Rachel Jane, known to everyone as RJ, is the first friend Keira makes after arriving in New England, and she wastes absolutely no time making it happen. Keira spots her behind the counter of a small alternative shop, tiny and almost elf-like, dressed head to toe in black with bright pink hair blazing like a loud beacon. The heavy dark eye makeup and spotty black nail polish are clearly designed to say “don’t mess with me,” but the bouncy, warm voice that greets Keira the second she reaches the till tells a completely different story.
It is RJ who strikes up the conversation, immediately delighted to discover Keira is English and freshly arrived. Within minutes, she asks what music Keira is into, mentions that she and a group of friends are heading to a live band night at a club called Afterlife the following evening, and invites her along. For someone who has just crossed an ocean, knowing no one, RJ is exactly the kind of person you want to meet first.
She is a freshman at the local college when they meet, which gives the two of them instant common ground. Her older brother Jack is two years her senior, and the pair are close, running in the same crowd and sharing a love of rock music. Their sibling dynamic mirrors, in some ways, the bond between Keira and Libby.
On the surface, RJ and Keira make for an unlikely pair. Where Keira does everything she can to fade into the background, RJ draws attention to herself like bees to pollen, and Keira quickly realizes this suits her perfectly. As she reflects in Book 2, RJ kept her happily in the shadows while welcoming her into the group without question. She also clocked early on that there was something under the surface of Keira’s past, that the cover story didn’t quite add up, but she never pushed, never pried, and never asked. For someone carrying as many secrets as Keira, that instinct was worth everything.
What RJ lacks in discretion about everything else, she more than makes up for in loyalty. She is, by Keira’s own admission, the town’s biggest gossip, almost certainly the person behind the rumor that the Dravens had abducted Keira during one of her disappearances, and in Book 4, when something significant happens locally, Keira only hears about it late because RJ had already decided the bigger story was the Dravens doing a disappearing act on the town. She is the kind of friend who keeps a place buzzing.
When Keira finally admits she is dating Dominic Draven, RJ’s reaction is entirely on brand. She screams down the phone, declares it “some crazy shit,” threatens to arrive in a murderous rage out of jealousy, and demands every detail immediately. When Keira and Draven later appear to break up, she shouts “WHAT THE FUCK?” loud enough to make the whole table go silent. Subtlety has never been RJ’s strong suit, and that is precisely what makes her so easy to love.
Her look evolves across the books, her hair shifting from bright pink to electric blue and fuchsia as the story progresses, but her energy never changes. She is loud, funny, fiercely present, and one of the few constants in Keira’s new life that requires no explanation or justification. Just friendship, freely given from the very first day.
So what does RJ look like? Well here’s a detailed visual profile.
A young woman in her early twenties with a tiny, almost elfin frame. She is noticeably small and slight, the kind of person whose alternative aesthetic does most of the visual heavy lifting because her actual features are far softer and friendlier than her style suggests.
Height and Build: Very short and slight, described as tiny and elf-like. Small-boned, delicate frame. She looks younger than she is, with a softness to her features that undercuts any attempt at looking fierce.
Hair: Bright pink, worn in a way that frames her face and falls forward. Described at one point as covering half her face with a smug expression, hiding behind it. By Book 2 her hair has shifted to electric blue and fuchsia pink, suggesting she changes it up regularly. It is a defining feature, described as standing out like a loud beacon, impossible to ignore.
Eyes: Dark, heavily lined with makeup. The eye makeup is clearly intended to look fierce but reads as friendlier than threatening, given the softness of her face beneath it.
Face: Round, soft baby features with cheeks that have a curved lift and are naturally tinted pink at the tops. Full, rounded face rather than angular or sharp. The heavy dark makeup sits on a face that is fundamentally sweet-looking, which creates a charming contradiction between the look she is going for and the warmth she actually projects.
Nails: Spotty black nail polish, described specifically in Book 1 when she rings Keira’s items through the till.
Style: Head to toe black clothing. Alternative and Goth-adjacent without being theatrical. The overall effect is someone who clearly has a strong aesthetic identity but whose personality and natural warmth spill out from underneath it immediately. Described plainly as a Goth with pink hair by other characters.
Overall vibe: A tiny, bubbly gothic pixie. The girl whose appearance says “don’t approach me” but whose voice, face, and energy say the complete opposite the moment she opens her mouth.