Karina Hernandez

Karina Hernandez is a Junior at Devils Lake High School, the daughter of Ángel Hernandez and Rosa Hernandez and the older sister of Jose Hernandez.

Personality
Karina is both calculating and competitive, traits that are exemplified through her obsession with chess. She sees her mother as controlling and resents this, often arguing with and rebelling against her. In a conversation with Michael Sanders, Karina complains that her mother thinks she knows what's best for everyone and won't accept any points of view other than her own. After Michael suggests that she think about her relationship with her mother as a chess game, Karina stops directly rebelling against her mother's wishes and begins to find ways to allow her mother feel in charge while simultaneously seeking more autonomy for herself. After the death of her father, however, Karina is unable to maintain this calculated demeanor and begins lashing out randomly once more. During an argument, Karina admits that she blames Rosa for Ángel's death, saying that Rosa was lying every time she said that they "had each other's backs" (referring to the fact that they worked on the police force together).

Relationship with Michael Sanders
At the start of the series, Karina has been dating her High School classmate Michael Sanders for a year. There is some implication that she may have sought out a relationship with him because she saw it as a challenge due to his high social standing in the school. However, it is clear that she has grown to value their relationship and has true, deep feelings for him. Tension arises between the two of them when she suspects Michael of having a crush on Suzy Tan. Michael takes offense at the accusation, assuming that her jealousy is based purely on seeing Suzy as a competitor for the prize of his affection. Karina tearfully explains that their relationship isn't a game to her and that she can't stand the thought of him not being there anymore. After Michael is killed in a powder storm, Karina becomes depressed and emotionally unresponsive, quitting the chess team and spending hours each night reading through their archived AIM chat messages and Myspace wall posts. Rosa is alarmed by Karina's flat affect. After Rosa tells Karina that seeing her in this state hurts more than their worst arguments, Karina apologizes for blaming her for Ángel's death.