, and he has recently become immersed in the Game of Thrones fandom. He complains about the Jews stealing Hollywood and often has very strong opinions regarding the series, which he has expressed through written articles. Eventually things would take a rocky turn for him and Meygan, as Erick could not bother to be honest or even stand being around her, convincing his friends that she was mentally abusive. He would even go so far as to nearly kill her by almost pushing her in front of a car and by having a "witch" try to abduct her because of her lack of time management skills. Meygan nevertheless remains with him in part due to his threats to kill himself if they ever break up, as well as a reaction to the constant criticism she gets from her friends, causing her to "double down". She ultimately attempts to avoid this by adopting his views, further alienating herself from the people who truly cared about her.

Erick is a tall boy who stands at 6 ft 1 in tall and has light brown hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion, with an average build. He has a noticeably prominent nose that he feels self-conscious about and tends to dress in jeans and floral shirts, although he will occasionally alter his style and wear polos. He suffered from bad acne when he was younger and still has a few pockmarks on his face that remain from his adolescent years. He tries to add golden highlights onto his hair at one point and is shown to care significantly about his hygiene, and he sometimes likes to wear cologne. Erick is shown to be manipulative and somewhat sadistic in nature at times, although his cruelty is far more childish and more analogous to simple bullying, as opposed to his classmate Eddy Beadles more elaborate and super-villainous methods. He begins seeing a therapist and shows that he can be caring and considerate in his desire to give his peers advice and teach them about mindfulness techniques to cope with their anxiety. He takes a level in kindness, which is seen during his interactions with his relatives and his desire to take his sister to prom when she didn't have a date to take her. He is also fairly extroverted and can even be friendly, finding enjoyment in meeting new people and sharing experiences with them. Erick goes on to attend college at SUNY Plattsburgh, where he majors in psychology and later ends up pursuing his minor in business. He humbles down somewhat as he matures and becomes more hardworking after he applies for a job as a career counselor. He ultimately begins to date a girl he meets in his late 20s named Mitchie and goes on a trip to Barcelona with her one summer. He grows into his father's looks and bears a strong resemblance to him in his 30s, naming his first born son after him and considering himself a changed man. ESFP 7w6