Riley Paige
Age:
20
Birthday:
August 5th
Nationality:
American
French
Sexual Orientation:
Heterosexual
Birth place:
Martinique
Origin:
Michigan (4-11)
Poconos, Pennsylvania (11-18)
New York, New York (18-Present)
Occupation:
Full time student at NYU
Tutor
Hex:
#8365A1
While she isn't visibly a busy body, she is quite an ambitious person. Riley loves that feeling of accomplishment and the validation that comes along with it. She doesn't take on so many things to prove to the world what she is capable of so much as she does to convince herself. She hates failing and has a bad habit of internalizing anything below her satisfaction levels. Being caught off guard is one of her biggest pet peeves and one of her downfalls since she has a tendency to take things personally. Therefore, knowing everything she needs to know without cutting any corners ensures that she won't be faced with any surprises. Riley just likes feeling a sense of control, and not in an authoritarian sense. It's really for her own security, since she is at a point in her life where there are so many possibilities ahead of her to the point of it being overwhelming. And, feeling quite disconnected to many parts of her identity, feeling in control makes her feel as though she has control of her life. With Riley, there is a sort of paradox. She appears in control only due to her pursuit of finding that feeling. That being said, Riley doesn't need to have a plan for everything. While she doesn't like surprises, just like anyone else, monotony drives her insane. Her hunger for knowledge also means that she is a curious person, eager to learn and try new things, even if she might be apprehensive about it. All in all, Riley has a very good, clean energy about her. She might not be the most vibrant personality out of a group of people, but she is a special character in her own right, and has a unique allure to her.
Likes:
Iced coffee, baby animals, peppermint, everything cold weather (clothing, fesitivities, etc), popsicles, foreign languages, yogurt, liquid lipstick, coconut oil, warm blankets, success, coupons
Dislikes:
Yellow starbursts, nuts, rainboots (it's a love/hate relationship), orange, people who stand too close, those who disrespect and invalidate her family, not feeling a part of anything
Overall, her childhood had very few hiccups. With her parents having a well-paying, steady job and spending whatever free time they had to be with the family, on top of her amazing siblings, it's safe to say that that time was one of her more favorite parts of her life. Even if she wasn't raised to be entitled and ungrateful, looking back on it, though, Riley wished she had appreciated those days even more. When she was ten years old, the state of the economy began to really reflect itself in her household. Money was typically kind of snug, but as the recession approached--and eventually worsened--funds grew tight. And after her mother lost her job, the financial blow was so hard that they had to start selling some of their possessions. At the same time, her grandfather passed, leaving the ranch in her father's name, but it couldn't have come at a more worst time emotionally or financially. Unable to support such a big family in an area they were already barely keeping up with, the Paige's moved several states over to Pennsylvania. She was still so young, so she didn't understand the severity of the situation, but she could feel that there was an uncomfortable shift in the dynamic. Her parents didn't seem excited by the beautiful landscape. The memory that stands out the most after their move was exclaiming how excited she was to go camping, and hiking, and ride horses, only to have her mother hang her head and leave the room. With so many issues going on, her parents couldn't dedicate as much time and energy as they liked to the kids and their schooling, but thinking back on it, Riley knows that they also just didn't want the kids in the house any longer. It wasn't a conducive learning environment, and they could probably tell that their children were picking up on their parents' stress. So at 12, Riley had her first day of school, and for the next few months, she went through an extreme pre-teen angst phase. She hated going to school and being in a new environment, and she hated her parents for forcing this onto her.
By eight grade, her mother had found a job she was overqualified for, but Riley was just excited to go back home, however, she remained in public school. She did eventually take to the adjustment, and managed to make new friends and enjoy her last few years in school. During her teenage years, she experiences very subtly discomforting situations that she was too young and naive to digest, nor did she have the language to process them. There instances of micro-aggressions, and an every increasing curiosity about her blended family. This wasn't something novel to her, and it never bothered her as a child, but her peers made her feel like she was in some sort of circus, even if they never explicitly said so. Because she couldn't really put her thumb on what it was that bothered her about some of the things she dealt with from her friends, she had a lot of bottled up, unprocessed emotions. This caused her to have a strained relationship with her parents throughout her sophomore and part of her junior year. By graduation, everything seemed as close to normal as it seemed it would get. Her mother had a better job, they were doing better financially, and she had gotten accepted into a great school. Just as her parents had always told her, the world was hers and she could do absolutely anything she wanted so long as she put her mind to it; the only obstacle she would ever have to worry about was herself. Her year off would prove that wrong. Suddenly she was exposed to the cold realization that this wasn't the case for people like her and she has still been dealing with the repercussions of her parents' biased approach. As of now, she just feels incredibly disconnected and at a lost with everything. Even if it's not really their fault, Riley can't help but feel betrayed in a lot of senses. The people she would usually turn to, who were and still are such an integral part of her life, she's not sure she can fully trust.