George & Olivia Ashton

George and Olivia Ashton, characters in The Freshman and The Senior series, are James's parents. They are successful business majors and are leading their own investment company. They make their first appearance in Book 1, Chapter 13.

Appearance
George and Olivia have black hair, dark skin and brown eyes. George wears a dark blue suit, a light blue shirt with a purple tie and a purple handkerchief and Olivia a white blouse with earrings.

Personality
George and Olivia are both quite professional people and from what is seen, they only care about James; his life and how well he does.

Book 1

 * Chapter 9: Sorority Ball, Part 1 (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 13: The Birthday Girl, Part 3
 * Chapter 14: The Ashton Affair
 * Chapter 15: The Professor's Daughter (Mentioned)

Book 4

 * Chapter 3: Summer Wine

Book 1

 * Chapter 15: Bitter Sweet Symphony

The Senior

 * Chapter 5: The Jungle Line (Determinant)
 * Chapter 10: Imagine
 * Chapter 15: Changes

James Ashton
James is George's and Olivia's son, but their relationship doesn't seem to be very affectionate. Initially, they want their son to major in business, to inherit George's investment company and to marry a well-connected girl. James doesn't have the courage to tell them that he is single and is studying literature, so he lies about it. During the dinner that Your Character is having with him and his parents in The Freshman, Book 1, Chapter 14, he finally decides to tell them the truth. In The Sophomore, Book 1, Chapter 15, they attend his graduation and are very proud of him.

Your Character
When Your Character meets James' parents for the first time, James makes them believe that she is his fiancee. During the dinner in The Freshman, Book 1, Chapter 14, they point out that they are wary about Your Character's ambition to marry James, given the family's reputation, and want to make sure that she doesn't simply want to take advantage of James' position. You are able to impress them by following the background story that James had made up for you and by talking kindly of James. At James' graduation in The Sophomore, Book 1, they both thank you for supporting their son.

If Your Character has been consistently dating James until the events of The Senior, in Chapter 5, they will invite James and Your Character into a restaurant again. Olivia already knows about Your Character's concentration as she is aware how important Your Character is to her son. They ask them about their plans for the future since they have been together for two years and Olivia is straightforward about her wish to become a young grandmother. If you have accepted James' proposal, they will appear for your graduation, showing their support for their future daughter-in-law.

Trivia

 * George is straight-laced to the extent that even though he knows who Enrique Vasquez is, he believes Your Character's assertion that he is her (economics) professor, grandfather or yoga instructor.
 * George has the same face design as Coach Ricky Burke from High School Story.
 * Olivia shares the same forename as Olivia Montoya from Endless Summer and Olivia Nevrakis from The Royal Romance.
 * In James: Masquerade Ball, James revealed that while his parents mostly live in Manhattan, they own several properties in Northbridge and sometimes live there. They gave James an apartment in one of their buildings when he enrolled at Hartfeld.
 * When James was younger, they used to go to the Northbridge Museum of Modern Art together.
 * In The Freshman, Book 4, it is revealed that they have a summer house just outside of Roxbury.
 * It is also revealed that they have a butler named Bernard.
 * George used to play rugby before he got too busy with school.
 * They own several horses. The horses that are mentioned by name are Ezra, Ernest and Walt.
 * They grow wine and have some staff to handle most of the operation. They taught James everything about it.
 * Both of them only appear in The Senior, Chapter 5, if you're dating James.
 * The surname Ashton is of English origin and means "town of ashes".
 * The name George is of Greek origin and means "farmer".
 * The name Olivia is of Latin origin and means "olive tree" or "peace".