BASIC INFORMATION
FULL NAME: Charlotte Elizabeth Baxton
NICKNAME: Char
DOB & AGE: July 25th, 1988, 23
BIRTHPLACE: New York City, NY
HOMETOWN: New York City, NY
CURRENT LOCATION: Sleepy Hollow
OCCUPATION:
STATUS & ORIENTATION: Single & Heterosexual
FAMILY: Jeffrey Baxton (father), Eleanor Baxton (mother), Christopher Baxton (Brother)

FACTS

♥ Charlotte will talk to anyone about anything, but she reveals very little about her family and her life before moving to Sleepy Hollow. She usually dismisses the topic, or changes casually changes the subject. The only person who does know about her family is her roommate, Renee.

♥ To say that she is 'abnormally clumsy' would be an understatement. Table edges and door frames are at war with her. If there is a table edge near by, chances are she'll hit it. It isn't a surprise for Charlotte to find all sorts of random bruises on her body (and she'll usually have no clue where they came from).

♥ Sugar? She's there. Charlotte has a major sweet tooth and will rarely (if ever) refuse chocolate, cake or candy. She keeps a fully stocked candy drawer at all times.

♥ While she has a long list of shows she will keep up with, Charlotte is strangely addicted to 'trash TV'. Maury and Jerry Springer are a weird addiction for her - she can't seem to look away from whatever the train wreck is playing out on her TV. She has also been known to spend 10 hours in front of the TV watching a Law & Order marathon for no good reason.

♥ Upon first meeting Renee, she immediately nicknamed the girl 'Ren'. This became a problem when Serena (also called 'Ren') came into the picture. Now, she just calls them Ren 1 and Ren 2 and to this day doesn't know which one is which.

♥ Is still learning to keep track of what she spends on her credit card and it isn't unusual for her to get a casual reminder from her roommates when she wanders in with shopping bags.

♥ Has a slightly questionable love of Disney songs and may or may not have been seen lifting Renee's dog over her head at the end of Circle of Life once or twice.

PERSONALITY

FRIENDLY. If you pass Charlotte on the street, she'll usually have a smile on her face. The type of girl who will offer a hello to just about anyone, Charlotte won't hesitate to talk to anyone about anything. She's the person who will start talking to you in line at grocery store for absolutely no reason.

HARD-WORKING. Jeffrey and Eleanor Baxton had always pushed their children to work hard and do well. Despite doting on them, both Charlotte and her brother were expected to do well academically and fulfill any and all obligations. As a result of this, Charlotte learned from a young age that she must work hard to gain certain privileges.

OBLIVIOUS. Due to her upbringing, Charlotte can sometimes be a little 'special' (as her roommates call it) about certain day-to-day activities. Since she grew up with people doing the most basic tasks for her, it has taken her a while to learn how to do some things for herself. While she likes to think she has become acclimated to 'real life' (as she always calls it), she still has a large number of 'blonde moments' (an alarming number of which involve what you can and can't put in the microwave).

STUBBORN. Charlotte has a tendency to be downright pigheaded, especially if someone tells her that she cannot do something. Sometimes, the best way to get Charlotte to do something is to treat her as though she can't (something that her roommates learned early on, mainly in reference to the stove).

Out of Character
PLAYED BY: Lucy Hale
JOURNAL: ~baxton
PREFERENCES: Third person, storybook. Customs & threads are preferred. Random scenes are always welcome.
AVAILABILITY: Around mostly at nights and sporadically throughout the morning and early afternoon.
CONTACT: screened post

BIOGRAPHY
It was at an ungodly early hour on July 25th, 1988 that Charlotte Elizabeth Baxton first entered the world. The second child and only daughter of Jeffrey and Eleanor Baxton, Charlotte was doted upon from the minute she left the hospital. Jeffrey Baxton, who was the sole beneficiary of his father's rather large estate, was a partner in a major New York City law firm which represented some of the country's biggest companies. Eleanor Baxton, whose money came from her grandfather's lucrative real estate business, opted to be a stay at home mother to her two children (with the help of maids and nannies, of course).

Growing up, Charlotte and her brother, Christopher, were raised in the typical Upper East Side fashion. They attended the best schools, enrolled in etiquette courses from a young age, partook in all the latest 'activity fads' and were awarded everything they would need to succeed in the society in which they were raised. From a young age, the two would attend galas alongside their parents and Charlotte would often find herself at different committees alongside her mother (her least favorite thing, although she rarely complained). Despite being granted every luxury, the Baxton's made sure that their children's behavior was kept in check. While the two were definitely spoiled by any definition, 'brattiness' would not be rewarded in the Baxton house. Good grades and behavior were rewarded with privileges, which could just as easily be taken away (something Christopher was all too familiar with).

Christopher Baxton was a free spirit. While Charlotte was quite content with the lifestyle she was born into, Christopher always felt the need to see what existed outside of it. After he graduated university, Christopher packed a suitcase and set out to travel the world. He would write back whenever he had time, telling Charlotte stories of the amazing places he had visited and the different jobs he had taken on. He worked in retail, taught English, built houses and while this type of lifestyle didn't appeal to Charlotte, Christopher seemed to thrive in it. Two years later, Christopher returned to New York City just in time for Charlotte's graduation.

