| SHS character | |
|---|---|
| |
| Emily Kessler | |
| Aliases | Yogurt (Ben), Swimbot (Dominique) |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair | Brown |
| Eyes | Blue |
| Age | 15-16 |
| Occupation | Student, Swimmer |
| Grade | Sophomore |
| Relationships | |
| Family | Sara Kessler (sister; deceased), Paul Kessler (father), Mrs. Kessler |
Boyfriend 
|
Ben Kale |
Friends 
|
Kimi Chen, Zoe Davis, Cameron Clark, Owen Harris, Sam Hill, Amanda Applebee, Jane Summers, Hannah Holmes |
Enemies 
|
Dominique Clark, Lindsay Vale, Andrew Grant |
| Appearances | |
| First | The Candidates |
| Final | Series Finale |
| “ | Hey, it'll be okay. Popularity comes and goes. One day you're everyone's best friend. The next day they hate you. Then they love you again. I definitely know what that's like. You can't let it get to you like this. | ” |
–Emily Kessler to her best friend, Kimi Chen, How To Be A Star | ||
Emily Kessler is a current sophomore attending her second year of high school at Twin Branches. Originally introduced as Sara Kessler's younger sister in The New Girl, Emily's role in the game expanded in the A New Start reboot. Promoted to a main character in the reboot, Emily was also featured as the novel's main protagonist in Surviving High School: The Novel. Many of her storylines followed her relationship with Ben Kale and her father, of whom still holds a protective hold over her and her strict swim-orientated lifestyle. Her character has become recurring as of the Troublemakers reboot but is still seen to be continuing swimming on the school's team and in a relationship with Ben.
Duration:The New Girl Season 11- Season 4: Troublemakers
Storylines
The New Girl
Emily was born into the Kessler family and grew up alongside her sister, Sara Kessler. Hoping to follow in her sisters footsteps, Emily was trained and pushed hard by their father Coach Kessler in order to beat her sisters swim record. Her tight schedule rarely allowed any time for friends or extra-curriculars aside from the one Saturday a month where she was able to have a sleepover with her best friend, Kimi Chen. She was shown to idolize her older sister but was unaware that Sara kept so much of her life from her, a fact that Sara felt guilty about prior to her death. Emily was having a sleepover with Kimi when Coach Kessler first received the news by phone that Sara had been in a car accident. The death of her sister hit Emily hard and became the main motivation behind living up to her sisters legacy inside and outside the school as a star athlete. However, this also became the reason for her father's strict and protective hold over her.
Surviving High School: The Novel
Originally published in 2012, Emily became the main protagonist and character of the first Surviving High School novel. Following the months after her sister Sara's death, Emily is shown on her first day of high school. Still struggling to come to terms with her loss, Emily attends her first day of classes wearing Sara's baggy sweater and is late to her first class of the year. Befriending a student, she is then given directions to the correct classroom before realizing that the student was the teacher of the class. Embarrassed for most of the class, she moves onto lunch with her friend Kimi where she first meets Ben Kale, a cute and popular junior in her school. Overhearing a conversation taking place between him and his friend Spencer that he wouldn't be with a girl that ate that much, Emily hides the big lunch she had been packed under the table. Ben walks by her table until he looks at her and slows to a stop. He points out that she has her hand dunked into a bowl of yogurt. Mortified, Emily attempts to make up an explanation, stating that she had burned her hand on a beaker in chemistry class and the yogurt helped. Ben, who had been talking earlier about feeling nothing but boredom and unhappiness, smiles and laughs. The two boys walk away and Kimi watches in amazement, shocked that they were just talking to one of the most popular guys in school, while Emily wipes off her hand.
