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chapter forty-three. the freshman
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Every fall confident high school seniors transform into nervous college freshmen. They leave their parents' homes for the hallowed halls of higher education. And like any new venture starting college holds the promise of limitless opportunity. The opportunity to conquer a new territory. Or to try and be a little less lonely. But just because the opportunity presents itself doesn't mean everybody is ready to take it.
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THE ATTACHMENT VICTORIA had to her pencil and sketchbook remained. Well, sketching on the rough pages of her old sketchbook had finally ended as it had been filled. She owned a new sketchbook, one that told her story as a mother. A soon to be mother. Victoria had successfully captured the ultrasound of her daughter, it was the first page that was to greet the sketches that followed. The one she was crafting the morning of orientation week for Ivy Leagues and other local New York universities, was a gift she was planning to give to the boy heading off to his final first day at Yale university.
Remember, it was platonic. Victoria and Riven's friendship drove on the heartbreak they both felt because they had been the ones to cause such damage. And well. . .Riven was all that Victoria felt she had. There was her father, Jenny and Eric, even Serena, but the people who held large parts of her heart had still kept their distance. Dan was close but far. Nate? Well, Victoria would swear he was on the other side of the world. That's how far apart she felt from him. Oh, it was her fault. She knew that. But it remained criminal that she'd think by returning to the Big Apple, it would simply fix what she broke.
Victoria Humphrey's focus shifted from the image she had sketched when she heard approaching footsteps from down the corridor. Riven had finally woken, prepared to conquer the days ahead as he was to get back into the routine of a Yale law student. His lay ins were to cease, and the wildness he performed over the summer was to end. The Huntington knew he was to go back to all-nighters, falling asleep with a book over his face and smoke a joint to ease his stress.
Riven's fingers were combing through his long curled strands of hair, being how he sorted his hair the moment it was washed, but he slid up his pair of Prada sunglasses to keep the damped curls out of his face. He was dressed, ready to spend the day moving back into his accommodation at Yale. He radiated, ignited by the excitement he felt that he was near enough finishing his degree at Yale.
He hardly noticed Victoria from the couch she rested on, her eyes trailing over him, taking a glimpse of his attire. A loose Ralph Lauren Shirt hung on his body, and a navy pair of Armani shorts on his bottom. Victoria noticed he wasn't entirely ready to step out the door as he walked bare foot around the condo.
