Ronny Lee Highsmith Jr is a character in To Be Young Near the Shore and Engines on the Track.
Appearance
When seen in To Be Young Near The Shore, he was 11 years old.
When seen in Engines on the Track, he is in his mid-30s, and is shown to wear a long, brown trenchcoat, acid wash jeans, old sneakers, and an old University of Kentucky cap. He also wears a lapel pin of the symbol of Blossom Investigations on the lapel. The trenchcoat has a secret pocket in the back where he keeps a single tulip.
History and Involvement
Ronny was born in Bluff City, with one of his parents from Bluff City, and the other from Bluffington Beach. During his childhood, his family moved to Eastern Kentucky so that his maternal grandfather could help set up a car factory specifically for the kind of vehicles that are able to travel between Bluff City, Blough City, and Bluffington Beach. While there, he often saw robots working at the car factory but he didn’t approach them as they “freak [him] out”.
After his father became ill, his family then moved to Bluffington Beach in order to be closer to the level of medical care his father needs. This caused some internal conflict for Ronny, as his father would not admit that he is ill, insisting that they are just visiting Bluffington, and dodged the question when Ronny attempts to ask him about it. They are currently staying with Ronny's Aunt Josie in her cramped apartment.
Ronny attended Bluffington Beach Middle School. He played trumpet in the school band and hoped to start a ska band with CC.
While investigating the disappearance of Britney Namour, Ronny discovered that his family had actually meant to go to Bluff City for his father's care, but were changed to Bluffington as part of the Expansion Protocol. This greatly upset Ronny, as his father would have received a better level of medical care in Bluff City.
He currently works as a private investigator for Blossom Investigations, as his aunt brought him into the company after the events of To Be Young Near The Shore. It is implied that he is effected by the same "increasing weirdness" as the characters experience in Messy Business, in that strange events follow him or escalate when he is around.
He has a 1988 Chevy which he does a pretty good job of keeping up, and keeps a photo of his car in his wallet, which has a fold out photo section (when the photo is selected, each plays a different song). He doesn't currently have AI in his car but is saving up for it as it is more expensive to put AI in an older model car.
Relationships
To Be Young Near the Shore
- Nolan Pearson: Nolan is teaching me the lay of the land.
- Cory Curtis: I am trying to learn the trumpet to impress CC.
- Frankie Already: She was the first person who didn’t look at me funny because of my accent.
- James Garret: Mr Garret let me eat lunch in the band room before I made any friends.
- Aunt Josie: Aunt Josie has asked me to help out around the house more because her new job makes her work weird hours.
Anchor
Ronny’s anchor is his dad.
Abilities
- Skills: Force (3), Move (3), Tinker (2), Comprehend (1), Empathise (1)
- Luck: 4
- Body: 4
- Tech: 3
- Heart: 1
- Mind: 3
- Song: ‘Chattahoochee’ by Alan Jackson
- Iconic Item: A leatherman multitool.
- Drive: “I just want to make friends.”
- Pride: “I ain’t stupid.”
- Problem: His dad is sick and doesn’t want to admit it.