August’s STORY

August Quinn was born in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia into a very wealthy family. He was the first born to his parents Christopher and Rebecca Quinn, followed by two younger sisters, Anna and Alice.

His family was very religious, traditional and conservative. Christopher was an extraordinarily strict father, who was prone to yell. He used religion to guilt trip his children into submission often. August was very shy from the beginning, stemming from fear of saying the wrong thing.

August kept to himself at school, he found it difficult to make friends. The friends he did make were all at church. He was there a lot. He didn’t necessarily dislike church growing up, most of the people were nice, and there was a lot of music.

August had always loved music. He started learning piano very young, around age 5. His mother was very meticulous about it. He practiced an hour every day on top of the lessons he’d take from an older lady after Sunday service.

The Beatles were August’s favorite band, and most of the songs he requested to learn on piano were theirs. His Beatles obsession also prompted him to want to learn guitar. His mother allowed, but he never got official lessons because Rebecca was adamant he focus on piano. Instead, he opted to learn on his own, borrowing library books to learn chords, tabs and strumming patterns. Music in any form ended up being his escape from his parents. He felt it was a way to express himself. He loved learning and interpreting lyrics. He’d find solace in the words.

At the age of 11, the family moved to Chicago on account of Chris getting a new job. Any sort of stability August had was instantly taken away and he felt he was starting from square one. All those neighbors, the people at church, his few friends, and his piano teacher, all gone. On top of it all, he had to start middle school.

For the first few months, as it goes for most shy kids, he didn’t make friends. He had acquaintances, but he rarely talked unless someone talked to him, and even then, the conversations were short. At his new church, he’d start to recognize the regularly attending kids. The first being a short girl with bright red hair, it was difficult to miss her. She also went to his middle school, but they didn’t have any classes together. Her name was Nelly and she was very very outgoing. This prompted her to speak with August on many occasions.

Nelly was August’s first friend, but they only talked during church. It wasn’t until the second semester of sixth grade where they ended up being in a few classes together, did they really become closer friends. August liked Nelly because she did most of the talking, and she didn’t mind that August didn’t have too much to say.

The first sport August joined, per his father’s request, was baseball. He ended up enjoying it a lot more than he thought. There, he met Sam. Sam was another talker, which eased August. They became close during baseball, and when summer came around, Sam would ask him over to his house where they played video games or jumped on the trampoline. August liked being at Sam's house, because although they were religious like his family, they weren’t overbearing.

By 7th grade, August, Sam and Nelly had formed a little friend group. But, again, most of the time where they'd hangout as a trio was at church/youth group. 

Come high school, August became an almost entirely new person. He hit his first massive growth spirt, ditched his glasses, and joined football alongside Sam. Suddenly, his tiny friend group began to grow. The more he started putting himself out there, the more comfortable he got socially.

August still struggles a lot with social anxiety, as well as a hint of religious trauma, but his friend group remains the most supportive and caring group of people he could have the pleasure to meet. August tries his best to go with the flow, live the simple life, and just let it be.