Biography: Christa Sternbacher

CHRISTA STERNBACHER

Christa Sternbacher is the eldest child of James Sternbacher, an engineer in the Mount Hill City Planning Department, and Sara Sternbacher, a pediatrician. She preceded her brother Thomas by three years.

As a child, Christa grew up in what she later realized was an extremely healthy household: her parents never argued with her nor pressured her into doing anything, but instead encouraged her to explore her own personality, talents and habits. Amongst other things, she became involved in Christianity more on her own terms than anyone else's, finding great meaning and power in the tale of a man who believed so strongly in the power of love. Christa grew up with a well-developed sense of self and identity, knowing her own strengths and limitations, and finding that she had few of the latter; she was a gifted student and, in general, excelled at whatever she applied herself to. However, she has an occasional over-reliance on that feeling of accomplishment, leading her to sometimes overextend herself in pursuit of it.

Christa's youth and adolescence were, by and large, unremarkable. She was an honors student from the moment such classes became available, and as such became well-acquainted with the fairly small circle of other students with similar intellectual capacities. Amongst them were Meredith Levine and Jane Myers, whom Christa was always friendly to but also (this with a touch of smugness) was a bit superior to. Meredith, for all her brains and the gift of naturally-blonde hair, had been young for her year even before she'd skipped a grade, and always preferred to keep a little distance. And Jane, though smart and decidedly wholesome, would never be able to turn a guy's head in her life—not if she kept walking around with slumped shoulders and tawdry hair like that. At least she, Christa, had herself well put-together: she wore nice clothes, kept her posture well under control, kept a smile on her face. She, Christa, was going somewhere in life.

So why Jane and Meredith get more attention from boys than Christa ever did? Meredith had had two boyfriends by the end of sophomore year (and maybe more during junior high, though those don't count), and Jane had a long-term thing with that one crazy kid, the Brandon Chambers—you know, the one who tried to kill himself? In comparison, Christa's romantic life was flat dead. At the time, she didn't understand it at all; what did these girls have to offer that she didn't? (Later it would occur to her that she had done such a good job of being presentable that people were overlooking her or feeling she was out of their league.) Perhaps it was time to take desperate measures.

And that was why Christa entered the Naked In School Program.

As a solution to her problems it was not entirely optimal. Her parents and those others she took into her confidence were uncomfortable with the idea that she should have to exhibit herself that way—and, to be fair, Christa wasn't sure she liked it either. Nonetheless, perhaps the ends would justify the means. Certainly, within the first twenty-four hours of her Program participation, she had already received more, and more widespread, and more genuine, male attention than she ever had previously. Even a baseball star, Mark Spencer, began to take interest in her. So, for that matter, had her Program Partner, Zachary Crane, but sometimes he reminded her of a monkey more than anything else. To her, the choice seemed obvious.

Sometimes things aren't as they seem. Mark turned out to be a dim and brutal man, with little patience when he didn't get what he wanted. And when Christa found herself in a tight spot with him, it was Zach who helped her out. Mark's pretensions of politeness didn't extend past the surface; for Zach, the opposite was true. Once again, the choice seemed obvious to her.

Being Zach's girlfriend plunged Christa into a much larger and more complicated world than she had inhabited previously. Suddenly she was dealing with Arie's depression, Jane's occasional holier-than-thou attitude, the bickering between Zach and Sajel that occasionally turned acidic, Brandon's (and Sajel's) (and Arie's) occasional bouts of melancholy, and the various and sundry insecurities that plague any band of teenagers. However, she also became the beneficiary of the little clan Brandon had welded together about himself; suddenly, Christa had more close friends than she'd ever had in her life. This was especially true of Meredith, who eventually became less of a friend and more of a sister. And, while she and her parents had had their share of differences over the last sixteen years, she suddenly became able to appreciate just how good her family was for her. Compared to all these people, Christa was positively normal!

This was not to say that being Zachary Crane's girlfriend was easy going, either. There was still his habit of blurting out whatever he thought would be funny, without thinking it through first; there was still his carelessness and occasional insensitivity; there was still the sex, which he wanted and Christa wasn't so sure about. Zach felt Christa was too scholastic; Christa saw Zach as lazy. Nonetheless, they were both committed to each other and to the person they saw.

Zach and Christa have sometimes had to struggle to reconcile their differing views on life. Nonetheless, they do so with determination and a willingness to bend as much as humanly possible. In many cases this process has not been painful, though occasionally arduous; Zach possesses a deep (if latent) spirituality which Christa has nurtured into a genuine Christian faith; neither are ostentatious about it, which they pride themselves and each other on. Furthermore, Zach's influence has allowed Christa to unbend and explore her wilder side, particularly in bed; they were the first amongst their friends to try many of the kinkier aspects of sex, and are occasionally called upon to give advice on such matters (by Sajel; by Jane; by Arie, of all people!). While both of them have had to make some fairly significant changes to themselves over the course of the relationship, both also feel that the other brings out the best in them.

Zach and Christa married a year after the Chamberses did, and then returned to Greenfield University to pursue further education, separating from their best friends for the first time in six years. They both remain active in ministry in the Shellview area (partially for financial support, but mostly because they want to), and also sing in Jonathan Stanford's a cappella group, "Octapella." At Greenfield, Christa was something of a "dorm mother," a role she continues in with her friends. And both she and her husband have high hopes for a future involving children. While the future may not be as perfect as planned (a fact demonstrated amply by Christa's best friend Meredith Chambers), Christa knows that, with Zach in her life, she will be equal to its challenges.

Christa has been hard to find pictures for, for a variety of reasons, primarily relating to her unique personal style. Making things worse, her characterization has shifted over time: she is based on a real person of my acquaintence, and as I got to know said person more deeply, the character evolved as well, both physically and personally; I have retconned many earlier stories to match. Thus, these pictures may not match the earliest descriptions of the character, but should nonetheless be considered "canon" and definitive.

• Christa, though with platinum-blonde hair-dye for a change.
• Christa in later years, in natural hair color and with her trademark smile.