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Valarie Marie Boudreaux came from a good home. At least that's what most people said. It was an awful shame she didn't follow in her mother's footsteps - may her soul rest in peace, and become a doctor, or a surgeon like her father. She was instead cursed with the gift of music and a tragically melodious voice. She basically came out the womb singing and made up any excuse to belt out a note.
Valarie was an only child but not a lonely one. She was a social being, making friends so easily it shocked her parents. Her childhood was spent learning both guitar and piano as well as developing a sense of style. Evenings after school were spent cutting up fashion magazines for style inspo and listening to old Billie Holiday records. Val spent her days off at the carnival or at the Coney Island boardwalk with her friends. The young girl was terrifyingly outgoing and could talk any strangers ear off. She had a bad habit of starting odd conversations with cab drivers.
Val's family lived in an all brick Manhattan townhouse. Her father had lived in a similar house over on Broadway when he was young, it was too nostalgic to pass up. At the age of twelve, Valarie had expressed she wanted to become a singer-songwriter. Unfortunately, that didn't go down well with her parents. Her mother was most concerned that she would never have a steady source of income. However, they eventually came to an agreement that if she were to pursue such a career, she would have to keep her GPA above a 3.0 (just in case). She did, Valarie was very determined to prove her parents wrong.
In high school, she met her three best friends - Tasha, Alexander and Benjamin. They were basically family and spent every waking moment in each others presence. You couldn't see one without the other three following behind. The friends - or crackheads, as they called each other were always up to something mischievous. Buying fake IDs to get into New York's hottest clubs, hotboxing before class and other devious things. However, the four little delinquents seldom got caught, and if they did, they got out of it via their wealthy parents.
Alas, her seemingly perfect life came crashing down at the age of seventeen when she lost her mother. A car crash on the way to the hospital. It was a devastating loss; her dad took it way harder than she did. He lost his love for medicine and quit his job at Kings County Hospital.
They made it through together. Fortunately, he had the qualifications to change careers and become a professor.
To cope, Valarie pushed herself harder into pursuing music. She ate, slept and breathed sheet music and practised her riffs and runs so much her throat often went raw. It paid off though, she got a music scholarship to NYU - her dream school. Tasha got accepted into their fashion program, it was always her dream to become a designer. Alexander's supreme intellect got him into Columbia University for Engineering and Applied Science. Benjamin also unsurprisingly, got into Columbia - his dad is an alumnus, he decided to pursue Business Studies, just like his old man.
The first year was fun. The four freshmen spent as much time together as they could. If they weren't studying, they were partying and if they weren't partying, they were probably eating at their favourite restaurant - Superiority Burger in East Village. The four friends had become even closer and couldn't wait for summer break, they had a feeling it would be an interesting one. They were definitely gonna raise some hell.
