Paige
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Paige Adams |
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Dorley girl |
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| Gender | Female |
| Year of intake | 2017 |
| Year of graduation | 2020 (projected) |
| Sponsor | Francesca |
| Gender at intake | Cis male |
| Date of birth | unknown |
| Name at intake | unknown |
| First appearance | Chapter 3 (mentioned), Chapter 7 |
| edit this box | |
Paige is a third-year girl in the 2017 intake, previously sponsored by Francesca. She is in a relationship with Christine.
Paige is 183 cm (6'0") tall [LL] and with a svelte build [SD 10] and long dark blonde hair [SD 11] which reaches the small of her back [SD 4] (it is still currently mostly extensions). [SD 11] She has slightly elongated canine teeth [SD 14] with a "toothy grin" and amber-colored eyes. [SD 16] Tabitha considers Paige "quick-witted and level-headed", [SD 25] Shahida likes her "earnest nature" and how she wears her emotions clearly on her face, noting that she is "helpful" and "sincere". [SD 26] Paige has a strong tendency for overachievement and has a reputation for being punctual and highly organized.
Paige is regularly regarded by others as a stunning beauty, which, combined with her height, fashion sense, and "practical attitude" often makes for an overwhelming first impression, particularly on newer Dorley girls. She finds being the center of attention exciting. [SD 10] She is bisexual but is not interested in romantic relationships with men. [SD 12]
Despite her confident demeanor, Christine observes that Paige is "more delicate than she makes herself seem" [SD 14] and has "endless confidence and boundless grace, until suddenly, sometimes, she doesn’t". [SD 13] She "isn’t good with feeling abandoned or isolated". [SD 14]
Paige is pursuing a career as a fashion influencer and reportedly has over thirty thousand Instagram followers. [SD 9] Her beauty and fashion skills are sharply honed (Shahida regards her makeup skills as "impeccable") [SD 25] and she has a penchant for giving makeovers to other girls in the programme. She has been granted permission to use Vicky's vacant room to store her large wardrobe, which seems to primarily consist of high-end clothes gifted to her by her advertising partners. [SD 8] She does not have access to the Hall's discretionary shopping funds, seemingly to keep her from procuring even more clothes. [SD 10]
Paige has a cis NPH and doesn't like it (Jodie states that she hates it); [SD 22] she has confessed to Christine that she felt like she made the decision too quickly and was "railroaded" into it by prioritizing her marketability as an influencer. [SD 9] Though she states that she considers her relationship to womanhood as "conditional" and mainly functioning as a "binary" social position, Christine suggests that Paige's actual relationship to her gender shifts frequently; [SD 10] Paige seems to suggest that she was only "nominally" cis at intake. [SD 16] Among other hyperfixations, Paige "collects" fringe gender theories and enjoys sharing them with Christine and Abby. (Francesca disapproved of the hobby.) [SD 9]
Paige has no interest in becoming a sponsor and is vocal in her opposition to the idea; [SD 17] Christine states that she would never become a sponsor "in a million years". [SD 18]
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Pre-transition
Christine reports that, like her, Paige came from a home that was emotionally abusive and "occasionally physically so". [SD 10]
Paige describes herself before being brought to the Hall as "a scared child, clad in armour that was forced upon her, and lashing out because she believed herself strong, invulnerable to pain or consequence". [SD 7] She states that people didn't understand her as a boy and that, in turn, she never saw other people as "properly real" before arriving at the Hall. [SD 16]
First year
Christine describes the 2017 intake as originally being mainly a group of "introverts" who had been selected due to "social rather than physical" violence. [SD 17] After Craig washed out, the intake gradually split into "two-and-a-half cliques" -- Christine, Paige, and Vicky in one, Julia and Yasmin in another, and Jodie and her sponsor alone. Yasmin later speculates that they were all too alike to stand each other's company; [SD 29] comparing Paige to Jodie. [SD 29] Paige and Yasmin were the first of their intake to have a falling out in the basement. [SD 27]
Maria considers Paige to have been one of the biggest troublemakers of the 2017 intake, alongside Jodie, but still considers the intake to have been an easy, "cushy" year overall. [SD 18]
Vicky caught on early to the true nature of the programme and "immediately started evangelising girlhood to the rest of them". [SD 17]
At intake
Due to her traumatic home life, Paige responded "very poorly" to raised voices when she first arrived at the Hall. [SD 10] Christine recalls her as "scared, angry, far too thin, and ready to batter down any obstacle in front of her, no matter the consequences". [SD 13] By her third year, she still gets visibly shaken by people shouting. [SD 9] Paige later attests that the Hall was responsible for teaching her that she has value and to stand up for herself. [SD 34]
