Characters

Seal is a storm bottled up in an eleven-year-old girl. She feels everything too much, holds onto things too tightly, and when the pressure builds, it explodes — usually in the form of sharp words or clenched fists.

She's quick to anger. She doesn't want to be this way, but grief, frustration, and the weight of unspoken things make it hard to be anything else.

She's not the quiet, wise girl her parents want her to be — at least, not yet. She's a girl who feels lost in a world that keeps shifting beneath her feet, trying to hold onto something solid before it slips away.

Javin is a boy that means well but he has a knack for causing chaos. He's quick with a grin, quicker with a bad joke, and he's somehow always in the middle of things, whether he was invited or not.

He wants to be Seal's friend, but she finds him irritating. Maybe it's because he talks too much, or maybe it's because he never seems to take anything seriously. But beneath the teasing and mischief, Javin is resourceful, and surprisingly loyal. If Seal ever gives him a chance, she might realize he's someone worth having around.

Beth is Seal's little sister, the kind of sister that follows you around without asking. She's quiet and shy, with a way of slipping into places she shouldn't and knowing things she shouldn't know.

She loves her doll, Paintchip, and treats her like an imaginary friend that has become a part of her. She carries Paintchip everywhere, whispering secrets to it when no one's listening.

Beth doesn't ask for much, just to be near Seal, just to be noticed. And even after she's gone, it's hard to shake the feeling that as long as Paintchip is around, so is she.