In the spring of 2011, Charlotte Baxton graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Jeffrey already had an entry level position at his law firm set up for his daughter, hoping that being exposed to that environment would convince his daughter to attend law school the following year. Unsure of what she wanted to do with her life, Charlotte had agreed to this. It was no surprise to anyone that Charlotte had accepted the offer, as the young girl did exactly what was expected of her. Charlotte, whose good grades were being rewarded by a summer trip, was prepared to start her work in August. Needless to say, Charlotte never did make it through the doors of Jeffrey Baxton's law firm.

An argument with Christopher just weeks before Charlotte was to start work changed the course of her life. The fight had been intense, with Christopher declaring that Charlotte knew nothing of life, and would never be exposed to the real world. On top of that, he also claimed that Charlotte would never be able to survive. Having always been a determined and stubborn individual, Christopher's accusation had set the young girl off. Determined to prove her brother wrong, a bet was made. For one year, Charlotte would have to make her own way. A handshake sealed the agreement between Charlotte and Christopher, Charlotte handed over her credit cards to her older brother and in August of 2011, she made her way into the 'real world'.

To this day, Charlotte still can't wrap her head around exactly how she ended up in Sleepy Hollow. It was a series of perfectly aligned events that occurred so quickly, it still makes her head spin. It had been a job interview, one that she had truly lucked out on getting, as it had become obvious after a week that nobody wanted to hire a newly graduated English major - at least not in any job that was directly related to her major. They all wanted someone with 'more experience' - something that always confused Charlotte. How exactly was she supposed to get 'more experience' when nobody would hire her to start with? The interview had been a bust, and she since she had a rather long wait till her evening train (she had been a little too confident about the job), she found herself roaming the Palisades Center to kill time.

It was never supposed to have been a serious job option. The submission of the application had been the act of a despondent girl, licking the wounds of another failed job interview. Having seen the 'Now Hiring' sign in the window of Zales, a rather dejected Charlotte had gone in and applied just for the hell of it. She had never thought that working in retail was an actual option. "This is what real people do, Char," Christopher had pointed out when she had told him the story. It was then that the laughter and amusement at the situation had died and Charlotte realized that he was right. English majors weren't offered the opportunities that her parents' influence had afforded her. They worked in retail and at fast food restaurants. They earned minimum wage. They lived in the real world and Charlotte would have to do the same.

The job would start immediately. Despite her parent's protests, Charlotte found herself packing up a suitcase and moving to Sleepy Hollow that same week. Her parents offered to put her up in a nice hotel, to buy her an apartment, but she refused. The cash she did have would be enough for a couple weeks at a motel, giving her time to search for a place while she started her new job. While she had expected the motel to be a far cry from what she was used to, the biggest shocker was the job itself. Never in a million years would Charlotte have guessed just how difficult working in retail was. Charlotte was not prepared for what lay in store for her, which the poor employee assigned to train her quickly realized.

Even now, eleven months later, Charlotte will constantly ask her coworker and current roommate, Renee Villeza, how she didn't strangle her that first week. The first week of August had been the biggest reality check of all. It was as if life had just bitch slapped her across the face. Two universal truths became very clear to Charlotte Baxton that week. First, retail was hard work. Second, people were assholes. Quite frankly, it had been a miracle that either Renee or Charlotte had survived that first week. Renee not only had to deal with teaching Charlotte the very basics of working in retail, also had to deal with the girl bursting into tears after being snapped at by a customer. This was not how Charlotte was used to being treated, and if it wasn't for Renee, she was 100% positive that she would have called off the bet and ran home with her tail between her legs after her second day.

Things had somehow managed to fall into place, much to Charlotte's own surprise. Not only had she found herself actually doing well at work, but Renee had (probably against her own good judgement) offered the extra room at her place. During her time in Sleepy Hollow, Charlotte said nothing of her family, her upbringing or the bet that had brought her there. While she would prefer that people not know about her family, it quickly became obvious that she would have to confide in her new roommate or else Renee would think she was of questionable intelligence. After all, most people didn't walk up to their roommate with their first paycheck and ask what to do with it. They also don't almost flood the kitchen attempting to do laundry. Needless to say, it took a few weeks for Renee to trust her to use the stove without supervision.

Now, after almost a year in Sleepy Hallow, Charlotte considers herself a fully capable member of the 'real world' - even if her roommates sometimes disagree. Despite some of the basic hardships ("Wait, I have to buy underwear in packs?"), working and paying for herself has given Charlotte a sense of pride and accomplishment that getting good grades and attending charity functions never did. The experience has also helped bring out her personality more. Without the pressure of high society on her, she finds herself able to relax and be herself: talkative, random and a little spastic. As an added bonus, she finally understands what her brother was always talking about and the two have actually grown closer since she moved away from home.

Life in Sleepy Hollow has treated her well, which was why Charlotte decided to stay after her year was up. While she has no clue what direction her life will take, she knows that it does not include working at Zales. Customer service is not for her, which is why she decided to take her father up on his offer last year to work at his law firm, an entry-level position with on the job training. While doing so, she has every intention of exploring her interests and debating the idea of graduate school.