The Bad Girl Project

Josephine’s POV

Welcome to Ruswells College of Arts. I know Santa Claus isn’t honest, but there was a time as kids when we believed he was. My mom didn’t tell us the truth till we were thirteen, so every Christmas, Uncle Zeke and she would keep presents under our huge Christmas tree for us, and if you didn’t see a present, it meant you were on Santa’s naughty list.

The point here is that I was so good and still am so good that I got a present every year. I never missed one, whereas my big sister Rayne missed a lot. I later realized that Mom invented that little game because of Rayne. Rayne is three years older, and my mom said she became a problem child from birth. She wanted to know if getting on Santa’s naughty list would make Rayne improve, but I think it only made her worse.

Rayne never cared what anyone thought, even Mom. She started dying her hair in middle school, and when that wasn’t enough, she got piercings and a tattoo without her mom’s consent.

On the other hand, I didn’t take any serious actions without asking Mom or Uncle Zeke about it. I’ve never put ink on my skin nor pierced it, and I’ve been brunette since birth.

At first, I didn’t complain. I liked being my mom’s good kid, and everyone in our neighborhood knew me as ‘the good one.’ I got presents from the elders, who consistently commended my good nature, but as I grew older, I realized that Mom didn’t pay much attention to me.

She was so busy trying to keep Rayne away from the prison that sometimes she forgot I was even there because she believed I would never go against the law, and she was right because I never did. In high school, Mom gave me the ‘boy talk’ for just five minutes, whereas she always talked to Rayne about boys, but she didn’t listen. Rayne lost her virginity when she was fourteen, and she didn’t even tell me till she was in college because she said she knew I’d tell Mom…she wasn’t wrong.

Mom trusted me enough to let me drive three hours alone to Ruswells College of Arts, and she didn’t call even once while I was on the road.

It had always been my dream to study at Ruswells, I don’t know why I settled for less in the beginning, but I got myself a full-time scholarship and was able to transfer after my first year.

Ruswells was a costly college. You had to be rich or on a scholarship to study at a university like that. One of the reasons I loved it was because it was all about art, no science and no business…just everything art.

The college’s infrastructures were vast and beautiful. They had tall buildings and a green environment. I could just nap under the shade of one of the big trees.

When I got my things out, I knew I would walk this journey twice because I had a lot of stuff. I blamed it on the books because I had a lot of them, and there was no way I was leaving my romance novels or any novels back home where Rayne could slice them to pieces.

So I did what every dummy would, I tried to carry them all at once, and that backfired because my book suitcase was open on the ground in seconds.

“You read Colleen Hoover?” someone asked, causing me to look up. I was staring back at his brown eyes. He was light-skinned and African-American, and he had nice curly brown hair.

“Yeah, I do,” I smiled at him and resumed packing my books. He joined me.

“Oh, you don’t have to,” I said. Wow, I was so polite.

“I don’t mind, so which one’s your favorite?” he asked. He had a lovely deep voice.

“Collen Hoover?” I asked, and he nodded.

I loved all her works, but…

“It’s gotta be ‘It ends with us’,” I said, and he chuckled.

“Get out, me too,” he said, and I grinned like an idiot. I was such a nerd, and my big circle glasses weren’t helping much. I am so glad I stopped wearing braces.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, Atlas was the right man for Lily,” he said as we got up. We were done picking up my stuff.

“I kinda liked Riley, but he messed it all up,” I said.

“She deserved to be with someone that would treat her well,” he said, and I chuckled, nodding. He was such a sweetheart.

“I’m Carmen,” he said, extending his hand for a shake.

“I’m Jojo,” I said, placing my hand in his.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” he said. “You look…have I seen you before? I’m a social butterfly, so I know many people in school.”

“Oh, I noticed the butterfly in you,” I said and instantly regretted it. What the heck was that?

I cleared my throat. “I mean, yeah, I’m new,” I said, and he nodded. I was sure he thought I was a freak.

“Freshman, well, you’re gonna need to know the drill here,” he said. “Good thing you’re early for freshers week.”

“Yeah, good thing,” I chuckled nervously. I was dying inside. Maybe it was the sun or the fact that he was so cute. I didn’t get much attention from cute guys back in high school because I was nerdy, Jojo.

“I’m guessing your major is-”

“English, I’m also a transfer student in the second year,” I said.

“Bro, are you playing?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“I’m in the second year, too,” he said, and I smiled.

“Well, I’m glad to have met someone in my department already,” I said.

“I’m glad, too,” he said.

“My dorm’s this one,” I said, pointing at the building on my left.

“Well, it’s mine too. You’re lucky I have two empty hands to give you some help with these bags,” he said, and I laughed. I knew at that moment that it would be the start of a beautiful friendship.

I had been here before for my registration process, so I had everything with me, including my dorm keys; so all I had to do was get in the elevator with Carmen and find Room A-26G.

