College Affair

Chapter 5

Josie's P.O.V.
    Almost a week has passed since Lizzie and I came to MU and since we got into the sorority. We had gotten to know the girls a lot more, well except for Hope. She was very closed off most of the time. There were times she was a bitch to the other girls or someone around campus and then there were times where she was actually pretty sweet and nice. That was only towards her family and me..? I couldn't understand why she was usually nice to me and not in her bitchy mood when she spoke to me. I mean she was in that mood at times when she spoke to me but I knew it wasn't directed towards me, that it was just because someone had pissed her off or annoyed her to that point, which seemed pretty easy to do. Maybe she was only being nice to me because I saved her from Landon that day. That day wasn't the only time, I've jumped in when Hope was uncomfortable by Landon. He clearly wanted to be with her but he seems too obsessive over her. Which made me feel a weird ping in my stomach, that almost felt like jealousy but why would I be jealous?

    It was a weekend so we got to relax from classes today. Hope and the rest of the girls were out at the moment so it was just me and Lizzie in the house. I was just sitting in the living room, reading a book, minding my own damn business. But I couldn't say the same about Lizzie. Ever since Hope told us not to go into the basement, Lizzie has been curious.. way too curious. She has tried to get into the room but every time she almost got caught by Hope so she never got in. I was focused on my book when I suddenly hear Lizzie's voice ringing loudly in my ear. "Jo! I did it!" She yelled as she came into the living room. What exactly did she do? "Did what?" I asked, looking up from my book to look at her and she gave me a devious smirk. Oh no, she's up to something. "I got the basement door open." She said and grabbed my hand to try and pull me up. I fought her because I'm not going to disrespect Hope's request, by going along with Lizzie, no matter how curious I may have been to see what was in that basement. She had said it was just storage but it felt like there was more to it, by the way she wanted to hide it. "Come on Jo. I need to know what's down there." She said and I shook my head. "No Lizzie. Hope asked us not to go down there so we should respect her rule." "Oh yeah whatever." She said and rolled her eyes but then suddenly looked lost in thought. "Maybe she made it into a she-shed for herself and is too stubborn to share it with the rest of us." She said, trying to think of reasons why Hope said that the basement was off limits. "I'm going to find out with or without you." She said and headed towards the basement door. "But Lizzie what if she comes home and catches you? She might kick you out of the sorority, the one thing you wanted the moment we applied to the school." I said and decided to follow her to try and stop her. "I'll be quick alright?" She said and started heading down the basement stairs. "M-maybe it's haunted!" I said, trying any excuse to get Lizzie to come back up the stairs. "Nice try Jo. Like I'm scared of a little ghost." I groaned. I didn't know what to do. "Lizzie, stop! We have to respect her rules." I said and kept trying but she kept going down the stairs. I started following her to try my best to stop her. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. How did she even pick the fucking lock in the first place? Eventually I followed her enough that we ended up in the basement. Damn it! I didn't want to be here! I tried to go back up the stairs to get out before I saw anything but Lizzie grabbed my arm and pulled me further into the dark basement. "Lizzie please, just come back upstairs with me." "Sorry Jo, I need to know." I sighed softly. I knew I should just leave but I didn't want to leave Lizzie to get into trouble on her own because maybe I could make things better if we did get caught. Not to mention, my curiosity was taking control. What was Hope hiding? Was it all really just storage? Or was there more?

    Lizzie eventually found the light switch by feeling around the wall. Once the lights came on, I squinted my eyes a bit so they could adjust to the lighting. When my eyes were adjusted, I looked around. For the most part, it definitely just looked like storage because all I could see was a bunch of closed boxes. "Damn it! There has to be more!" Lizzie said and moved further into the basement. "Lizzie, it's just storage like she said, so let's get out of her before she catches us." But that didn't make sense to me. If it was just storage, why didn't Hope want us down here? Maybe there was more? But we shouldn't be here in the first place. I was about to turn around and head back upstairs when I hear Lizzie gasp. "Woah." She said and I walked to where she was and saw what she was seeing. It was a bunch of art works. Paintings, drawing, sculptures. It looked like an artist's paradise. "These are beautiful." We both said almost in perfect unison. "Jo, what if she's an art thief?! And these are her treasures?!" Lizzie said, thinking Hope stole all of these paintings. I mean that would be a reason not to want someone to see all of these art pieces but after the night with the golf cart, I couldn't believe Hope would be a thief. I take a closer look at one of the paintings. The strokes were so precise and beautiful. That's when I see it. The signature on the canvas. "Uh Lizzie.." I said and she looked at me. "Yeah Jo?" She asked and I looked at her with awe in my eyes. "These are Hope's art pieces. Look at the signature." I said and pointed it out to her. "Oh my god." She said, looking at it. I suddenly felt guilty. She didn't want us seeing her art pieces. I wasn't sure why but she didn't and we've disrespected her by coming in here. She asked us not to but we did. "Not only that but I'm guessing this if her family?" Lizzie said and pointed out an unfinished painting where Hope was sitting almost right in the center of the canvas and her family all around her. It looked like a real serious painting but I could also tell there was a lot of love in it, no matter how serious she made them all look. Did the other girls know about this? Or were they never curious enough to come snooping. "Lizzie we should go. I feel guilty even more now." "Why would she want to hide this?" She asked, still focusing on the art around us and not me. "Lizzie come on!" I said but she wouldn't budge. Then I heard a voice and my heart sank. "What the hell do you two think you're doing in here?!" The voice echoed off the walls, making it even more scary. We're in big trouble.