Sam Wade

Salmonford Wade, better known as Sam is the other main perspective in Willow and Sam. He is a junior at Brookfield School and has an affinity for numbers. Originally from Twin Falls County, Sam now lives in the Northview Building (one of Brookfield School's few dorm buildings) while attending classes. His interests include playing Turf War and listening to the Jellied Eels. He likes the band Squilla Mantis, although they come as a close second.

Personality
Sam is intelligent, focused, and an introvert. He is also self conscious. Sam makes decisions based on careful thought and consideration, although he doesn't always think before he speaks. Sam isn't mean spirited, but he's not friendly either. Despite Sam's non-care attitude he displays to the world, he is sensitive and takes things to heart.

Sam's fellow students see him as an intelligent loner type who doesn't care about much. In some instances, this has garnered positive attention among a few students. Unbeknownst to Sam, he is also labelled as "unapproachable", which prevents students from getting to know him.

Sam's online persona Octolad in Turf War is a whole different story. He's crude, crass, funny, and outgoing. Sam will often troll his own teammates just for laughs. When he's victorious, he'll sass the opposing team. If he loses, he doesn't say much or he'll joke about the team's loss.

Sam is confident only in the classroom, protected by books, schoolwork, and the teachers' praises. Any confidence he received in the classroom falters once he steps outside its walls.

Appearance
Sam's straight laced as far as fashion is concerned. He sticks to the dress code provided (white dress shirt, pink tie and navy blue slacks) and foregoes the optional vest, despite its popularity among his peers. Sam is taller than most of the male students in his grade (Paralleling to Willow and the female students). He has blue-grey eyes and a porcelain complexion (which his mother envies). His naturally wavy brown hair is tamed with gel, resulting in his bangs being either slicked back or combed upwards. Outside, he's never seen without his shades, no matter the weather. On weekends, Sam can be seen wearing a graphic tee, jeans, and sneakers. He is often teased for wearing his shades indoors.

Background
Sam grew up on the Wade Ranch in Twin Falls County. Despite growing up on a ranch, Sam never grew into the Wade love for horses, however, he loves Meat, a horse he got when he was 10. When Sam was little, he spent a lot of time with his cousin Willow. Sam spent so much time with Willow that he would refer to her as his sister (instead of cousin) to schoolmates. Even though Willow was barely a year older than him, Sam looked up to her.

In 2014, when Sam was 13, he applied to Brookfield School primarily because he wanted to date Mattie, Willow's best friend. Luckily, Sam got accepted due to his stellar grades. His plan worked and Mattie found the gesture so flattering (and his growth spurt helped his chances, according to Mattie) that she accepted Sam's proposal.

That same year, Sam's father Samwell Wade got into an accident while vacationing with a few of his friends, and passed away shortly after. As a result, Sam shut himself out from his friends and family, resulting in an inevitable split between him and Mattie, and his relationship with Willow down-spiraled. It also dissolved the relationship between Sam and his best friend Marvin Waters (who moved away from Eastbourne a year later). He left school on a leave of absence for a week before deciding to return to Brookfield. Upon Sam's return, he lost himself in his studies (Math was the greatest comfort) and became one of Brookfield's top performing Math students in 2015 school year.

Sam's affinity for Math didn't help his popularity, but he found solace in the Video Games Club. One of the club members told Sam he should sign up to be a math tutor because students have made good money doing it. Sam applies, and students sign up to be tutored. Sam finds the overall process frustrating since the students seemed to want Sam to fill out their homework instead of learning for their own sake. He stops tutoring a couple of months later since he's saved up enough money to buy his own gaming desktop computer--just in time for the up-and-coming game Turf War.

Friends

 * Willow Thames - Sam and Willow are reconnecting after a hiatus. Sam discovers Willow is just as cool as he remembers, and feels bad that he pushed her away for as long as he did.
 * Megan Conrad - Girl in his Video Game Club (Sam thinks she's a year below him). She's nice, but kind of annoying and doesn't really want to hang outside of the club.
 * Brian Wellthornton - Sam likes Brian the best out of the Video Game Club. He keeps to himself, like Sam, and understands game mechanics to a fault. He's the one who gave Sam the idea to use his Math abilities for good (tutoring).
 * George Weaver - He's a smelly guy, but he's nice at least.
 * Marvin Waters - Sam's former best friend. Started drifting apart when Sam went to Brookfield and when Sam pushed him away during his father's death, that ended their friendship. He moved away a year later. Despite Sam's best efforts to rekindle their friendship, Marvin has moved on.
 * Marny Cresswell - Sam tutors Marny on their shared study break before their Advanced Math class. Sam didn't expect to share common ground with Marny--considering they come from different social backgrounds. He's (to Sam's surprise) really nice, and generous with his wealth. At first, Sam took on the tutoring job for the $100 paycheck, but now he enjoys Marny's company, and would daresay call him a friend. More on Sam and Marny