Approached by a magazine wishing to highlight the school's top two swim athletes, Emily and her rival Dominique, Emily is praised in the article and is made out to be a celebrity. Her social status improves because she was featured in the sports magazine, gaining more popularity and recognition. Hearing that Dominique plans to seduce Ben at his party, Emily accepts an invitation to the event, infuriated by the thought of the two of them hooking up. Attending his party that Friday night, she accidentally finds Ben hiding from Dominique in a room. Bonding and growing closer, Emily is pleased to find out that he doesn't like Dominique. Realizing that the only way out of the room without having to seen by Dominique is through the balcony and into the outdoor swimming pool, Ben jumps first. Refusing to jump into the pool, Ben gets the rest of his friends to chant her name in order to encourage her to jump. Emily ends up jumping in where she and Ben talk for a little bit, laughing at the experience, before he gets out. Coming face to face with Dominique, a tiny argument begins and ends with Dominique accidentally being knocked into the pool.
Emily becomes paranoid when Sam Hill tells Emily at Ben's party that Sara had a boyfriend before she passed away. Shocked at learning this new information, Emily initially finds it hard to believe since she was never told about it from Sara herself. Learning that the boyfriend was Nick Brown, the guy her family held a deep grudge against for supposedly causing Sara's accident, Emily is shaken. A few nights later, Ben shows up at her balcony window in order to drop off the wet dress she had worn to his party and ask her out for a late night coffee. Agreeing to the date, Ben drives her to a coffee shop where he opens up about his background and his parents divorce. Emily finds herself being able to open up easily about Sara's death but quickly retreats back into her shell when it begins to get too emotionally hard to talk about. Their dates late at night begin to become a frequent occurrence which also begins to take a toll on Emily as she trains hard during the day and barely has any time for school work and sleep. Her grades start to slip and she is shown falling asleep in class frequently. Dominique also expresses interest in detaching herself from the popular crowd in order to focus entirely on swimming. Motivated by Emily's interest in going to the Homecoming dance, Ben promises Emily that he will work hard on his grades and test scores in order to get himself out of probation and take her to the dance. Surprising her some time later with an A average (and one B in gym class), the two of them also agree to wait on having their first kiss until the dance so that Emily's first kiss experience can be special.
Dominique tips off Coach Kessler about Ben and Emily's secret relationship which leads him to forbidding her from seeing him and going to the Homecoming dance. Heartbroken, Emily breaks up with Ben at school and is kicked out of the popular group because of his broken heart. Meanwhile, Kimi shares the same fate as Emily when she becomes one of the most hated girls in school when her list of pro's and con's of all the guys in school is publicized. Kimi becomes offended when Emily shows a lack of interest in her problems and their friendship becomes strained.
During the qualifications for the Junior Nationals of swimming, Emily qualifies but so does Dominique. Dominique ends up beating not only Emily's record time but also Sara's. Emily's dad is furious because of this. Emily, wanting to learn more about Sara's private life that she kept from everyone, talks to Nick. Nick shows Emily photos of him and Sara together and reveals that Sara had been the one driving the car at the time of the accident, not him. Emily then realizes that Sara isn't the 'machine' her dad made her out to be and stands up to him. Emily tells her dad that she is not going to Junior Nationals and that she is going to Homecoming instead. Surprising Ben at his locker, the two of them share their first kiss and get back together. Emily and Kimi also make up before the dance. Ben then takes Emily to Homecoming but when he finds out that Emily gave up going to Junior Nationals to go to Homecoming, Ben drives her to Junior Nationals where she wins her race and beats Dominique's record time.
A New Start
Taking place a month after the novel's events, Emily is shown to still be in a relationship with Ben and continues to swim on the school's swim team. She has also developed a friendship with Zoe Davis off-screen prior to the 'New Start' game reboot.
Emily's storylines come into play when she asks Zoe Davis for advice on whether or not she should skip her last class to go out to a dinner reservation Ben had set for them to celebrate being a couple for exactly one month or stay in school. Emily worries about skipping since her dad already assumes Ben is a bad influence on his daughter and she doesn't want to get in trouble if she is caught. After Coach Kessler's brutal encounter with Ben a few days later, Ben suggests he starts over by going to Emily's house for dinner. During the dinner, Emily is noticeably irritated by her father's habit of prying into Ben's personal life in order to get more information on him and his toughness on him. Emily's dad is appreciative when he questions them on cutting school to go for dinner a few days earlier and Ben takes responsibility for it, saying that it was his idea and not Emily's. The dinner continues to go smoothly and ends with Coach Kessler deciding that he thinks Ben really does care about Emily and is okay with them dating each other. Emily's relationship with her father and Ben are highlighted much more in this season.