Christine had trouble adopting Vicky's new pronouns early on; Vicky would apparently retaliate by kicking her. Christine later learned that Paige asked Vicky to stop kicking her under the reassurance that she was not malicious, just "slow". [SD 14]
Christine recalls that Paige responded to her orchiectomy with "the same methodical thoroughness she applied to every other aspect of their imprisonment". [SD 8] Paige tells Steph that she had already discarded the person she used to be before the orchi so she was better "prepared" compared to others in her intake, even though she didn't want it. [SD 16] By her third year, she does not exhibit the same lingering sensitivity to the subject as some of her peers. [SD 11] Christine credits Paige with helping her find her new sense of self following her orchi. [SD 32]
Paige underwent extensive facial feminization surgery; she recalls seeing a "stranger" in the mirror following the procedure. She later tells Christine that she has made her peace with it. [SD 12]
Maria reports that Paige had likely been "besotted" with Christine since the end of their first year, "and never stopped". [SD 15] Paige states that Christine treated her like a real person from their first week together and made her "feel seen" for the first time. Her attachment to Christine ultimately helped fuel her decision to acquiesce to the programme. [SD 16]
Second year
Francesca, Paige's sponsor, deviated from standard procedure by remaining hostile to Paige through most of her second year; this was apparently an intentional decision on her part. [SD 34] However, Paige admits that "as awful as she was, Francesca prepared me for life out here [outside of the Hall]. Practically rubbed my face in it." [SD 12]
Paige set out to master makeup by methodically learning each type and tool one at a time, [SD 8] with a similar approach towards clothing and fashion. [SD 11] Though her efforts pay off, she later muses to Christine that she wonders if she "concentrated on the wrong thing", suggesting she should have focused more on learning to make friends. [SD 10]
Paige was cleared for social media use before anyone else still in the programme, whereupon she immediately began working on building her influencer career. [SD 8]
For Aunt Bea's birthday dinner, she cooked a soufflé, which collapsed. [SD 9]
At some point, Paige was caught attempting to sneak a whiskey out of the Hall's liquor cabinet. [SD 16]
Paige had a "loss of composure" at the end of her second year, believing she had "changed enough" under the programme; her rebellion against Aunt Bea's requirements resulted in her being locked in her room for over a week with her privileges revoked. [SD 7] Christine believes Paige potentially could have graduated early if not for this incident. [SD 4] Later, Abby confides to Christine that Paige's rebellion was not out of the ordinary for most intakes. (By her third year in the programme, Paige admits she has come around to Aunt Bea's point of view on the matter). [SD 7]
At some point, Christine broke things off with Paige, [SD 16] following their physical relationship while early in transition. [SD 11] Maria recalls that they were both "in flux, as personalities", [SD 32] though Christine blames herself, believing Paige "knew exactly who she was" at the time. [SD 12]
Third year
By October 2019, Paige has successfully petitioned Aunt Bea to remove her from Francesca's supervision and has been without a sponsor for months. [SD 10] She has already decided on a cis NPH earlier in the year. [SD 22]
Reunited with Christine
On October 12th, Paige pressures Christine to attend a party at a dorm on campus where she meets a young man named Stefan; the two hit it off and abscond to the rooftop to talk. [SD 1] When the two are alone, an intoxicated Stefan reveals to Christine that he has been investigating Dorley Hall; panicking, Christine immediately arranges to have him put in the Dorley Hall basement under false pretenses. [SD 5] After Stef reveals what he believes to be happening at Dorley Hall and the motivations for his search, a guilt-ridden Christine decides to break him out of the basement. However, Stef reveals to Christine that she is trans and wants to stay in the basement to access their transition services; conflicted, Christine agrees to help her by continuing the ruse that she is actually a dangerous young man. [SD 6] Christine misleads Paige to separate her vague memory of Stefan at the party from the new "boy" in the basement. [SD 7]
Paige, continuing her efforts to get Christine to socialize, attempts to bring Christine out clubbing off-campus with friends; Christine, exhausted from burning the candle at both ends juggling her personal life, school work, and responsibilities at the Hall while covertly keeping an eye on Stef's wellbeing, begs off repeatedly. [SD 7]
At Aunt Bea's birthday dinner on October 25th, Nell has an angry outburst regarding Faye, which triggers Paige into a short bout of distress; Abby and Vicky comfort her while Christine goes to confront Nell and check on Faye. [SD 9] After calming her down, Christine takes Faye up to her room where Paige helps them with makeovers and a change of clothes. The two return with Faye to the party (Paige lets Faye keep the dress afterward). Paige becomes more flirtatious towards Christine as the night goes on. She drinks heavily and spends the night in Christine's bed, along with Vicky. [SD 10] In the morning, Paige confides in Christine that she is afraid of being alone after graduating from the Hall; Christine promises that the two will stay together. [SD 11]
