<div class="floatright">(http://dh.canterbury.ac.nz/the-record/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/09/Joao-Belo_pic.png)</div><strong>NAME:</strong>Spencer Alvarez Palmer<br/><br/><strong>AGE:</strong>18<br/><br/><strong>HEIGHT/WEIGHT:</strong>5'10 / 195<br/><br/><strong>HAIR COLOR:</strong>Black<br/><br/><strong>EYE COLOR:</strong>Brown<br/><br/><strong>DISTINGUISHING MARKS:</strong>None, unless you count numerous small scars on knees, elbows, shins, and forearms from playing rugby.<br/><br/><strong>BEST KNOWN FOR:</strong>Being the guy who transferred in at the beginning of his senior year, for possessing a wealth of useless knowledge, and for being "that rugby guy" who sometimes plays<em>running</em>back for the varsity team even though he doesn't care for "American" football.<br/><br/><strong>PLANS:</strong>Work.<br/><br/><strong>DREAMS:</strong>Play professional rugby.<br/><br/><strong>CAR:</strong>None.  Sometimes has use of Mom's 1997 Toyota Camry.<br/><br/><strong>PARENTS:</strong>Sally Palmer started out life on a farm about ten miles outside of Greenfield, and ran away from home when she was 15.  Eventually getting her life together, she joined the Air Force, met (but never married) Ricardo Alvarez (also in the Air Force) and they had one child - Spencer.  Ricardo was a crew member on a helicopter that crashed on a mission in Colombia - there were no survivors.  Spencer was still an infant when it happened.  Being retired from the service after 20 years, Ms. Palmer has a modest pension and works as a dental hygienist (the skill she learned in the service) at Dr. Morgan's office in Greenfield.<br/><br/><strong>HOME:</strong>Old house on an acre of land one mile outside the city limits, which his mother inherited.<br/><br/><strong>HOBBIES:</strong><br/>Reading.<br/>Running.<br/>Weightlifting.<br/>Hobbies nobody would know about because they're done at home:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body"> Judo.<br/>Listens to classical music (but not Baroque.)<br/>Plays piano, but is mediocre at best.</div></div><br/><br/><strong>ABOUT:</strong>"Spence" is normally quiet and reserved, though he has on occasion cracked a joke at the appropriate time in class. He is respectful of teachers and a bit out of touch with his peers.  On being asked shortly after his arrival, he related he's lived in Washington DC, San Antonio Texas, Ramstein Germany, and at two bases in England - Norfolk and Suffolk. Not fluent, but has some knowledge of Spanish and German. Though he seems to know a little about a lot of different things, his passion is History, and at the drop of a hat can be relied on to rattle off historical facts and how it all ties in together with the grand scheme of the universe.  He isn't "shy" around girls, only terrified of rejection if he tried asking one out on a date.<br/><br/>Spencer wasn't too keen on playing any of the sports offered at Greenfield High.  Though he'd played soccer in Germany and England, he didn't really like it.  He didn't care for (American) Football either, and enrolled in school two weeks after football practice was in full swing.  On the third day of school he approached the coaching staff about playing because he thought practices would help keep him in shape.  His ball carrying ability, combined with superhuman footwork, soon landed him a spot as<em>running</em>back on the Varsity team, but not as a starter.  Halfway through the season, "Sidestep" Palmer was involved in practically every kickoff and punt return, and getting a lot more time in the offensive backfield too.  When football season was over, he could often be seen running along the road in remote areas outside of town, and kicking and chasing an odd-shaped ball around the football practice field when it was not otherwise in use.  He once tried explaining his passion for rugby during a class discussion, but nobody seemed to get it.  "Pearls before swine" he muttered, then resumed his doodling on paper as the discussion veered in another direction.<br/><br/>He never refused to help anyone in class or with their homework, though he has politely declined to do their work for them.  One of the more intelligent students at Greenfield High, Spencer got more "B's" than "A's", due to his inability to focus, and sometimes for simply forgetting to do an assignment.  After football season, Spence worked the rest of his senior year part time at Greenfield Auto doing tires, oil changes, and simple maintenance.  He also attended every girls basketball game (home and away) - for no apparent reason.<br/><br/>He "dated" a few girls, but the dates were usually of the group variety, either at Sunday School outings or at parties where the lines of who was with whom were a tad fuzzy and most hookups occurred after the party started.  If the party got too wild (drinking, drugs, sex) he would find a reason to be elsewhere and politely excuse himself.  Spencer and his mother attend the Catholic church in Greenfield, and Ms Palmer also volunteers one Saturday a month at a free clinic in Glenn's Hill.  Now that Spencer has graduated and is a bonafide adult, his mother is leaving him home alone while she takes a long-overdue three week vacation.  (Unfortunately for him, she's taking the car.)<br/><br/><strong>MOMENTS OF GLORY:</strong>The second day of class, when a bird flew in through a window into the Biology Lab.  Scared poor Mrs Hooper half to death.  (You see, the air conditioner was acting up so all the windows were open.  Normally they remain closed, so replacing screens was a low priority.) Guys trying to shoo the bird back out the window with caps and notebooks didn't do much to enhance the bird's calm.  Spencer calmly closed the door, then closed the blinds to all but one open window that didn't have a screen.  Walking back to the door, he turned off the lights and watched as the bird darted out the open window.  He then turned the lights back on and returned to his assigned table, saying "I don't panic unless I have to.  Wastes energy."<br/><br/>Then there was the kickoff return in his first game, against Springfield.  "Bruises" McMillan had Spence in his sights and was literally flying through the air toward him intent on doing serious bodily injury.  That's when Spencer got the nickname "Sidestep".  Hundreds of people watched in slow motion as Springfield's most potent weapon went sailing past its intended target -- and straight into a ten gallon Gatorade cooler.  Three Springfield cheerleaders were drenched, and one got a black eye (and a skull x-ray) from a flying lid.  Thankfully, the skull x-ray was negative -- which was always useful when someone needed to make a joke denigrating the Springfield cheer squad.<br/><br/>Then there was the final season game against Pine Bluff.  Greenfield was ahead 14 points with a minute and a half left to play.  Instead of trying to run down the clock, Spencer gave in to the temptation to attempt a drop kick from 25 yards out.  The crowd was stunned, the opposing coach was yelling something unintelligable at the officials, and the officials went into a huddle to decide if that was still a legal play.  The local sportscaster on TV-8 said that evening he couldn't find when that had last been done by any high school or college team in the state.  Or anywhere else for that matter.  And Springfield won that final game 27-10.  Though the drop-kick was by no means a game-winner, it did get "Sidestep" Palmer his fifteen minutes of fame (actually, 15 seconds) on television stations across the state.<br/><br/><strong>MOMENTS OF SHAME:</strong>Getting kicked in the balls by a girl named Roxanne.  It was perfectly innocent.  And somewhat painful.  He normally didn't use profanity, and this was the only time anyone would hear him say the word "fuck" -- under the circumstances, neither of the faculty members who heard it thought it was out of line.<br/><br/><strong>BIGGEST REGRET:</strong>Not asking Roxanne out on a date when she was being so nice to him, but there's something about getting kicked in the groin (or the reaction to getting kicked) that just makes a guy a little self conscious in the days to follow.  And oh yeah, attending six different schools in three different countries growing up, having to make a new set of friends every couple of years.<br/><br/><strong>STORY ARCS:</strong>Crushing on someone way out of his league.  Working on others' vehicles.  Convincing everyone he isn't interested in college football. Or college. Wishing he hadn't attended so many different schools. Very much opposed to illicit drug use.