Chapter 23
Natalie held onto Vincent’s arm. I’m sure Josie still remembers how good you guys were to her. She’s just mad right now and lost sight
of it.
Tell me how did she used to get along with you all? What’s she most scared of? What does she care about most?”
“I know,” Vincent said, shaking her off and walking faster. “She cares about Aiden the most. She always listened to him. The only reason she’s this angry is that Aiden took your side and didn’t back her up.
“If Aiden just talks to her calmly, she’ll come around. She’ll stop being mad at us. I’ll go talk to Aiden.
Natalie stood there watching him hurry off, and her face turned cold. She almost found it laughable–in a bad way.
Back when everyone thought Josie was in the wrong and Natalie was in the right, it felt great. But now that Josie had quit, suddenly everyone forgot what she had done wrong.
Natalie thought Vincent was an idiot. Instead of figuring out what dirt he had on Josie to keep her under control, all he could think about was getting Aiden to play nice.
Aiden was the golden boy–the student government president, the one everyone loved. Natalie didn’t think someone like him would bother being nice to someone like Josie.
Natalie rushed after Vincent. She couldn’t let Aiden be nice to Josie. Aiden was hers. He wasn’t allowed to care about any other girl–not even a little.
When she caught up, Aiden was already pissed. “If she doesn’t want it, let her be. Why are you so hung up on this? It’s not the first time. Don’t you know how she is by now?”
“Don’t be mad, Aiden, Natalie said softly, pressing a hand to his chest to calm him down.
She handed Aiden a bottle of water. Vincent’s just nervous. He’s worried Josie will join another team and stop being close to us. thinking, since this all started because of me, maybe I should go say sorry to her.”
Auden slammed the water bottle down on the table. “Don’t. She’s the one who screwed up. She apologized, sure, but now she’s acting like this again. To be honest, I didn’t think she even understood what she’d done.
“I was only gonna talk to her because I was worried she might do something stupid after quitting, especially with everything people were saying online. But if she’s not gonna listen or care that we tried to be nice, then forget it.”
By now, it was clear to everyone that Josie wasn’t coming back. They were just bitter about how cold she’d been
Vincent took it the hardest. “Aiden, can’t you just talk to her one more time? She’s been part of our team for years. Do we really have to let things end like this?”
“I’m the one making things worse, huh?” Aiden snapped, turning to glare at him. “Let’s be real. You just want her help with your grad school prep
“You always say she’s your junior. But think about it–how much work have you dumped on her over the years? You suddenly can’t handle that stuff without her, huh? Want me to tell Professor Lawson to ask her back and kick you out instead?”
Vincent’s face went pale, then red. “That’s not what I meant. We’ve had so much going on Lately. Somebody’s gotta handle the small stuff, like organizing files, Joste always took care of that I really didn’t think she’d say no.”
“That’s enough. She’s not even ou
sot even on the team anymore.
- Stop tryin
trying to use her,” Aiden said, his voice cold and flat.
“But don’t stress too much” he added. “Josie’s never stayed mad at me for more than three days She’ll come apologize within three days. like always. When she does. I’ll put in a good word for you”
Vincent brightened. He figured Aiden wouldn’t actually let Josse leave for good. “Thanks. Aiden.
In their group. Josie had always looked up to Aiden. She once said he was a big reason why she joined in the first place.
Josie never said she liked Aiden out loud, but Aiden had picked up on it. He’d even mentioned it to a few others in private, saying her like family and warning them not to cross any lines
With Aiden stepping in, Vincent felt sure Josie wouldn’t turn them down.
hei
11:19 AM
Chapter 23
That afternoon, Josie got a call from Sean “Go to a meeting for me. Share the notes in the group chat later,”
He hung up before she could even ask what kind of meeting.
Josie stared
at the dark screen, confused. She was just about to check the school forum when a message from Sean popped up.
[The 25th Aloville Medical School Medical Innovation Competition kickoff meeting will be held on September 27th in the south auditorium. We kindly ask all student representatives to be there on time.]
Josie understood–Claire had listed Sean’s number when signing up, so he was the only one who got the text,
For some reason, that simple message made Josie smile. Sean had asked her to go. That meant she was representing the tearn.
Back when she was with David’s group, she never got to do stuff like this. She was always the one working behind the scenes, never the one who got credit.
But things were different now. She was representing Delilah’s research team. This was the first time she’d ever gone to a meeting as a team representative. She didn’t want to mess it up.
Josie
Josie turned to look through her clothes. She didn’t have much–just a few plain, dark pieces.
She didn’t have the money or time to go shopping. Besides, Aiden used to say researchers should stay low–key and not waste time on appearances. He told her that if one wasn’t good–looking, dressing up wouldn’t help anyway.
Those words used to crush her. They made her want to disappear under layers of dark, baggy clothes so no one would look at her twice.
But now, things were changing. She didn’t want to hide anymore. She wanted to look good. She wanted Aiden to see she wasn’t some plain nobody. Compared to him, she looked ten times better.
She checked her phone to ser how much money she had left. Between her part–time job, scholarships, and competition prizes, her savings totaled less than 10 thousand dollars.
Back when she was still in David’s team, she worked part–time as a medical assistant and made about 500 dollars a month–just enough to scrape by
But that money was gone now. Delilah’s team had let her join, but they hadn’t said anything about pay. And Josie didn’t dare bring it up
yet.
She knew she had to stretch her money until her official internship started next semester.
She grabbed her bag, ready to head out for some clothes, when Adeline walked in. “I thought you didn’t have class. Where are you going??
“Going shopping.” Josie said with a smile. “Wanna come with me?”
Adeline perked up. “You barely ever shop. We have to bring Zoey. She’s way better at picking out clothes than you.”
Soon, Zoey joined them, and then Allison came back. The four of them headed off together.
Zoey was a city girl. Her family had money, and she had a great sense of style. She knew exactly where to go and led them straight to a trendy boutique,
“This place doesn’t sell anything ugly, Zoey said confidently. “Just pick what you like–ll help you match stuff up. You’ll look amazing”
She pushed open the door and waved them in
The place was packed. Not far from the entrance, a man had his arm around a woman’s waist. He was smiling, helping her pick out
“Don’t worry about the price,” said the man. It was Gavin’s voice. “If you like it, just buy it. I’ve got money”
Josie’s smile vanished. Her eyes turned cold as she walked straight toward Gavin.