Paige and Christine comfort Pippa, Stef's sponsor, in the kitchen; Stef has shut down after a particularly bad day in the basement and Pippa is frustrated at her inability to establish a rapport with her charge. Paige suggests Pippa leave Stef alone to recover and join her and Christine on a shopping trip in town. At the café in the shopping center, Paige and Pippa offer reassurance to Christine, who is nervous being out in public. [SD 11] Paige shares her technique for being in public: sorting people into those who matter and those who don't and disregarding those who don't matter. After shopping, the three return to the Hall and are briefed by Maria on Karen's background and removal from the Hall. Afterward, the three go back into town to join Vicky and Lorna at Legend. That night, Paige slow-dances with Christine and tells her she misses her, asking her to be her girl again for the night; Christine returns her affections. [SD 12]
Paige and Christine continue to reconnect over the next few weeks; by November 9th they are sleeping together in Paige's room and Christine recognizes that they are girlfriends again though they have not actually discussed it. Meanwhile, Christine has grown more evasive in her attempts to surreptitiously monitor Stef's wellbeing, causing Paige to grow suspicious. Distraught, Paige finally confronts her; unwilling to keep a secret from her any longer, Christine comes clean to Paige about the deception. [SD 13] After the two make up, Paige tells Christine that she loves her. [SD 14] When Christine demonstrates her ability to hack the Hall's security cameras, Paige spots Pippa digging through the archives in the office, having realized Stef has been deceiving her. After Stef comes clean to Pippa, admitting she's trans and that she knows the true nature of the programme, Christine confesses to her part in the subterfuge. Paige and Christine meet Pippa on the roof but before the three can form a plan, Maria arrives to intervene, having caught sight of Pippa's distress on the security cameras. Ultimately, Stef is allowed to stay in the programme so long as she agrees to serve as a "judas goat" for the boys in the basement. [SD 14] The next day, Paige attends a meeting in which Maria briefs the girls upstairs on Stef's true backstory. [SD 16]
On November 14th, Paige goes downstairs with Christine to meet Stef for the first time. The two attempt to talk her through her reluctance to accept she/her pronouns and share some of their experiences in the programme before settling in to watch a movie with her. [SD 16]
Paige lends a hand in the basement common room in the immediate aftermath of Leigh's attack on Maria on November 27th; she helps Stef up off the floor and quickly reassures her after Maria is removed from the basement. [SD 17]
On November 30th, Abby reveals to Christine that she has contacted her family, [SD 19] Christine reveals the secret to Paige shortly after. [SD 23] Later that day, Paige is present when Steph comes upstairs after confessing her feelings to Aaron. [SD 19]
After reuniting with Christine, Paige continues to take her out in public to help acclimate her to being outside of the Hall; Christine notes feeling more confident by the end of November. [SD 18] At some point, Christine introduces Paige to her favorite childhood books; Paige stays up most of the night reading and puts a "serious dent" in the stack of novels. [SD 20]
Lorna
On December 2nd, Paige walks in on Lorna being read in by Christine, Pippa, and Stef (now going by Stephanie) in the second floor kitchen. Paige explains to Lorna that she believes Vicky was always a trans woman, regardless of the Hall's interference. [SD 20]
Three days later, Christine indulges Paige, allowing her to dress her and do her makeup, before the two are called away to Vicky and Lorna's house to confront Lorna, who Vicky reports is working herself up to do something to release Vicky from her responsibilities at the Hall. When Lorna reveals that she is planning on blackmailing Aunt Bea, Christine attempts to warn her off by telling her the story of Karen's recent disposal to illustrate the danger she would be inviting; Lorna takes the story as an intimidation tactic and angrily compares Christine to her past self, misgendering and accusing her of continuing to threaten women, only now on Bea's behalf. Christine crumples into a dissociative state and Paige intercedes on her behalf, chastising Lorna for throwing her trauma back at her. Paige reveals Christine's close relationship with Indira, whose mother, Aasha, Lorna knows from trans rights protests, and outlines the catastrophic damage to the trans community that exposing the Hall would result in. Lorna finally relents, [SD 21] gradually coming to a reluctant acceptance of the Hall and its residents. [SD 22]
December
When Shahida is seen putting up a missing persons poster for Mark Vogel, Melissa's old identity, at the Hall on December 11th, a "borderline panicking" Bella sends Faye and Rebecca across campus to retrieve Christine from a meeting with her professor; in doing so, she sends the two second years outside the Hall for the first time, far ahead of schedule. Following the incident, Paige accompanies Christine to the Grants' home to retrieve Abby to help contact Melissa; on the drive over, Paige expresses her distaste for how the 2018 intake have been treated by their sponsors, who she believes are "forgetting what it was like to be so new". She resolves to check in with the second years regarding their wellbeing and begins planning a proposal for a fun public outing to show the second years that there is "life after Dorley". Back at the Hall, Paige waits with Christine and the assembled sponsors while Abby calls Melissa and come up with a plan to deal with Shahida. [SD 23]
