dreams vs reality

BIOGRAPHY !

There was absolutely nothing unusual about the Isaacs from the outside: high school sweethearts William and Marilyn married only a year after graduating from college. The two of them settled down in their hometown Prosper, Texas—a small town just north of Dallas. William immediately began his career in law and Marilyn worked as a schoolteacher. Five years after they married, Marilyn gave birth to a lovely little baby girl, Harley—and a year later, she gave birth to Henry. Due to the proximity of their ages, Henry and Harley got along so well that many people would have believed they were twins if they didn't know better. Growing up, the siblings were different, but their differences were what made them a pair. Neither was seen without the other and when one got into trouble, the other was always right there beside them. They were two sides of the same coin. Harley was Henry's best friend, and the only person he could count on.

William always wanted a career in politics—however, his career never took off past local government, where he served several terms as a city councilman and eventually mayor. Henry and his sister were always to blame for their father's failed career, and at night when he was half a bottle of whisky in, he made sure they knew it. Harley's dresses were always a little askew or Henry didn't answer a press question exactly the way his father wanted; it was never his own fault. After ever failed election, the two of them were to blame—and their mother just stood off to the side, continuing to tell her children: your father's career is important to him, to us. Neither child understood what they did wrong, but at least they had each other.

At home, Henry's father disciplined them with a heavy hand, often going a little too far after a few drinks—and because of this, Henry did his best not to anger his father as much as possible. Henry didn't want to anger the man any more than he had to with frivolous little kid problems. There were many nights when Henry couldn't sleep because he could hear his dad downstairs, drunk and causing a scene, he'd sneak into his sister's room and curl up beside her and hoped that one day all of it would go away. Though the second they were in the public eye, nothing was wrong—their dad knew where to hide the bruises, but more importantly, he acted as if everything was perfect, and made sure they did too. As much as his childhood sucked, he had his sister there to keep him safe. And no one ever suspected what was happening behind closed doors—and who would suspect the mayor.

In high school, Henry and Harley branched out slightly. Harley found comfort around other artists. Whereas Henry took to sports, despite his own love of books. Soccer wasn't on the top of their father's list of sports that he wanted his son to play, so in a small act of defiance, that's what Henry choose. He excelled at it, too, with all his unresolved anger towards his father fuelling him on the field. And while soccer might not have been what his father would have chosen for him, he told Henry that if he was going to play soccer, he had to be the best at it. So he worked harder and got better, and by his junior year he was practically guaranteed the captaincy for his senior year.

But it was his junior year that everything started falling apart. Coming from a family that had been raised Southern Baptist, there were some things that just weren't allowed. For the most part, Henry did his best to avoid his dad's anger. When his dad came in raging one night, Henry had no reason to assume that anything was wrong other than his dad's usual anger. That night, however, was different. Usually, Henry and his sister didn't fight back, hoping that would make it end sooner, but that night there was a voice arguing back—his sister's voice. Henry rushed downstairs to try and calm the situation down, but realized almost instantly that it would do no good. Henry watched as the argument got heated and stood there unable to move. He knew what the argument was about, even if he stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Their dad gave Halrley an ultimatum: break up or get the fuck out of my house. She stood up and walked towards the door, pausing only for a second to turn back to Henry and ask him: Well, are you coming? And Henry shook his head no in response.

Months went by where Henry regretted the decision he had made that night. He should have gone with Hal instead of being a coward and choosing their father. He wanted the comfort of a warm bed and to know where his next meal was coming from. He hadn’t meant to choose his dad over his sister. In one night, Henry lost the one person he had always counted on, and it was his own decision, his own fault. He tried to reach out to her, but she refused to answer his calls—eventually his calls were answered by someone other than his sister, and he gave up trying. She probably hated him, and she had a good reason to. But as much as he hated his father, he couldn’t help to think that Harley was also wrong. Why couldn’t she have conformed to their dad’s ideals for just a little longer? She was closer to leaving than he was, and he had no intention of his father finding out any of his own secrets.

With his sister gone, life didn’t get any better at home. Whereas before the two had to share the wrath from their father, suddenly it was all directed at Henry as if it was his fault she was gone. His father was more brutal than ever, angry at his daughter for everything she was, and taking it out on Henry as if he was the reason why. To cope with the pressure of having to deal with his dad for another year and a half, he turned to drinking. No one noticed the changes at first. People always asked about Harrley, until they got tired of Henry’s snappy remarks. He finished his junior year broken and angry. His senior year wasn’t much better. His drinking was at an all-time high, and it showed on the field: eventually Henry’s playing got bad enough that his coach benched him for the rest of the season and all of the places he wanted to go to college didn't want him anymore with the exception of Aurora Bay College.

Although Henry had been in contact with several colleges that offered scholarships for soccer, by the end of his high school education, his grades weren't the best and he basically hadn't played more than two games since junior year. No team wanted him and no college wanted him. He almost convinced himself that he was fine with staying put in Prosper, but then he finally got an acceptance from Aurora Bay College. With nothing to his name and a father telling him, he'd never pay for college in California, Henry finally left home. College was a better experience for him—although still quiet and reserved, he managed to make friends and eventually joined the soccer team. Henry got a degree in creative writing and English, then decided to stick around to get a graduate degree in library science. He decided to stay in Aurora Bay after getting a graduate degree. He got a job at the library—his dream job—straight out of grad school. Since graduating in 2022, he's written a book that's set to be published in June 2025—under a pseudonym.

HEADCANONS !

The subject of his book is about a man in his mid twenties who falls in love with his roommate—it is not autobiographical.

His second book, that he started writing at the beginning of 2026, is about the two main characters from his first book, two and a half years later. It takes place after NYE where the main character freaks out over not getting proposed to that evening and second guesses their relationship.

CONNECTION IDEAS !