Wynter "Wynnie" Valentino was born on November 29, 1987 to her loving parents, Paul and Eloisa, in Edenville, Maine. Paul was a Caucasian construction worker from the lower-middle class, and Eloisa was a shrewd advertising agent from old money. Eloisa's parents--the Cortez's--didn't approve of their daughters marriage to Paul, and thus tried to get them to divorce. They were unsuccessful in their attempts, but when Wynnie was nearing four years of age, Eloisa hurt her arm pretty bad in a car accident and ended up addicted to pain killers. She started abusing the drugs and after a failed rehab attempt, Paul ended up taking Wynnie and leaving Eloisa. Even though Paul didn't have as much money or standing in the community as Eloisa or her aristocratic parents, he managed to gain full custody of his daughter and moved with her to San Francisco, CA. Eloisa tried to see her daughter, but Paul feared that she would only hurt her, and refused to let it happen. He destroyed all evidence that Eloisa cared about her daughter, including letters and birthday cards, save for a few pictures he kept hidden for himself. He figured one day he would tell Wynnie what really happened, but didn't get around to it until Wynnie was nearly twenty-one.
Wynnie was never a popular girl, considering she was an Unusual. The aura around her deterred other people from wanting to get close, so Wynnie was always an outcast. She didn't seem to care much though, and was content to play boardgames with her father in the evenings and hang out with what little friends she did have, in the day time. She was a typical goth/punk, bleaching her dark chocolate brown hair, blond, until she moved to Edenville and dyed it bright blue with fuchsia streaks. She was always petite and pretty, with stunningly gorgeous metallic gold eyes. If it wasn't for her Unusual background, she probably would have been the most popular girl in school!
Wynnie got decent grades, but was a day dreamer, and was constantly fantasizing about backpacking across Europe. It was her ultimate goal to take her Alaskan Husky, named King, and just spend a year or so abroad. She studied different cultures and languages, though found she didn't quite get passed the basics. Surprisingly enough she was a math major in her first semester in college.
Wynnie's first and only job she ever had was at a movie theater, and that's where she met Peter Malloy. Peter was a wisecrack alcoholic, the same age as Wynnie. He brought her oddball things you'd find at the cash register at a drug store, as tokens of his admiration, and Wynnie couldn't help but laugh and swoon when he smiled. They were connected at the hip, and worked together, went to school together, hung out in the same group, and even spent the night at each others houses. Paul looked at Peter and his brother Leon as the sons he never had, and Peter's family loved Wynnie and accepted her without a hitch.
Wynnie wanted to be a normal college girl, so she let Peter drag her to parties, where she pretended to enjoy herself. Drinking and getting stoned was not really her forte, but if Peter was there, she would be too. One night they were invited to a party in the more snooty area of downtown, where Peter got totally trashed. The one thing you should know about Peter was that when he drank he tended to get angered easily, and even became violent. Wynnie knew that, so she hid Peter's keys and told him they would just have to walk home. She expected some yelling on his part, after all that was the worst he'd ever done towards her, but on that night, something in Peter snapped.
Wynnie tried to help Peter up as he stumbled around, and he ended up getting furious with her. He chased her into an alley where he attacked and raped her, holding a knife to her throat before knocking her out. Wynnie suffered two horrendous scars from the attack, and many more that were emotionally damaging, however, things only got worse. Wynnie was found by a designated driver in a group of men, and she was rushed to the hospital. When her father asked her what happened and heard what Peter had done, Paul went to have a word with her best friend. Peter had no memory of hurting Wynnie, but the scene escalated, and Paul accidentally murdered Peter. The next thing Wynnie knew, her father was behind bars, and her best friend who had raped her, was dead.
Many of Wynnie's friends blamed Wynnie for what happened, and she found it nearly impossible to show her face in public. She was embarrassed and ashamed, blaming herself for what had happened. The trial was gruesome, and Eloisa was contacted when Wynnie suddenly found herself without a home as Paul was sentenced to prison time. Wynnie resented her mother and cursed her for abandoning her. Eloisa never said a word in defense, believing her daughters cruel accusations to be true, and also not wanting to discredit her ex-husband any more.
The depression got so bad that Wynnie knew she couldn't stay in San Francisco anymore, so she begrudgingly accepted Eloisa's offer to move in with her back in Edenville. Wynnie had never felt more alone and insecure. Secretly she planned on saving up enough money to last her a while, and simply drop off the face of the Earth for a while with her dog. Edenville didn't feel like a home to her, even though some of its inhabitants were remarkably similar to her. She did her best to ignore Eloisa, and the boys from school who showed interest in her; after all, no one could ever really, truly know her.
Wynnie could walk on water as easily as if it were a solid floor. She could catch glimpses of the future or the past, and she could move things with her mind. Never knowing that there were any other people out there that were like her, Wynnie's only confidant was her little diary.
Then Wynnie met Davis, Falcon and the others, and found that Unusuals existed. Davis could fly and Falcon was a bit of a vampire with an attitude, and all of the other guys could do extraordinary things as well. Suddenly, Wynnie wasn't alone... she could talk to others about what she could do. She could share experiences with each of Davis's gang with no fear or hesitation, and she could finally learn to love again.
Both Davis and Falcon showed an interest in Wynnie--though Falcon's wasn't quite as subtle as the adoration Davis had in his eyes for the only other female Unusual they'd met. Of course all of the guys were interested and excited to have Wynnie around, and for just a short while, Wynnie thought that life might not be so bad... that was until she was nearly kidnapped by an invisible person, and her diary was stolen with it's precious contents...
Read more about Wynnie in the upcoming re-release of The Heroes of Edenville, coming out in November 2012!
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