The swim team goes on a retreat, which goes awry for Emily and womanizer Cameron Clark. Both Emily and Ben initially suspect that Cameron has a crush on Emily, but after Emily and him get lost on the retreat, thanks to jealous friends, Jane and Hannah, she learns that Cameron actually had a crush on Emily's deceased sister, Sara--not Emily. From this, the two grow closer, though Ben still has his suspicions that he likes Emily.
Ben and Emily's relationship begins to falter, when, during dinner, Emily becomes angry upon hearing Ben say to her dad that he is trying out for the basketball team. She disapproves of his lie and explains that she would rather have her dad like him for who he is rather than who he is not. She watches and unwillingly as Ben decides to try out for the team anyway in order to live up to what he told her dad. Ben makes the team anyway, causing a closer bond between Coach Kessler and him. While this initially excites Emily, she soon becomes frustrated with her then when they spend their Thanksgiving discussing nothing but sports and basketball. Coach Kessler has warmed up to Ben since joining the team and their closeness annoys her. When Emily tells Ben that he doesn't have to kiss up to her dad anymore when all that should matter is that they're allowed to be together, Ben becomes angry and tells her that she doesn't understand. Their fight continues on to Valentines Day. She demands he doesn't answer the phone call, or she won't attend his basketball game, which Ben is dependent of. Ben answers the phone call anyway. She ultimately chooses to go to his basketball game, after hearing Ben and his father fight about his father's lack of support and feels that, as someone who cares about him, it would be better she attends.
In order to support her friends, Emily tries out for Sam's rendition of Romeo and Juliet as Juliet with Ben as Romeo. While auditioning Emily and Ben goof off but Sam and Zoe both agree that they have undeniable chemistry. Emily gets the role of Juliet but is told she has to drop out of the play when her father finds out about the play and tells her that she has to be fully dedicated to swimming. Ben also drops out of the play on behalf of Emily since he is uncomfortable being in the play if Emily does not play his love interest. Wanting to save her play, Sam talks Coach Kessler into giving Emily the opportunity to perform, saying that it if it does not work out in Emily's favor, she will be fully dedicated to swimming again and never stray to do acting. Emily is told she can be apart of the play again and she excitedly runs back into the auditorium to announce it to the rest of the cast and crew. On the night of the play, Andrew Grant sabotages the production by giving Spencer a false cue to run on stage. When Spencer runs onstage, he knocks into Ben's ladder mid-balcony scene. The collision causes Ben, Emily, and the props to fall. Ben injures his leg and Emily develops a nasty cough. They are both taken immediately to the hospital leaving it up to Zoe and Owen to replace them in the play. Emily additionally assists Owen in helping his girlfriend, Paige Lenx, escape.
A small tension begins to develop between Emily and Kimi when Kimi begins to make sly digs at how much time she has been spending with Ben ever since they made up at the Sectionals game. Emily is shocked to hear that Kimi went out on a date with Kevin Delucca and was not told about it until a few days later and Kimi responds saying that she was with Ben the whole time. This makes Emily and Ben uncomfortable before they change topics at the lunch table. It is also revealed that Ben and Emily usually skip eating lunch in the cafeteria to make out on the school roof.