Family

 * Willow Thames - Sam's cousin, and closest family member. Since both Sam and her were only children, they bonded at a very young age. Sam even told classmates that she was his sister. When Sam's father passed away, he kept to himself, even keeping Willow at a distance. Even though life took the cousins in different directions, neither would hold animosity towards the other. Sam is happy that Willow and him are hanging out again.
 * Sammy Wade - Sam's mother, and biggest cheerleader. She loves Sam and it shows through her little notes that she'd leave on his school lunches, or the many hugs she'd give him after coming home from work. When Sam moved to Brookfield in his first year, she sent him care packages each week. When Samwell passes away, his mother becomes frantic with worry and wants Sam home (she convinces the school to give him bereavement leave while preserving his scholarship). She once tells Sam that she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but the family needed her to work. Sam, while he finds his mother overbearing at times, is thankful for her devotion.
 * Samwell Wade - Sam's father, and he was overall a good dad. Their relationship started fading when Sam worked up the courage to tell his father that he didn't want to take over the Wade Ranch. His father didn't like the idea, and it was thrown at him any time the two had an argument. Sam knew that his father was burned by his decision, and is sad that he wasn't able to let it go before his death. Sam was often uncomfortable by his father's "country stereotype" of racial/homophobic slurs that would exit his mouth every time one displayed an inkling of culture (and any display behaviour outside the typical gender norms). He would even mutter to Sam that he better have his head screwed on straight (implying Sam better be no homo). Samwell eased up when Sam and Mattie started dating. Sam knew this behaviour bothered his mother. When Samwell passes away, Sam is upset, but he mourns the relationship they once had, not the one before his death.
 * Meat - Meat is Sam's horse that he got when he was 10 years old. He loves apples, grapes, and--well--meat. He's a beautiful white horse that many of his mother's clients wanted to buy, but he's not for sale. Meat has a gentle temperament and enjoys when either Sam or Willow ride him. Sam's mother will often take pictures of Meat, or a Horse Selfie with her included, captioning it with something silly, or a bad guilt trip. Meat does miss Sam, and is notably happier when Sam comes home for the holidays.

Enemies

 * Sebastian Waterford - Sam and Sebastian aren't enemies per say, but Sam has declared Sebastian a rival in Advanced Math for topping Sam by 1% on their first test. Sebastian seems clueless of their rivalry, and it appears to be one sided.

Romantic

 * Rachel Veronica "Mattie" Matticus - Sam and Mattie knew each other since they were children through his cousin Willow. Around the age of 13, Sam developed a crush on Mattie when he saw that she was no longer the twiggy kid with scraggly hair, but a beauty with styled hair and a noticeable figure. She and Willow were going to Brookfield School and he decided that if he wanted to date Mattie, he had to get into that school. Sam focused on his grades and Willow helped him apply. To Sam's surprise he got in. During the summer months, Sam visits Willow's house (Willow told Sam that Mattie was there, so if he was going to ask her "the thing", now was a good time to do it). Sam decides he wants to take Mattie out to the local diner in Twin Falls County, and he asks her out. She tells him that yes, she accepts. While at the diner Sam tells Mattie that he's going to Brookfield School on a scholarship. Mattie admits that Willow told her the reason why Sam decided to attend Brookfield School and she thinks it's adorable, and that he's adorable... Sam smiles and asks Mattie to be his girlfriend, and she accepts. They date for three and a half months, resulting in Sam's first kiss. They break up due to complications after his father's death in November 2014, and while the first year is tough, Mattie and Sam do reconcile. Presently, the two are on good terms.
 * Marie Walton - Marie is Sam's dream girl. She's talented, beautiful, and sassy. She rocks a punk rocker look that Sam's totally into, and she has a swagger to her step that he can't ignore. Sam knows that she's way out of his league, but a guy can dream, right?

Jellied Eels
When Sam's father passed, he took great comfort in listening to music, bearing witness to one of the Jellied Eel's debut song Ink Me Up. To his dismay, there was no album out yet. Sam decided to pirate the song, making a promise to himself he'll buy the album the moment it comes out. Sam attributes the Jellied Eels to helping him through his father's death, and a secret that Sam tells no one. As the years pass, so does their popularity. Presently, Sam has all of their albums and posters (including a rare, limited print signed Marie poster) and has followed their career closely. He has taken great interest in Marie of the Jellied Eels, and dreams of going on a date with her.