David adjusted his glasses, his gaze stern as he looked at Aiden. “After all this time as my student, don’t you know what I absolutely cannot tolerate?”
“I’m sorry, Professor Lawson,” Aiden said, lowering his head. He continued, “You can accept your students being ordinary, but you absolutely can’t tolerate them taking shortcuts. Josie has already crossed your bottom line, and you won’t allow her to keep making the same mistakes. You’re doing all this for her own good!”
David waved his hand. “That’s all I need to hear. You can go now.”
Aiden felt a pang of discomfort in his chest. He knew that after all this, Josie would not only lose face but might not even be able to graduate. He remembered that Josie used to quietly follow him around, always so obedient and sensible, finishing every task he gave her. Even if she was a little slow, he felt that she didn’t have any other flaws.
He thought, ‘So why couldn’t she just listen to us like before? Why did she have to go against us and insist on being Professor Wilcourt’s pawn?’
Clenching his jaw, Aiden thought, ‘You brought this on yourself, Josie. Don’t blame us for being ruthless.’
When Josie got back to the dorm, she found Adeline on the phone with Joseph. She pointed at the phone, letting Adeline know she wanted to say a few words to Joseph. Adeline handed her the phone.
“Let me put it on speaker,” Josie said as she took the phone and switched it to speaker mode right away.
Joseph’s voice came through right away. “Hey, Josie. I heard all about it from Adeline. Thanks for helping her out with the creative plan for the competition!”
“No problem. Adeline’s helped me a ton too,” Josie replied with a smile. She continued, “Sorry to break up your conversation, but I’ve got some good news I just can’t wait to tell you guys.”
“What is it? Why are you grinning like that?” Adeline asked, her eyes full of curiosity as she stared at Josie.
Josie tugged Adeline over. “It’s about Joseph’s internship. After you mentioned it last time, I went and asked Professor Wilcourt for you. Professor Wilcourt said Joseph can just take his resume straight to the Central Research Institute. She’ll put in a good word with Professor Jeremy Wilcourt there and get his internship approved.”
“Really?” Adeline exclaimed while throwing her arms around Josie, “Josie, you’re amazing! How can I ever thank you enough?”
Josie smiled. “Joseph’s listening, you know. Calm down a bit.”
“How can I possibly stay calm right now?” Adeline said, patting her chest. She asked, “Joseph, did you hear that? You get to intern at the Central Research Institute! This is all thanks to Josie. You really owe her one.”
Before Joseph could get a word in, Josie jumped in, “No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Adeline. I only asked Professor Wilcourt because of her. Honestly, Professor Wilcourt agreeing wasn’t just because of me. It’s mainly because your project really impressed a lot of professors. Joseph, you’ve always been one of the top students. Otherwise, Professor Wilcourt wouldn’t have agreed so easily.”
Joseph chuckled. “Well, either way, thanks a ton. How about this? When everyone’s back at the dorm tonight, I’ll treat you all to dinner. Josie, if there’s anything you want, just tell Adeline, and I’ll get it for you.”
“Yeah! Whatever you want, just tell Joseph to buy it for you,” Adeline chimed in, her face flushed. It seemed that she admired Josie a lot at the moment.
Josie couldn’t help but laugh. She said, “Seriously, you don’t have to get me anything. I just have one request. If Professor Wilcourt ever needs your help, you can’t say no, okay? If you don’t end up staying after the internship, don’t come blaming me!”
“Don’t worry, I get it,” Joseph promised, “I’ll make sure to do my best and not let Professor Wilcourt or Adeline down.”
Josie smiled. “Good. You two go ahead and keep chatting. I’m gonna go take a shower.”
With that, she shot Adeline a playful wink, grabbed her change of clothes, and headed off to the bathroom.