Following Aaron receiving full disclosure on December 11th, [SD 24] Stephanie becomes distressed after admitting to him that she is trans and confessing that she has known the true nature of the programme since arriving in the basement. The next morning, Pippa brings Steph upstairs to get some air and Paige and Christine join them in the dining room to help keep Steph company. Paige does Steph's makeup and gives her tips on dressing for her current body shape; shortly after, a frantic Melissa bursts into the kitchen to liberate Steph, taking her into the back rooms of the Hall. As Christine chases after them, Paige and Pippa go with Tabitha to manually confirm that lockdown has been implemented; shortly after, Paige returns to the kitchen to find Tabitha and Shahida amid a crowd of Dorley girls (Shahida having just directly approached Tabitha for answers after following Melissa to the Hall). Tabitha clears the room and enlists Paige to help read in Shahida; after securing promise of being paid for her assistance, Paige agrees to help. The three are soon joined by Lorna and Vicky, who offer to help. [SD 25] After the disclosure is complete, Paige gives Shahida a quick rundown of the Hall's layout. [SD 26]
On December 16th, Paige spends the evening watching all of the Shrek movies and eating pizza with Abby, Indira, Christine, Hasan, Naila, Ren, Pippa, Charlie, and others on the fifth floor. [SD 27]
Christine, haunted by memories of her old self, begins having trouble sleeping. Influenced by Abby's reunion with her parents and Melissa's return to the Hall, she, Paige, and Indira make plans to visit her hometown of Brighton. [SD 26] With Tabitha's blessing, the three travel to Brighton on December 18th. When they arrive at her parents' house, Christine is supposed to stay in the car while Paige and Indira go to the door; however, she impulsively leaps from the car at the sight of her mother, Helen. The three girls continue with their plan to pose as adopted sisters, with Christine improvising her role, claiming to be an orphan of two parents in an abusive relationship similar to her own parents'. When Christine breaks down crying, her mother invites the three into the house. Inside, she shares the story of Christine's disappearance with the girls, admitting that she believes that her son committed suicide and that she blames herself for his death. When Helen points out Christine's resemblance, Indira improvises a story implying that Christine was the product of a sperm donor and that they have sought Helen after their family's legal research into Christine's adoption; Helen makes a logical leap, coming to the assumption that her late brother Hamish had donated sperm before his death while away in America. [SD 29]
Paige, along with Pippa, helps Steph prepare for the Christmas Eve party, assisting with her hair extensions and makeup, picking out an outfit, and helping her walk in heels. [SD 30] Paige attends the party with Christine; the two sit with Pippa, Steph, Aaron, Vicky, Lorna, Melissa and Shahida. [SD 31] Paige is present the next morning when Christine tells Aaron the story of her first kiss with Paige during her depressive episode after their orchis. [SD 32]
On December 26th, Paige assists Maria in helping Aaron (now going by Bethany) provoke Leigh (still identifying as Will at the time) following her negative reaction to Bethany's new name; Paige provides the wig for Beth's "slutty schoolgirl" outfit. She looks on from the corridor as Beth drives Leigh out of the basement common room. [SD 33]
On December 30th, Christine and Paige are enlisted by Aunt Bea to assist Tabitha in dealing with the growing Melissa / Shahida / Rachel / Amy disclosure situation, which has been approaching an imminent "reckoning"; Tabitha bails soon after to take care of Leigh. Christine and Paige first speak with Melissa and Shahida and convince Melissa to go to the basement and surprise Steph with a visit. After Rachel and Amy receive disclosure from Bea and Maria, they are sent down to the first floor common room to join Christine, Paige, and Shy; as Rachel becomes more and more irate, Paige intervenes, berating her into silence. [SD 34]
January
Trivia
- At Saints, Paige is attending a History with Human Rights module on the third floor of the Anthill [SD 12] with a male professor who has a reputation as a sex pest. After being cautioned by a TA early in the semester, she only takes one-on-one meetings with him in public in the nook on the ground floor. [SD 23]
- Paige seems to be one of the only people in Christine's life who doesn't sometimes address her with a nickname. [SD 27]
- Paige gets carsick on long drives [SD 29] and dislikes automatic transmission. [SD 37] She drives a hatchback to see Lorna and Vicky in December 2019, it is unclear if it is her car or part of the Hall's fleet. [SD 21]
| Dorley girls (and a few non-girls) | |
|---|---|
| 2017 intake | Christine (Indira), |