Vanessa, a character in The Freshman series, is a literature student and James's childhood friend. She is only seen in the special book James: Masquerade Ball.
Appearance
Vanessa has mid-length, brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin. At the masquerade, she wears a blue dress, a silver necklace, a silver mask, and silver earrings.
Personality
Vanessa is an intelligent young woman.
Chapters
The Freshman
Book 1
- Chapter 14: The Ashton Affair (Mentioned)
James: Masquerade Ball
- Chapter 1: James: Masquerade Ball
Relationships
James
Vanessa is James's childhood friend. Their parents are very good friends, so James and Vanessa grew up together and they seem very close. At the dinner with James's parents, Mrs Ashton mentions her as the perfect girl for her son.
Vanessa and James haven't seen each other for three years when Your Character and James meet her at the masquerade. She confesses that her father has got some serious problems after making some bad investments and asks James's family for help. Vanessa had (and still has) deep feelings for James. He doesn't see her that way, but he cares about her very much. Vanessa also just wants to see James happy; even if it is with another girl. She is protective of him and calls him one of her dearest friends.
Your Character
You are able to meet Vanessa in James: Masquerade Ball. She will be friendly if you say that you are pleased to meet her. If you introduce yourself as James's date, she will be surprised and emphasize that she and James have a long history. She is okay with you dating James if that makes him happy but tells you not to hurt him, otherwise you would have to answer to her.
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- She is shown on the cover of James: Masquerade Ball.
- Her character model is also used for unnamed characters, for example in Rules of Engagement, Book 2, Chapter 3, and in Mother of the Year.
- She bears a resemblance to actress Stana Katic.
- Her facial features are similar to Penelope Ebrim from The Royal Romance and The Royal Heir, with the only difference being that Vanessa is a brunette and Penelope is black-haired.
- She is majoring in literature with emphasis on early twentieth century writers.
- Vanessa took ballet together with James. Their parents signed them up.
- She once wore braces and showed up to dinner with unkempt hair and scrapes from falling off her horse.
- She shares the same first name as Vanessa Blackwood from Mother of the Year. Vanessa shares the same last name as Ian/Ina Kingsley from Queen B.
- The name Vanessa is of Greek origin and means "butterfly" or "of Venus" (goddess of beauty).
- The surname Kingsley is of English origin and means "from the king's wood or meadow".