forum The Esteemed Bradford Family (6/6 | CLOSED)

Started May 22, 2019 by @Moxie group

tune

(I'm sorry I fell asleep last night

Name (first, middle, and last): Amos Charles Bradford
Nickname: (if any) Ame, Charlie (less often)
Age: 16 going on 17
Sexuality: has avoided thinking about it at all costs after thinking he had a crush on a guy who lived near him, so he isn't sure.
Gender: Male
Father: Silas
Appearance: (I've got a face claim if you want) Amos has a long, narrow face, an oval shape. He's got high and slightly hollow cheekbones and a defined pointy jaw/chin. He's got a small hero nose, thin lips. His eyes are hazel, close-set and small. He has soft-arched eyebrows, very dark brown like his slicked-back, straight short hair.
Personality: Has adopted a confident, smooth demeanour from his father that only hides how much of a scared person he is. He's nervous around everyone except his mother, so quiet and reserved that he comes across sullen. His vision of himself is distorted by his father's attitude towards him: he's broken, hopeless. Though he has a dream he doesn't believe it will ever come true, and he's given up on ever developing his creative side. Earning his trust comes only with time and kindness, and even then the only honesty he shows is what his father has taught him to think. He's a pliable person, scared of confrontation and vulnerability which is frowned upon in his mind.
What they are planning on doing with their life: (College major, etc.) not planning on any higher education other than what his father and his tutor are teaching him because the latter is enough for him to take over the company the minute he turns 18. His dream, however, would be attending Newcastle University in a History of Arts course.
Likes: the arts, music, his headphones, quiet and small places, alone time, John Mulaney, routine
Dislikes: numbers, large crowds and noise, horror/thriller movies, dramatic and overbearing people
Favourite colour: Violet
Are they in a relationship back home? No, he wouldn't know how to treat his partner. Would he have to be kind to them, trusting and respectful like his mother was to him? Or should he be hard and commanding, channelling his father's attitude? Or, even worse, would he have to be open and tell them everything, know and accept his worse traits as much as his partner's? Bottom line, the concept of a relationship terrifies him.
Backstory (optional): As the only male cousin in the group of oldests, Silas was extremely hard on his son. He kept him home, schooled him alone, hiring a single tutor when he had to travel. Amos was kept away from his siblings and from his mother so that he could learn everything his father needed him to learn in order to take over the company as soon as he turned 18. The only time Amos was free to socialise with his family or do what he wanted was when his father was out working locally; then, his mother was his saving grace. She was the only one who let him be himself: he's actually a romantic, a creatively-fuelled kid. Instead of writing up business plans, he wrote poems for his mother and his siblings when they would talk to him (being so young, they never really lived a life where they knew their brother).
Other (optional):

Charlotte sat down on a seat next to the window at the back of the jet. She loved getting a glimpse of the island before they landed. They had taken a car to the airport where Grandfather had sent them a jet. Normally, they would have taken Father's, but Grandfather insisted they take one of his personal jets. They would land at a small airport in Vancouver and take a boat to the island. The island was so small that you couldn't land a plane there, so everyone had to arrive by boat. The servants arrived yesterday, and Grandfather and Grandmother would most likely be there to welcome them. Thomas's family was always the first of the siblings to arrive, due to Anastasia's need to always be on time. Charlotte rolled her eyes just thinking of her mother. But that was why she had a seat in the back of the jet. To avoid her mother. Hopefully, she would be able to avoid her all summer.

Mila had hardly noticed that they were on their way to the island. She was carefully perched on one of the longer couches, legs stretched out on either side of her in a split. This was the reason she preferred Grandfather's jet over their own. It was big enough to do her stretches in. She had a giant work book in front of her, pages filled with complicated math problems. She had figured that she would get some extra work done while flying into their vacation, but she was proving to be easily distracted. Her parents were having a rather animated discussion and her mother's wild gestures kept drawing her eye. Mila knew that they weren't arguing, despite not being able to hear a word they were saying through her headphones, but probably further discussing Charlotte.
Mila sighed, pulling herself out of her stretch as the plane tilted, glancing back at her sister. Hopefully, she will get some time away from the family…Especially mom. She wasn't sure what their current predicament was, but it was enough that Charlie had been tight lipped about it even to Mila. This trip should be good for all of us. A breath of fresh air.

Charlie lay her seat back and closed her eyes, hoping to catch some sleep before getting to the island. She had been up practically all night reading and was exhausted. She was about to drift off to sleep when a hand at her shoulder woke her. She sat up. It was her mother. "You shouldn't take a nap, Lottie. You need to get used to the time change and go to sleep when it's bedtime."
Charlie sat up, annoyed. "It's one hour Mom. It's not like its a huge time change. Taking a nap during the one-hour jet flight isn't going to mess up my sleep schedule!"
Her mother's expression didn't change. "You shouldn't take a nap. My decision is final."
Charlie clenched her jaw, trying to decide if it was worth the fight. "Fine." She pulled out her headphones and put them on, staring out the window and drowning out the world.

The Bradford-Prescott family had just climbed into the car on the way to the airport. The toddler sat by the window, the baby was on Brooke's lap and she sat next to Amos, who was hunched against the other window.
An obscure 90s band played loudly, Silas's choice, and Amos deeply regretted leaving his carry-on and therefore his headphones in the trunk for the 45 minute drive to the airport. It was already hell.
The baby cooed at Amos, waving its chubby fist. Repressing a smile, the teen reached out to tickle his sibling under the benevolent eye of their mother.
Before Amos could even touch the kid, though, their father spoke up from the front seat.
"So, Charles."
Amos winced. Not my name, he was tempted to say. Charles was his father's choice, and Amos his mother's.
"Did you bring all the files I told you to?" he asked smoothly.
"I did, Silas," Amos answered over the messy riffing blasting from the stereo.