The Protagonists.
JOHN FREEMAN
Juliaʼs childhood friend, alter ego, and romantic prospect, is pretty much the opposite of everything Julia stands for. He has lived his whole life in Cedarwood Ridge, loves nature, ghost stories, electronic music, and all things mysterious, especially the workings of the brain and mind. His good looks, organic charm, and dry humor let his peers easily forget that they normally call someone with Johnʼs scientific and occasional sci-fi approach to phenomena a geek. John’s secret goal is to become a superhero, and he drives Julia as crazy as her friend Kellie with his belief in otherwordly stuff.
He loves computer games and techno music, which help him to chill and think, as much as he loves nature and his tree house. What he doesnʼt like is Juliaʼs stuck-up attitude – while being entirely fascinated by how easily she brings out the best in him – definitely a romance in the making if he can just find the incentive to get over his lonesome superhero approach towards all things “girl.”
“This is a nightmare, he thought. Evidently Julia had indeed transformed into a girl since their last encounter, plus, to make a headache a migraine, she seemed to have shape-shifted into one of those frightening creatures Andy & Co. were so eager to get their hands on. And just how could she have grown so tall?”
JULIA LIVINGSTON-BANES
is an all-star cheerleader, glued to her cell phone, loves hanging out in malls, the latest in fashion and make-up, Britney Spears Sightings, and Ariana Grande. She also loves her BFF Kellie but wishes Kellie would stop trying to get her to believe in “otherworldly” stuff.
“I think life is supposed to be great but most times it sucks and then we die and that’s the end of it. That’s all I know and if there’s more I sure as day don’t want to waste my precious time figuring it out. At least not as long as I am busy with figuring out the things I can see,” she added defiantly, “like how to get my parents back together? Now that’s something I would like to know.”
Though she tries to put on an above-it-all face for the world, she’s been suffering over her parents’ divorce, which she blames on her workaholic mom. And now her mom’s forcing Julia to spend the summer on her grandmotherʼs country estate in backward Cedarwood Ridge, 30 miles away from the nearest mall, and way too much in the middle of some serious otherworldly stuff.
“For once her mom had not exaggerated. John did look kind of cute in a backward sort of way. Nothing a trip to the mall couldn’t fix. Add an earring and a stick-on tattoo and she wouldn’t mind being seen with him at all.”