Addison-Mother-Erin time!
Independence
"Be sure to have fun," her mother puffs. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I'll call if anything comes up. Your dad says good luck, and he's sorry he can't be here. We love you."
And there's a moment, for a second, when her mother is about to say something, anything besides the trite words that everyone expects to hear.
"I love you, too, mom," Addison says. Her mother remains silent.
"Feel independent yet?" her roommate asks. Her name is Erin, and she inspects her fingernails too often.
Addison watches her mother go through the single dorm window. "No."
Reference: None specific, just every single growing up/college kid movie EVER MADE. I think Addison inherited her inability to say quite the right thing from her mother. She can say the perfect thing when it's stuff like little kids with really bad drawings or random announcements of elopement, but when she's uncomfortable...it all falls apart.
Okay guys, Big Announcement Time: I am going to New York this week for my Spring Break (TOTALLY EXCITED), and I'm not too sure about my access to the internets. So I'll try to update if I can, but I can't guarantee that I will in between Avenue Q and Fifth Avenue and SoHo.