Chapter 2

Josephine’s POV

I guess I had thought about my first night at Ruswells College of Arts so much that by evening, I was completely overwhelmed. It felt surreal being in my dream school and sharing a room with one hottie of a roommate. I felt like I had been blessed twice in one day. Or maybe I was jumping to conclusions.

You see, I do that all the time, jumping to conclusions about my day or anything else I set out to do because it starts well. Well, most times, when I place my hopes too high on something or someone, it seldom ends well. So, I’ve always learned to just let things take their course with no expectations whatsoever. It was different, however, tonight.

The freshers’ party was slated for 8 p.m. that night; at least, that was what Elle said when she was helping me unpack my stuff and fixing them in the right corners of the room. I had to admit that she was very meticulous. No, I didn’t expect that not after the introduction I received from Carmen about her.

She seemed like a jolly good fellow, jumping all over the place, humming to a tune I didn’t recognize. But I knew enough to tell that it was the tune of her favorite song. I wasn’t sure whether I was looking forward to the freshers’ party or not, not with the way I was feeling, like a lost puppy.

When Elle brought up the topic later that evening after I had finished unpacking my stuff, at least most of it, I crawled under my skin. But I quickly snapped out of it. I had to play the part. After all, getting Elle to like me was now a full-time job. The last thing I wanted was to get stuck with a roommate that hated me. I was going to try to avoid anything that would make us turn to haters.

“So,” Elle began. She was folding her clothes by her closet with the kind of dexterity I had never seen before. She’s careful with her clothes, I thought. “What are you wearing to the freshers’ party tonight?” she asked.

I was brushing my hair when she asked the question. I stopped abruptly and placed the brush gently before the board that my mirror stood on.

“I…I dunno,” I stammered. “I guess a simple gown will do.”

Elle made a face. Apparently, she was not on good terms with the word ‘simple.’ Not surprising.

“Show me the gown,” she said, a half-smile on her face.

Shit! I thought to myself. Then, I chided myself immediately. That was a bad word, or at least that was what my mother preached all day to me. I feared this moment was going to come. The moment when Elle was going to ask to see my closet, then she would slowly redraw her goodwill toward me upon seeing it once she realized that she and I did not belong in the same boat.

“What? Now?” I asked nervously. “The party is not until 8 p.m. You said so yourself.”

“Yeah, but it’s 6:30 p.m. already,” Elle said, making a wild gesture in the air. “Honey, if you want to make a grand entrance at the party, you’ll need at least one hour to get ready.”

I gulped as I watched her speak.

The smile on her face returned. I don’t know why it looked odd to me.

“Come on, let me see it,” she said.

I was trapped. I saw nowhere out of this. I twirled around and nibbled on my closet for a bit, wondering about the next course of action to take. All the clothes I had brought along with me were all too saintly, of course. That was all my mother provided me with as the ‘good child’ that I was. My sister, Rayne, was the one who owned all the slutty clothes.

I stood over the closet for over a minute, wondering if it would be okay to just then go around and tell Elle the truth that I didn’t fit in the same boat that she was in. But no, I wasn’t ready to lose her goodwill toward me just yet.

So, I kept a straight face and pulled a blue gown from my closet. It was my eighteenth birthday gift from my mother. It was all plain and closed around the cleavages. Of course, Elle wasn’t going to like it. I managed a smile as I turned to face her.

“This is it,” I said. I placed the gown on the body and turned for her to see it. It stood just way above my knee. When it was new, it wasn’t that short, but over the past year, I had gotten a few inches taller, and the dress had moved higher.

Elle studied it for a long moment, her scrutinizing eyes wandering over my body. I felt weighed by her eyes.

“No,” she said at last. “This will not do.”

It was the way she said it, with no mincing of words, that hurt me. Of course, what was I expecting? A pat on the back for arriving at college unprepared?

“It looks too boring and closed everywhere,” Elle commented. “Whoever designed that dress needs to be arrested by the fashion police. No offense, but we’re not going to see Mary, the mother of God. I mean, what’s being an adult if you can’t show some skin in your clothing? There’s no way you’re going out dressed like this.”

And she meant it.

I stood idly for a moment, trying my best not to lose my composure.

“It’s my fault, actually,” I said. “I forgot to pick all my cool clothing back in my closet at home because I left in a hurry.”

I put the dress back into my closet and shut the door. When I turned back, Elle was still looking at me in a kind of cynical way, like she sensed foul play.

“What?” I asked, confused.

Elle stifled a laugh.

“You didn’t forget any clothes, darling. This is all you’ve got.”

I stopped short and froze at the spot. The room began to spin. How had she figured that out? I felt my palms begin to sweat.

“It’s okay,” Elle said. “Everyone lies. Some of us just happen to be better liars than others, and you, my dear, belong in the others.”

I guess Carmen’s introduction of Elle had done more harm than good. Because now, every action she took was contradicting the ideology I had already formed in my mind about her.

“But… How did you know?” I stammered.

“It was obvious,” Elle said. She gave a small shrug. “I helped you unpack, you know. If you had any cool stuff in your clothing, I would have seen it. Plus, the nerdy glasses and the casual flip-flops gave you away.”

I felt my face flush. I mean, I knew I was not that posh but hearing Elle describe me kinda made me feel lesser of myself.

“It’s okay,” Elle said. “I probably would have lied too in your shoes, just better.”

I grinned at her, mortified. I thought it would lessen the awkwardness in the air. It didn’t.

Elle was studying my physique. I knew that much because of the way her eyes roamed all over me. It was like she was trying to figure out a way to help me. I didn’t even know I needed help.

“I can just stay back, Elle,” I said. “I desperately need some sleep anyway.”

“No!” Elle snapped. It was the way she said it, with such intensity that I didn’t even have the courage to ask why.

Elle was walking toward me now as if she wanted to say whatever needed to be said to my face. She stopped before my face and stood akimbo.

“You can’t stay back,” she said in one breath.

“Why?” I managed to ask.

Elle heaved an impatient sigh.

“Why? Your crush is going to be there.”

“My crush?”

“Yeah, Carmen,” Elle snapped. “He even invited you there. I’d think he really likes you to go the extra mile.”

I shrugged. “He’s just being nice.”

Elle moved aside and landed on my bed with a thud.

“Why do you naive girls always miss the sign?”

“Huh?”

Elle waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Forget I said that. What about me?”

“What about you?” I asked, confused.

“No roommate of mine is going to stay away from the freshers’ party,” Elle said. “It’s going to rub off badly on my reputation. You have to be there.”

I didn’t see any correlation between her reputation and my attending the party, but I didn’t argue. I still wanted to be in her good books.

While I stood pondering on my thoughts, Elle rose to her feet from my bed abruptly and strode to her side of the room. A moment later, she was busily searching for a dress from her closet.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

Elle answered without looking back at me.

“Looking for a dress for you to wear to the party tonight.”

“But I said-”

She did not let me finish.

“I’m not listening to all that hogwash from you!” she snapped. “This is an intervention.”

I knew instantly that I wasn’t ready for what was coming.