"Ghost" Owen's real name is Michael, but nobody ever calls him that. Only the school teachers know his name-and only because it's on their rosters. During the first roll call of every year, his quiet, hard correction of "It's Ghost," always silences the room. Everyone remembers what to call him from then on.

As soon as he left his home, he left his name with it. He couldn't stand anything related to his family-especially his dad. Ghost is a junior.

Ghost had a normal childhood and grew up as a pretty happy child. Mr. Owen taught him to play football, and they'd watch tapes of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" from when his dad was a kid. When he was twelve, his older sister, Kristen, died in a car accident, and his entire family fell apart. Kristen was a star student, on her way to becoming the first in Ghost's family to go to college, and Ghost's best friend. Ghost's mom sank into a deep depression, locking herself in her room for days at a time, while his dad slowly became a violent alcoholic.

Both parents lost their jobs, and the family had to sell their house. Mr. Owen took out his pain and frustration first on his grieving wife, who took her own life less than a year later. When Ghost became the target of his father's anger, he left home and met Roach, his best friend to this day, the same night. His effortless ability to blend in with the crowd, fade with the shadows, and go by unnoticed earned him the name Ghost with his squat, and that's the only name he's used for over four years.

Ghost loves football and plays cornerback for his school team. Shy with girls, Ghost has stumbled into his first real relationship with Jen Deaver, a pretty girl in his class. He's a decent student, who manages to get by on pencil nubs and forged permission slips, and he's toyed with the idea of teaching kids himself one day; but Ghost knows that this is impossible. Homeless kids don't become teachers.

Favorite Song: Stairway to Heaven My Heroes: Marshall Faulk, Adam Marchelletta, Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce My Philosophy: I like the Golden Rule. You treat others the way you want to be treated. I believe in fair play, and that you shouldn't pick on people smaller than you. Issues that I Care About: Addiction, Poverty, Teen Suicide, Tolerance, War Ways I Volunteer: Sometimes I mentor new freshmen on the team. I also read to some kids at an assisted living center last year for civics and it was a lot of fun, but it was really sad, too. My Goals: I just want to make it day to day. Keep playing football. Maybe work with kids somehow. More About Me: I don't know, anything else, ask. NOISEname: greyghost07 Hometown: St. Louis Country: United States Sex: M Age: 17 IM Provider: none IM Screenname: none

Latest Blog Entry New school year Advanced chemistry sounds kind of hard, but otherwise I think this year could be a good one. I hear you have to buy safety glasses or something though. Might have some trouble there. Roach'll probably figure that one out. He always does. Read Ghost's full blog. MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/greyghost07

The Characters: Ghost | Roach | Brad | Bear | Ace | Kat | Jen | Mary | Mr. Hill | Mr. Lowe