Due to missing lots of school because of her swim training, Emily has been placed in summer school along with Kimi who went in per her mom's request to "get ahead". Recognizing the other students from both the nerd clique and cheerleading team, the girls are split up. Emily is placed with the cheerleaders in a group where they are pit against the other teams. The objective of the medieval class is to try to be the group with the most cones, even if they steal anothers, and if they achieve this, they are allowed to skip the last week of summer school. Emily is reached out to by Ryan, Chris and Andy who wish to form another team with her as none of them fit into either clique. Emily eventually ends up joining their team. When the competition becomes intense, Emily and Kimi's friendship becomes strained. When they fight over a cone, Kimi ends up taking it back to her team. The two makeup in A Clash of Queens when they remember how much they care about each other and they have to team up to take down the cheerleaders. Emily and Kimi's teams win the competition and spend a day at the beach celebrating. The last moments of the season are them running away from their boyfriends, Ben and Kevin, together.
How To Be A Star
Taking place during season six of the game, Emily is reflected upon by Kimi as one of the most popular girls in school. During the second novel, Kimi's insecurity towards her own self along with Emily's popularity and relationship with Ben rocks their friendship. Kimi, in attempt to gain some recognition among her peers, creates a music video that soon goes viral and the two begin growing apart when Kimi finds friendship in the popular crowd while Emily spends all of her time with Ben. While Emily is concerned for the weight Kimi has lost to look better for the cameras, it soon turns to anger when Kimi hides her date with Cameron from her. This shakes Emily who still is conflicted over the history he and Sara used to share. The two argue over Emily's absence and Emily being replaced and Emily leaves in tears. The two don't talk until Kimi, after her live performance goes horribly wrong, attempts to climb to her window to apologize. The girls drink tea outside Emily's house and make up. Emily later attends the talent show at which Kimi performs a new song of hers live in support of her friend. The story comes to a close with a double date between Emily, Ben, Kimi and Kevin, showing Emily's efforts to balance both aspects of her life out.
Troublemakers
The 2013 reboot of the game follows the events of A Clash of Queens in a new school year at Twin Branches. The main cast consists of Emily's friends and a new student, Allison Applebee. Emily makes no appearances in the first season of Troublemakers but makes her first in the season two premiere when she is asked to Homecoming by Ben. She can later be seen being asked for help by Kimi to distract Ben so they can hide a file that had been leaked onto the internet. Emily can later be seen attending Prom, most likely with Ben, and being shocked when Paige gives her Prom Queen crown over to Maria.
Relationships
Romantic Interests
Ben Kale
| “ | Well, you know what it's like, don't you? When you really care about someone and you start kissing, it's like the world disappears. | ” |
–Emily to Kimi Chen, How To Be A Star | ||
Ben is her current boyfriend and was her first kiss.
Emily first met Ben Kale in Surviving High School: the Novel. After hearing Ben say he wanted a girl who only ate "a slice of pizza or two", she and Kimi quickly hid all her food on their laps. When Ben approached their table, he found Emily's hand was dipped in yogurt, causing him to call her "Yogurt" later on. After that, she had a crush on him. They met after that again when Ben and Spencer made a prank on school pool and their conversation hinted that Ben also felt the same with her. When the two become closer after Emily is invited to one of his parties, they sneak around in order to avoid Coach Kessler. The pressure and stress of having to keep up her secret relationship with Ben, get enough sleep, and continue with her extreme swimming schedule and training takes a toll on her. The two breakup when Emily's dad is tipped off about the relationship by Dominique and forbids her to attend the dance with him. Emily is excluded by all of their mutual friends after they hear about the breakup. They share their first kiss by Ben's locker when Emily learns more about hidden parts of Sara's Kessler's life and decides to take the risk. Going to the dance together, Ben finds out that Emily was skipping her competition in order to be at the dance with him and quickly drives her to the swim competition. Ben, Kimi, Kevin, and Coach Kessler are seen in the crowd cheering her on.
A special bonus chapter for the Surviving High School showed Emily getting anxious over the comparisons between her relationship with Ben and his previous one with Jessica. She worries that she isn't spontaneous or fun enough for him as Jessica was, and by the end of the episode Ben reassures Emily that she is fun to be around and that he feels more himself around her than he ever did with Jessica.
