Prices actually can go cheaper as the date nears. But only if the airline is having trouble filling the seats. Not likely during spring break on a flight to the USVI.
Buying earlier would have been best. If your a student with an e-mail address that ends in "edu" try
http://www.studentuniverse.com/new/. My daughters nabbed some great deals through them. Keep in mind they don't always have the lowest fare avail. So check out the prices of the sites listed above as well.
Bottom line is research really pays off when buying airfare. I've got cross country R/T seats of under $200 on a regular basis. Often the person next me will complain that they couldn't believe this flight was over $1000.
Finally, often changing your departure airport can say you big. I used to live near Portland, Or (PDX) and I always checked Seattle (SEA) prices. Other times PDX beat SEA by a wide margin. You can, as someone mentioned above, try using someone like Southwest to get to a cheaper departure point to the VI. Also check Jet Blue (use their site for this) they regularly have 199 R/T fare sales to New York from PDX. Once you get to NY a flight to the VI is likely going to be less. The flexibility you have the better off you're going to be, one day either way can often save you several hundred bucks.
Best of luck with the she males.