“Today is so full of coincidences. My friend lives in that room,” he said, and I smiled.

One of the things I was scared of was the people I’d meet. I wanted them to like me, I thought I was pretty likable, but I was still scared of their opinion about me.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

“She must be nice then because you’re nice,” I said, but I was not right about that.

“Well…Elle isn’t mean, but she isn’t nice either, so you’ll wanna be careful,” he said.

“Uh…any advice before we get to 26G?” I asked. He stopped walking and turned to me.

“Elle is Asian-American, her last roommate was Asian-American, too, but she moved back to Asia last summer, and Elle is pretty pissed about it; she even told me she didn’t want another roommate, so do not let her hate you,” he said.

“Well, does she have any hobbies or something she could like about me?” I asked.

“Aside from making dresses, she likes parties, drinking, smoking p*t, and just having fun,” he said, and my eyes widened.

Those were not my specialties.

“I don’t think we’ll get along,” I said, and he laughed.

“Relax, Jojo. Elle isn’t as mean as she sounds. As long as you get through to me, you can get through to her,” he said, and his words helped.

There was loud rock music blasting inside the room when we reached the door. I don’t like loud music.

“She does like her music loud,” Carmen whispered, and I gulped as I knocked on the door.

“She didn’t hear that. It’s got to be louder, like this,” he said and banged on the door.

“Who the fuck is it?!” Elle screamed.

“Ellery, it’s Carmen. Open the fucking door!” he yelled. Great, more cussing. People passing in the hall looked at us.

“Hold your horses,” Elle yelled, and the music stopped. She opened the door.

“What?” she snapped.

“Trust me, she’s not always like this,” he said to me, then turned to her. “Have you been doing d***?” he whispered.

“The only d*** that makes me this way is my mother. Who’s she?” she asked.

“Your new roommate,” Carmen said. She stared blankly at him for a moment, then at me. I have to admit she was gorgeous. She reminded me of Rayne in a way. She had short black hair with purple streaks and a tattoo on her arm.

“Okay, you got me. I’m sorry for pranking you on April 1st,” she said. “It was worth it, though.” She turned to me.

“You should have been there. This guy is-”

“She doesn’t want to hear that, Elle, and this isn’t a prank,” he said. “I’ll still get you back, though.”

She smirked. “In your dreams, Car,” she said and looked at me. “You must be Josephine Parker?”

“You know my name?” I asked.

“Everyone’s informed beforehand about their new roommate,” she said. “I’m not going to say that it’s nice to meet you, but we’ll probably get there soon.” She stepped aside. She’d been blocking the view this whole time. We trooped inside.

The room was big and had two of everything. She had dominated both sides. She had a sewing machine, a speaker, two mannequins wearing clothes, and fabric all over the place.

“Is your mom also responsible for this mess?” Carmen asked.

“Yes,” Elle said.

“Okay, I have to be on my way now,” Carmen said.

“What? I was hoping we could play Zombies,” she said, and yes, the room had a TV.

“Wow, this room is out of this world,” I said.

“Wait till you see Tave’s room or his cool house off campus,” Elle chuckled.

“Who’s Tave?” I asked.

“He’s only the most wanted guy in the entire school,” she smirked at me.

“Tave is my buddy, and we have a song we’re working on, so I have to go,” he said, and we said goodbye to him; he stopped halfway out the door.

“Jojo, I hope to see you at the freshers’ welcome party tonight,” he said and shut the door.

“Someone’s got a crush,” Elle said, and I furrowed my brows.

“What? We just met less than thirty minutes ago,” I said, and she nodded.

“Hmm…that was what Brook said about Tave last year, and now they’re fuck buddies,” she said.

“Who’s Brook?” I asked.

“The only girl in Ruswells College who can’t seem to take a hint,” she said.

“I’m not gonna be fuck buddies with anyone,” I said as I started unpacking my stuff.

“But ain’t that what they all say?” she asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m sorry your roommate moved away. Carmen said you guys got along,” I said, and she smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, and I feel we’ll get along. You seem like a charm, and besides, Ashlyn and I skype regularly,” she said, and I smiled.

“She’s got a cute name,” I said.

“She does,” Elle said.

“Did you make that?” I asked, referring to the short black sleeveless dress on one of her dummies.

“You bet,” she smirked.

“It’s beautiful…they’re both beautiful,” I said. The white jumpsuit on the other doll was lovely too.

“I know,” she said. “Let’s get my stuff out of the way so you can get settled in.” She lay on her bed. I thought I’d heard her wrong.

“By that, I mean, you get my stuff out of the way so you can get settled in,” she said.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Unless you don’t want to make it to the freshers’ party and be careful moving the mannequins,” she said, and I rolled my eyes. I didn’t even have it in my body to say no.