Kendall Lawson

Kendall Lawson is the deuteragonist of How to Survive High School, and the author of the in-story "How to Survive High School" guidebook. Toward the end of Book 1, much is revealed about her character and her past, especially as to why she is writing in her notebook and how she knows so much about the different social groups of high school. Kendall hangs out with Valentine Coinneach, who she considers unattractive but nice and genuinely good, and, later, Leo Smith, who she develops a crush on. Kendall is starting her sophomore year of high school in Book 1.

Personality
Kendall is usually kind. In her freshman year she was pretty, popular, and somewhat frivolous, but both her sister's illness and the collapse of her relationship with Ace (as well as her humiliation at the hands of Natalie Bestick) quickly made her cold, serious, and grouchy. At the start of her sophomore year and the book series, Kendall comes off as a superior, snobbish loner who disdains most of the school, but deep down ultimately reveals herself to be sensitive, thoughtful, and the type of person who bottles up her emotions in order to conceal the pain she's feeling.

Although she often comes off as having a superior attitude, Kendall is in fact a very helpful person, and shows frequently in the series how she tries to use her knowledge and her notebook on surviving high school to help others out. Her crush on Leo shows how she views him as a clean slate and is at first all about finding someone who she can tell everything to and get it off her chest, but as she gets to know him she begins to fall in love, much to her own shock. As a somewhat radical feminist, Kendall hates chauvinism and chauvinistic males (like Marco Durante), and is independent the point where she refuses to get help from anyone, one of the main defects Leo helps correct in her.

Appearance
Kendall is described by Valentine as "kind of plain-looking." She has messy light brown hair and hazel eyes, and in every aspect is an ordinary girl. She wears the same faded green sweater all the time (a fact other characters often make fun of her for) and rarely ever wears makeup. She also sports jeans and brown shoes.

Trivia

 * Like most characters, Kendall's personality is derived from her name. Lawson has the word "law" in it, a reference to all the rules for surviving high school that she writes in her notebook.
 * Her birthday is March 14.
 * She is the first character to fall in love in the series, as her crush on Leo ultimately develops to the point where it is undoubtedly love.
 * Kendall was once the most popular girl in school and good friends with both Venice and Charlene, even though neither of them seems to recognize or acknowledge her now.
 * She is also the ex-girlfriend of Ace Dienf.