Nina Jelen

Appearance
Standing at five foot four, Nina doesn’t tend to stand out amongst a crowd of her peers. She has brown/auburn hair, which reaches to her mid back and is usually loosely braided. She tends to wear a lot of dark eyeliner, liking the smoky eye effect it gives. She is never seen without her red leather jacket, which she wears over all her clothing. Tends to like wearing darker colors, feeling comfortable blending into the shadows than standing out. She is rather thin, with a cheerleader sort of build, but was more into gymnastics as a child, giving her the lithe figure she has now as a young woman. She has a handmade friendship bracelet that she always wears on her left wrist. It was a gift from Tessa, one of her oldest friends that isn't related to her.

Scars, Tattoos, Piercings
Two piercings in each of her earlobes. As well as a small tattoo along her spine, in the middle of her shoulder blades. Small red star.

Personality
Nina has always been the rather quiet child most of her life, preferring to keep behind her brother, and let him do most of the talking. It was found out quickly that she could speak her mind, having a quick tongue. (Possibly from her mother, as her father once told her.) She was quite good at making quick strikes with her words. However, she was very loyal to her friends and family, and would never tolerate an unkind word against them. Her best friend in the world is still her twin brother, Petyr.

She became a bit of an athlete as a child, getting into gymnastics at the local YMCA. She could never afford to go very far with those athletic pursuits, but continued to learn and practice where she could. She was very disappointed that the local high school had no gymnastics team, and when she tried out for Cheerleaders they sneered at her for her ‘outlandish’ style. This caused her to withdraw more, avoiding the party scene at school.

Biography
Nina’s story starts right at her birth. As her mother was giving birth to Nina and Petyr complications arose with the birth. The twins were born healthy, but their mother gave her life on the table, leaving the twins alone in the world with only each other and their father, Silvester. Silvester, not sure how to handle the children, and also due to the needs of raising two children, ended up working many hours as a lumberjack in Verona. This caused the twins to become reliant on each other, since they were mostly home alone most of the time. They both stepped up, learning how to take care of the house, and various chores. Nina discovered a love of cooking at young age, and took over those duties as they grew.

However, without a mother, Nina never really gained what one would call ‘womanly instincts.’ She had to learn much about growing up as a girl from either books, the internet or her best friends Tess and Jan's mother, Mrs. Gray. Her brother tried to help where he could, but there were areas they were both ignorant in.

At about age seven, she started learning gymnastics at the local YMCA, and made some friends that way. However, as she got older, and the money got tighter in the family, she had to give up the sport, and resorted to practicing at home alone. She grew more introverted, and angry. However, it wasn’t at any one in particular, just more the world. For taking away her mother. For leaving her feeling awkward all the time. For leaving her without many friends.

At fifteen, when they legally could, both she and her brother got part-time jobs working at the local coffee shop. After doing that for almost three years, she pretty much hates coffee in all shape and form at this point. However, it pays well, and at this point since she has been there three years, she gets tipped well by regulars. However, her dream is to go off to college somewhere better, and is working her butt off on trying to get scholarships to any college she can. However, she is unsure of what her brother wants, and would not so easily abandon him.

At fifteen Nina figured out that she liked people, and wasn’t limited to what was just in their pants. However, she keeps herself in the closet for now, not sure how her father or brother would respond. She is sure that Petyr would support her, but she still is a bit scare of how everyone in their small town would react.

Recently has been on no speaking terms with one of her friends, Tessa. After Janice was killed, Tessa started pulling away, and since a recent incident that happened before summer began, Tess has been seemingly ignoring the twins, and Nina's texts.

Fire Manipulation
Nina can manipulate and control any fire that already exists. She can use this to help make a fire grow, move, or put it out if she so wanted. She can also make fire take any shape she wants, like a small flower, or a large dragon. However, trying to make a dragon larger than herself would go out of control quickly and make for a lot of wildfires

Weaknesses
If the fire is bigger than the size a fire in the fireplace, it can get out of her control easily. Prolonged use of her powers can result in nosebleeds and blackouts. (Sustained use over a period of a half-hour or more.)