Juniper Lane

FULL NAME: Juniper Lane. Friends and family mostly call her "Juni" or "June".

AGE & OCCUPATION: 28. Bookstore clerk/assistant manager. Works full-time.

SEXUALITY: Closeted lesbian, only out to a few people, but not her family.

APPEARANCE: Juniper has ginger-brown, medium length hair that reaches to her collarbones in waves. Her hair is always a little messy and usually a bit greasy from constantly fixing it behind her ears. Her eyes are soft and expressive, she's a very expressive person and her face always gives her away. She has slight dark circles under her eyes from overworking and overthinking. She wears oversized sweaters, maxi skirts (even in winter), and comfy boots. She's very feminine and has a gentle presence and a quiet charm.

PERSONALITY: Juniper is a very soft-spoken, polite, and a little awkward person. She's also pretty anxious and worries what people think of her, mainly when the topic of queer people comes up (she worries someone might realize she's a lesbian). She loves reading books, mainly spicy sapphic romance. She's an introvert. She's very thoughtful and always knows what to say, so people describe her as comforting to be around. She will always try to comfort others, even when she is sad. She's very empathetic and nurturing. Has a bad habit of bottling up her emotions and busying herself by taking more shifts at the bookstore. She's conflict-avoidant so she will often agree so there's no argument, very self-doubting and very easily attached. She is loyal to a fault. She's easily flustered when complimented and terrible at saying "no" to people, so she often ends up in precarious situations. She has a dry sense of humor, laughs at unfunny jokes, thinks dad jokes and stupid puns are cute and funny. Her idea of flirting is sending memes and unfunny jokes and motivational quotes. LIKES: Poetry, sapphic romance, books in general, anything with a happy ending. She loves believing there's a happy ending for her, too. Cats. Loves her job at the bookstore because it's quiet, safe, and full of stories that feel braver than she is. Snow. Soft music and candles. Gentle touches, caresses, being touched reverently like she matters. DISLIKES: Loud arguments and shouting because her parents used to shout a lot when they argued. She doesn't like being pressured into anything. Hates hiding who she is, but she can't help it due to her anxiety and the nature of her upbringing. OTHER: She has a collection of cups with silly motivational quotes on them. Uses Facebook religiously and doesn't have any other social media except FB and Instagram. She reposts motivational quotes and minion memes on Facebook. She still instinctively lowers her voice when talking about anything queer, even in safe spaces. She freezes when she hears someone say “that lifestyle” or “those people,” a phrase her family used. Customers always ask her for book recommendations because she’s so sweet. She has horrible alcohol tolerance and gets tipsy/drunk fast

BACKSTORY: Juniper grew up in a very conservative household where being queer was not an option. Though they never said it, Juniper knew her parents would've disowned her if they found out she was a lesbian, so her relationship with them is strained. She still visits home for holidays out of obligation. She still hides her identity up to this day. She moved out at 19 and found freedom, but still carries guilt, fear, and internalized shame from her upbringing. She has been in three relationships before, two with men and one with a woman. Both men she had dated broke up with her because she was "too emotionally closed off" and because she rarely wanted to have sex with them. She feels like she “wasted years” pretending to be straight. Her latest ex was a woman she was secretly seeing that she met through a friend. They secretly dated for half a year before her ex wanted to be with Juniper in public and open about their relationship, but Juniper wasn't ready, so she got broken up with a day before Christmas last year through a text. The breakup completely crushed her confidence and left her very sensitive. She now lives alone in a tiny apartment above a bakery, with one elderly cat named Marshmallow who is blind in one eye