<div class="floatright">(https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/Lead%20Creed%20pic.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><strong>NAME:</strong> Marco Benjamin Jr.<br/><strong>AGE:</strong> 18<br/><strong>CLIQUES:</strong> Jocks, Popular Kids, Musicians<br/><strong>PLANS:</strong> He's going to college on a scholarship, and plans to finish his four years. However, he's begun training for the Olympics, and after that he plans on going pro. He also plans to keep recording and hopefully his music can get beyond Greenfields. If  he gets traction before he finishes school, he'll put that on hold.<br/><strong>DREAM:</strong> His dream is as same as his plans. He doesn't see a difference.<br/><strong>CAR:</strong> 1969 Mach 1 Mustang Convertible[Hardtop] (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l7jB4V0UCdY/VWz9RHEWt7I/AAAAAAAABB8/3NyJWUQMYjQ/s1600/1969%2BMach%2B1%2BCobra%2BJet%2B-%2B6.JPG)<br/><br/><strong>HOBBIES:</strong> Training is probably Marco's favorite thing to do. Whether he's in the gym or on the field;  doing road work or whatever, he just loves to stay in shape and work up a sweat. So sports is in that wheelhouse as well, and he can always be found playing ball somewhere probably. He loves music as much as he loves sports, so when he's not working out, he's in his studio recording or writing new music. Aside from that, he's like a normal high school guy so he likes to hang out with his friends, go on adventures, watch tv, play video games and engage in copious amounts of illegal, but non-threatening drugs. Simple stuff. Oh, and he also likes to race his GT around town.<br/><br/><strong>ABOUT:</strong> Marco was born in Hawaii to Marco Benjamin Sr. and Kelani. His father was a Hall of Fame football player, with 5 Superbowl rings in his trophy case; and his popularity had helped him make a few movies as well. His mother was a surf legend Marco Sr. had met during a vacation. They fell in love fast, and after his final game, it wasn't hard to convince him to move to Honolulu, as it was a lovely place and flying to see his family anywhere would take a few hours at most.<br/><br/> It wasn't long after they moved there that they got pregnant, and Marco Jr. came along. He grew up in Honolulu till he was about 10, and then nostalgia hit his dad and he wanted to move home. Hawaii was beautiful, but he missed it. So this time he convinced Kelani to give his way of life a try. As it turned out, his way of life was that of a small town boy. He'd been born and raised in Greenfields, and made it out with a football scholarship. And while it definitely paled to Hawaii in many aspects, it had it's own rural charm you couldn't ignore. <br/><br/>It was a bit of a transition, but they made it work, and have been there ever since...though they do visit Hawaii often. From childhood on, Marco was always a bundle of energy with the need for structure. Music helped, and so did self-defense classes(primarily boxing and MMA). Oh, and Footballl. Those would be the three pillars of his childhood. Music, Football, and Fighting. He did them all very well, taking to them like a fish in water. He won his first Golden Glove trophy at nine years old, and has won every year after in every age group and weight class he's been in.<br/><br/> By the time he hit middle school, he was something of a local celebrity for winning all those trophies. That also was when he finally got enough courage to let other people listen to his music. He made good beats, he could sing, and play a few instruments. He had the makings of an artist as well. His parents saw no reason why not to support both of his passions, and for his fourteenth birthday they got him a ton of studio equipment. That same year, as a way to pad his resume he joined the Football team. He made Varsity and has stayed there ever since as one of the star players. It would take a lot of effort, but his parents figured either he'd make it big as an athlet, or as a musician. Maybe both, but they were confident in their son. So much dedication though took a toll, and all non-stop training, and hours writing songs day after day wore him down.<br/><br/> It wasn't long before a good friend introduced him to weed. From there he took off like a rocket, smoking, drinking, all the stuff a teenager stuck in the middle of nowhere would do. However he was smart and none of his indulgences has affected him. Thankfully though his parents are pretty chill, and he can even smoke with them when they're in the mood. His total package made him pretty popular, and he's pretty sure his parents having a huge house and a pool didn't hurt either. So he's been at all the parties, and thrown several of his own. He's had a good life so far and found a good balance; now he just hopes he can keep it up after graduation.<br/><br/><strong>MOMENTS OF GLORY:</strong> One of his biggest moments was when he got a 1st round, 5 seconds in KO against Luca "Piledriver" Marino, an Italian brawler with a stigma around him about hospitalizing his opponents. The guy was twice his size but somehow still just inside his weight class, and Marco flattened him with a hook to the chin. That was his most current Golden Gloves championship.<br/><br/>His first live performance of a song(Homegrown) at the school talent show got a standing ovation, and everyone downloaded his song later that day. He heard it around school and town for the next two months straight.<br/><br/><strong>MOMENTS OF SHAME:</strong> When he was 14, he got into a fight with this bully for picking on one of his friends really bad. Well it wasn't so much a fight as it was Marco beating on him. And then his friends jumped in. Four on One wasn't the best odds, but Marco wasn't one to back down. Long story short, he got a bit panicky and dropped one guy like a sack of bricks...with a broken jaw. He spent a few months in Juvie and his parents paid the guys hospital fees since his family couldn't afford it. Thankfully it didn't stick on his record, but everyone in town knows. He still feels bad because now the guy talks with a lisp for the rest of his life.<br/></span><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Connections</div><div class="spoiler_body"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br/>Aaron Gilbert - Marco and Aaron are pretty good friends. They play online together all the time, and hang out when they can. On top of that, Aaron's one of the few people who can keep up with Marco in an instrumental jam session. Recently, he's been trying to help him with some self-defense training.<br/><br/>Naomi Redmond - Naomi's a wildchild, and Marco loves that about her. She's a cool chick and open and honest and she loves weed, just like he loves weed. Also, she's insanely hot and he flirts with her all the time just like she flirts with him. If it goes beyond that though, he has every intention to blow her mind.<br/><br/>Roxanne Meyers -  Roxanne is a good friend that Marco helped with her basketball skills to get them to the point where she's one of the baddest chicks at the school with the rock in her hand. And after that, the two grew closer over mutual love of sports and fitness. Now they're gym buddies.<br/></span><br/></div></div><br/>