In Season 1, Ben attempts to impress Emily's father, who disapproves Emily and Ben's relationship. Thus, Ben decides to join the basketball team. While initially joyful to see him and her father bonding, she soon grows irritated with how much of a distraction basketball develops to be. More of their arguments stem from Emily's undesired encouragement for Ben to build his and his father's relationship. Ben's decline to do so leads to Emily's refusal to attend Ben's Sectionals game. Despite this, Ben phone calls Emily to say he has decided to rebuild the relationship by inviting him to his Sectionals game. Subsequently, overhears Ben and his father's argument about yet another leave for a business conference and won't be able to make the game. She chooses to attend his Sectionals game, stating that she only wanted to see him try to fix it and they make up.
Afterwards, the two partake the roles of Romeo and Juliet in the play adaptation of the same name. Kimi additionally states that the two are much closer after their reconciliation, having many more dates than initially and having a "special" place on the roof. They plotted together a plan involving a strange chemical and doves (it was never explained as the plan wasn't needed now that Paige was Perfect).
The two make few appearances in the Troublemakers reboot, but have been clarified to still be together, based on the appearances. Ben is shown putting in a lot of effort in his Homecoming proposal to Emily in The Tutors. Emily is additionally present while Ben tries to get rid of private data of students and purposefully distracts him from his work by talking about kissing.
Friends
Kimi Chen
Kimi has been Emily's best friend since before their freshman year and had been at Emily's house with her when she heard the news about Sara Kessler's death. While very different (Kimi was more interesting in parties and boys while Emily was more focused on swimming and school), they're both really supportive of each other. They always have their monthly sleepovers (the only time Emily is allowed to have a friend over and stay up later than usual). Emily is more involved and apart of the popular and main group of the school as opposed to Kimi but she invites her to sit with them anyway. In How To Be A Star: The Novel, Emily is concerned about how much weight Kimi is losing when her video goes viral and she stops eating to lose weight. They fight about how Emily is always with Ben and how Emily feels that she's been replaced easily as well, but make up at the end of the novel. Their friendship hit a hurdle in Season 7 when they were propped against each other in a competition for the last week of summer school off. Kimi expressed annoyance over how she always had to sacrifice things for Emily and the two argued until A Clash Of Queens where it's shown how well they know each other and care about each other, teaming up to take the rival team down.
Zoe Davis
Zoe is one of Emily's best friends and they developed the friendship off-screen between the events of the novel and the A New Start reboot. Emily thinks highly of Zoe and her opinions, often coming to her for advice about her relationship with Ben. It is with Emily's encouragement and motivation that Zoe takes on the Social Chair title. There also is a high level of respect between the two, as evident when Zoe takes great care of warning Emily beforehand that she won't be able to attend the dance with her boyfriend as planned when the dates for the event conflict with multiple school events and clubs. Emily attended the dance, instead, with Zoe and the rest of their friends. Emily is loyal to her friendship with Zoe and extends her assistance with helping break Zoe's enemy, Paige Lenx, out of Monarch Prep despite her own grievances with Paige.
Spencer Cooper
Spencer is Emily's boyfriend's best friend and through their connections to Ben have grown their own mutual respect and small friendship.
The two met for the very first time on Emily's first day of freshman year in Surviving High School: The Novel. Spencer, seemingly aware of Ben's interest in her early on in the book, is kind to her when she sits in the cafeteria with him and his friends for the first time. Spencer's kindness towards her during their first conversation, along with him inviting her to Ben's party, ends up in her reflecting over how he must be popular because he's nice to be around. Emily's romance with Ben is approved of by Spencer who is shown smiling coyly and giving the couple a thumbs up when the two reconcile after a breakup.
Owen Harris
Emily has developed a small friendship with Owen though their connections to Ben and Zoe, and though out the New Start they helped each other out Eg: She helped him get into Monarch Prep into see his girlfriend Paige along with Ben and Zoe.
Emily first met him in the hallway talking about the State Championships and told Zoe that she and Owen are cute together.
