Her parents both work full time. Her mother is a dentist and her father manages one of the larger theaters in town. Her younger brother Paul is just entering Lincoln High as a freshman. Ellen has a car and her mother told her to offer him rides, but she is charging him $2 for each one-way trip. This is both to defray gasoline costs and to dissuade him, since she'd rather drive her friends.

Her past summer was eventful. She celebrated her 17th birthday. She had her first job working in her mother's office answering the phone and filing papers. She hated it and swore to herself that she would never have anything to do with dentistry or office work.

She also broke up with her boyfriend when he left for college in New York. She still thinks of him, but he hasn't emailed her yet and she's upset with him.

She has a tight network of friends and when they are not together they keep in touch by cell phone, SMS, and instant messenger. Ellen's latest screen name is missLN, but she is liable to change it at any given moment.

The guidance counselors are already meeting with and prompting the students to prepare for their SAT tests and college admission procedures. Ellen is not keen on studying, but wants to get into a good college. She might be a political science major. She is not ruling out the northeast.

Ellen thinks that learning is her full-time job at school, and she doesn't like it. She looks forward to the day when she graduates college and can start earning an income instead.

NEXT> John