Josy seems like the kind of girl who would want to stay with the HOT's even with the tuition, and if that's the case, I'm sure she could talk Maya into sticking it out with her; sort of parallel to the MC and Derek, how the MC originally just wanted a place to stay and Derek wanted to go where the action is.
As for the MC's mother not being dead, I'm very skeptical of that one, since she is said to have died during child birth. Neil probably witnessed that one first hand, unfortunately. That would be one heck of a twist, though, if DPC could find a plausible way to do it. I mean, if Neil wasn't actually in the room when she was officially declared dead, and her parents were rich enough to bribe some people to keep quiet about her surviving, and could also somehow keep her from contacting Neil or the MC... Naaah. That's just crazy talk.
Okay, all of this talk of imagination has made me want to throw out some crazy conspiracy theories for people to go nuts with, just for kicks.
1) What if Neil and James were brothers? They look fairly similar and even have the same general haircut.
2) What if Neil has a horrible STD like HIV and that's why he's constantly harping about condoms?
3) What if Neil has some bastard children running around?
4) What if the MC isn't actually Neil's kid, and Neil knows?
5) To go along with the MC's mom being alive theory, what if she's actually been in a coma and the letter is about her finally waking up, or showing signs that she's getting better?
6) What if Bella's actually an alien and that's why she has such crazy eyes?!
...Okay, I'll stop.