Cameron Clark
Cameron is on Emily's school swim team and a friend to both herself and her sister, Sara.
Emily first meets Cameron in the novel but is unaware of his previous romantic feelings towards her sister, Sara, before her death. This lack of knowledge about their friendship and his private crush on Sara caused strain and complications in their friendship when the two find themselves on a swim retreat and Emily begins to think he has a crush on her. This issue is quickly resolved when Cameron reveals that he has no interest in her romantically, only as a friend, but is sometimes taken aback by how much she looks like Sara. The two since the trip have become close friends.
Due to Cameron's reputation around school and his flirtatious personality, her friendship with Cameron has caused issues in her relationship with Ben in the past. Ben felt threatened by her friendship with him but the three of them made amends when Ben let go of his jealousy and apologized for wanting her to hold back on discussing him.
Family
Sara Kessler
| “ | It’s just—it’s just so stupid. I could sit here and explain how I can’t get into a pool without thinking of my older sister, or how I follow the exact same training regimen my dad designed for her, even her sleep schedule down to the minute. Or how before I ever check my times against Dominique’s, I check them against Sara’s. | ” |
–Emily to a journalist, Surviving High School: The Novel | ||
Emily was Sara's little sister. Sara was very secretive about her life outside swimming over the summer, and did not trust Emily with it. When Sara died, Emily realized that Sara never told her about her secret to winning a swimming competition, and Emily breaks down crying about it. In Surviving High School: the Novel, Emily starts to look up to her sister a lot. She believed that if Sara did not have the privilege to do something, she should not be allowed either. At the end of her sophomore year, Emily is given a moment to share her final sentiments towards the camera. Emily states that while she believes she will never overcome Sara's death, she knows that Sara would be proud of the person she has become.
Coach Paul Kessler
While the two's relationship can sometimes be on the rocks, Coach Kessler and Emily have a remarkably better relationship than Sara and Coach Kessler had. Coach Kessler pushed Emily harder than he did to Sara, for fear that he was going to lose Emily, similar to how he lost Sara, much to Emily's annoyance. There was much more tension between the two in Surviving High School: The Novel than there was in the game, as he was wholesomely focused on Emily's swimming career. However, at times, Emily shows her love for her father, such as when he rescued her after she nearly drowned due to her extreme fatigue and stress.
Mrs. Kessler
The gentler and kinder of the two parents, Emily has always found comfort in her mother's supportive nature. As Mrs. Kessler disagrees with her husbands tactics of living vicariously through their daughters lives, she often is a lot less strict with her punishments and allows Emily to splurge on foods outside of Emily's diet. When her mom finds out about her relationship with Ben, Mrs. Kessler is accepting of it, acknowledging that her daughter is growing up.
Rivalries
Dominique Clark
Dominique is Emily's enemy and main antagonist in the first Surviving High School novel. She is only seen in the novels but has made no in-game appearances.
Their rivalry stems from Dominique believing she is a better swimmer than her and being upset that Emily's father, as their coach, pays more attention to Emily than her. They both develop feelings for Ben Kale in the first Surviving High School novel but Emily is victorious when Ben reveals that he doesn't like Dominique and instead has strong feelings for her. The two have not shared any contact with each other since Dominique transferred to another school but it is revealed in bonus content for the How To Be A Star book that Dominique still harbors a grudge against Emily and a crush on her boyfriend, Ben. It is Dominique who penned Emily's nickname "swimbot".
Others
Nick Brown
| “ | Whatever happened, whoever you were to her—it doesn’t change the fact that you killed her. | ” |
–Emily to Nick Brown, Surviving High School: The Novel | ||
Throughout the events of Surviving High School: The Novel, Emily avoided Nick Brown. This was because Emily's father led Emily to believe that Nick was responsible for Sara's death, having been told that Nick was driving the vehicle. Emily teared up at the sight of Nick Brown, as he reminded her of Sara.
