- Not what you were looking for? See Chris (disambiguation).
“All that bullying forced me to step up and love myself–no matter what I see in the mirror or what people say about me. I know my value.” |
Christine Wilber is a major character from Blackbird, the first story in the book of the same name. She's a young woman that Nole ruthlessly bullied in junior high, and years later desperately seeks forgiveness from.
Physical Appearance[]
Christine has blonde hair, a bow-shaped mouth, wide cheek-bones, and small, close-set blue eyes. She also has freckles and slightly crooked teeth. In junior high, Christine was overweight with long, stringy hair that she never washed enough. She also wore thick glasses and strange clothes.
In her sophomore year of college, Christine is now fit due to her dancing. When Nole arrives at her room, she's wearing a full-length, skintight light blue leotard.
Personality[]
Back in junior high, Christine was rather awkward due to her low self confidence. After relentless bullying, she got angry and decided to treat herself well. Christine stepped up and began to love herself, finding comfort in the things she liked. By the time Christine is in college, she’s become very confident with extraordinary elegance and precision in what she does. She’s also rather cheerful and kind. Christine has some small quirks, like clasping her hands together and having trouble figuring out what words to say.
History[]
Back in junior high, Christine was overweight, had quirky facial expressions, and wore poor quality clothes. She also had odd habits, like not looking others in the eye, always squeezing her hands together, and had trouble figuring out what words to say when she speaks, although she doesn't stutter. Her mother was never happy with Christine and would get after her over everything.
Things got worse when Nole Markham began calling her Second Hand, or SH for short, and would say "Shhhhh" whenever she passed him in the hall. This caught on, and for the rest of junior high Christine had to endure relentless bullying. One time, she went to school wearing high-water pants, so Nole and his friends threw water in her face. Another time, Nole put a dead mole in her locker and asked if she was grieving her best friend because she wore thick glasses and looked as if she was always squinting. One of the few times Christine was happy was when someone brought a ferret to show-and-tell, which was the only time Nole heard her laugh, which was pleasing and made other want to laugh too.
Nole's biggest act of bullying came in the form of a bucketful of burrs. Since Christine had long, stringy hair that she never washed enough, Nole wanted to experiment with her. Finding inspiration from her last name, he collected a ton of burrs to see if they would stick to greasy hair. When he threw the burrs, he also made sure to throw them at her friend, Valerie, who had frizzy hair he believed was washed too much. The burrs stuck better of Valerie than Christine, and the two stood outside the school for a while picking the burrs off of each other.
All of Christine's self-pity turned into anger, and she decided to treat herself well. She loved dancing, and would do so alone in her room. She started going to a dance studio and discovered that she was pretty good at it. While this only slightly pleases her mother due to her losing weight, Christine learned to love herself and know her value. Eventually, she goes to a music-and-arts college up in the mountains on a dance scholarship.
In her sophomore year, Christine is visited by someone she doesn't recognize. She asks if he's looking for her roommate, Claire, but he shakes his head. He stands at her door in silence for a while as she eats a salad, and he eventually reveals his shock over Christine not remembering him. He breaks down crying as he reveals he's Nole Markham, and while Christine doesn't remember the name she does remember him starting the "Sh" thing and throwing burrs on her. She comments on how much he's changed since junior high, and she gives him a thank-you hug. Nole is confused, so she leads him into her room and sits him down. Christine can tell he really is sorry, so she tells Nole her story on how she stepped up and learned to love herself, as she learned something from it and hopes to pass it on. She ends the conversation by telling Nole she forgives him and he can let his guilt go. Nole walks out into the hall and Christine closes the door behind him.