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[center][h1][color=#99ccff]Valerie Romero[/color][/h1]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/CxYga6H.jpg?1[/img]
[color=#99ccff][sub]“Yeah, I don’t like it either. But you have to take your meds.”[/sub][/color][/center]
[hr][hr]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Name:
[indent]Valerie Romero; her friends call her Val[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Age: 
[indent]30[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Gender: 
[indent]female[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Sexuality: 
[indent]Homosexual[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Role: 
[indent]Caring Caretaker[/indent]

[center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/olxFGAV.jpg?1[/img][hr][/center]

[center][color=#99ccff]•[/color] Caring [color=#99ccff]•[/color] Loud [color=#99ccff]•[/color] Dependable [color=#99ccff]•[/color] Afraid of the future [color=#99ccff]•[/color][/center]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Personality: 
[indent]Valerie sees hard work as the only way to get what you want in this world. She tends to keep herself busy, afraid of wasting even a few moments of the day; although she has tried to slow down a bit since moving in with Ms. Deville. She likes to talk and tends to be on the loud side, but puts in the effort to be quieter when around her old teacher. She is grateful to Ms. Deville for everything that she’s done, and is terrified of what her life will look like after her old teacher is gone.[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Hobbies & Interests: 
[indent]• Cooking
• Sketching
• Inline Skating
• Element Collecting[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Likes & Dislikes: 
[indent]+ Good music
+ Beautiful weather
+ Trying new recipes
+ Urban/street art
+ Finding a new element for her collection

- Wasting time
- Watching sports
- Horror movies
- Staying inside for too long
- Intolerant people[/indent]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Other: 
[indent]Fluent in Spanish; estranged from her parents; considers Ms. Deville to be her closest family[/indent]

[center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/02txNfY.jpg?2[/img][hr][/center]

[color=#99ccff]•[/color] Biography: 
[indent]Valerie is the second child of Manuel & Lola Romero, a couple who emigrated from Honduras in the early 1980s. The other children in her class occasionally made fun of her for her non-Americanized family; whenever this happened, Valerie would deflect the teasing toward the poor student or, more commonly, toward Jack. Although she did her best to hide how it got to her, it made her resent her family and her culture for a long time.

Her parents instilled a good work ethic into Valerie from a young age. They encouraged her to pursue her passions; and when she announced a dream of going to medical school when she was 12, they did everything they could to support her. She graduated from high school with honours, and attended the University of New Orleans for pre-nursing with a full scholarship.

While at university, Valerie realized that she was gay; she met another woman, Andrea, in the pre-nursing program, and the two formed a relationship. Knowing that her conservative Catholic family would not approve of the relationship or her sexuality, Valerie kept it hidden from them until her graduation, when Andrea accidentally let it slip to Valerie’s mother. Valerie was immediately forced out of the house, and hasn’t spoken to her parents since. She temporarily moved in with Andrea, but their relationship soon went south as well, leaving Valerie on her own.

Hoping to save enough money to go to graduate school, Valerie registered as a geriatric aide. She worked in a nursing home for a few years before resigning the position, instead signing up with an agency that matched caretakers to people who need them. Because of a shortage in geriatric aides, as well as her exemplary work at the nursing home, she was given the opportunity to choose which case to take - and, upon seeing her old teacher’s name on the list, didn’t think twice about the decision.

Learning about Jack was a shock for Valerie: the first time she was asked to bring food to the basement, she was confused by the request but obeyed without question. Seeing her old classmate, grown up but still wearing his mask, left her without words. It took her a full week to work up the courage to ask Ms. Deville about it; and when she received what was essentially a nonanswer, Valerie decided it was best to stay out of it. She interacted with Jack very seldomly, only venturing into the basement to bring him his meals, and not speaking to him or even looking at him when doing so.

When Ms. Deville asked her to help put together a reunion for her old classmates, Valerie was thrilled, and more than happy to help with the planning. She did everything she could to help prepare for the event, and is looking forward to seeing her old classmates again.[/indent]