Emily's perspective of Nick eventually changes, when Nick explains the circumstances of the situation and showed Emily multiple pictures of Sara, "reintroducing" her to Emily. Emily graciously hugs and thanks Nick for this, saying that he helped her get to know Sara, as Sara had always been a very secretive person.
Personality
Emily, like her deceased sister, Sara, is a strictly competitive swimmer. Also similar to Sara, Emily follows a strict diet and lifestyle, which she gradually goes off course from. Many of her qualities and characteristics stemmed off the death of Sara, such as her tendency to travel by foot or bike and her delicacy, which has created the tendency to make her cry at the mention of Sara.
Appearance
Similar in appearance to her older sister Sara, Emily has light brown hair in a high ponytail with side bangs. Her eyes are blue and she wears a tank top of the same color.
Age
It was mentioned in the first Surviving High School novel, set in the beginning of her freshman year, that Emily was fifteen years old. By the end of the series and Troublemakers season, Emily is in her sophomore year.
Quotes
| “ | My life—It’s scheduled down to the minute. I wake up, eat, head to school, swim for three hours, dinner, homework, stretching, maybe an hour to talk to people online, and then I’m so exhausted that I fall asleep the minute my head touches the pillow. | ” |
–Emily to Sam Hill, Surviving High School: The Novel | ||
| “ | Ohmygosh, this is the cutest thing I've ever seen! It even has a drawing of you two hugging! | ” |
| “ | What can I say? I'm a Kessler. | ” |
| “ | And what does that make me? The human version of a girl who swims all the time and never does anything fun? | ” |
| “ | This isn't about us, Ben! Maybe it was before, but it's not about us anymore! This is about your dad, Ben. It's pretty obvious, so let's just get it out in the open. | ” |
–Emily to her boyfriend, Ben | ||
| “ | We don't always like each other, but when the chips are down, isn't being there [for each other] what matters most? | ” |
–Emily, Swim Retreat, Part 2 | ||
| “ | When I look back at my high school life... I see me overcoming my father's strict ways. I see me overcoming my own challenges with swimming. I see me experiencing the tragedy of my sister's death. That's something I'll never overcome.. but I know Sara would see me and who I've become and be proud of me. | ” |
–Emily's final words of the series, Series Finale | ||
Trivia
- Emily holds the national swimming record of 27.9 for the backstroke, surpassing both her older sister and Dominique.
- Emily gets to school every morning at 5:30 AM for swim practice.
- Emily loves Japanese food.
- Emily isn't allowed to eat ice cream since it's not encouraged by the diet set for her by her dad.
- Her first kiss was with Ben at his locker when they got back together in the novel.
- She was chosen to be introduced as a new main character to the game because they thought the storyline of her sister's death was a good way to take a more mature, serious route for the reboot and Emily was the best choice.
- Emily was at first a outsider in school but became one of the most popular girls in school when she started dating Ben and was featured in a sports magazine
- After her sister died, Emily refused to travel by car. She would bike and walk to school and refuse movie trips since it was too far to travel by foot.
- A video of her falling off her starting board at the start of a competition was uploaded to the internet and gained thousands of views.
- Emily is mentioned by Kimi in High School Story. Kimi tells Autumn the story of how she helped get Ben and Emily together as a couple and confirms that they are still dating. While not physically present in the quest, a phone call between Emily and Kimi is overheard when she calls to report a case of food poisoning and is unable to attend Kimi's birthday party.
- There are pictures of Emily and Kimi dressed up as Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu from Kill Bill on her Facebook page.
- Heading into her freshman year, Emily only had thirty friends added on Facebook. However, after she was featured in a sports magazine, over a hundred people sent her friend requests.
- While she has her own segment in the bonus scene of the series finale, Emily can be seen when the player chooses to talk to Ben. When Ben says that he thinks his current appearance is the best one, Emily will agree.
| Surviving High School Characters [v] |
|---|
Protagonists John Johnson, Linda Carter, Zoe Davis, Emily Kessler, Owen Harris, Kimi Chen, Allison Applebee |