“Everyone else thinks you messed up. But really, look at how you’ve been living these past few years. Did you ever eat on time? We’d all be heading to bed, and you’d still be buried in work.

“I’ve never seen a college student push themselves like that. It’s like you weren’t just studying for yourself—but carrying the load for Aiden and the other four.

“I don’t even know what you were thinking, letting them treat you like that for so long. If it were me, I would’ve bailed way before that.”

Allison had always been straightforward. She used to say stuff like this to Josie all the time, but Josie never listened. Back then, she just thought Allison was being nosy.

Eventually, Allison gave up on trying, and that was how Josie ended up all alone.

Josie only started talking to them again after the time reset. She reached out to them before heading to the hospital, asking them to help pass a message to Aiden and the others. Later, she texted Adeline.

Then she quit David’s team, and Adeline started caring about her again.

Now that Josie thought about it, she understood that even when they weren’t on speaking terms, her friends never truly stopped caring. The moment something happened, they were the first ones to worry about her.

Josie’s eyes turned a little red. “I’m sorry. I was wrong back then. I thought getting into Professor Lawson’s team was such a big deal. I didn’t want to disappoint them, so I tried so hard to please them.

“But now I realize—I didn’t have a mind of my own for years. I was just a tool for them. I did whatever they told me.

“I lost myself, lost my friends, lost the things I used to dream about. So today, I want you guys to see me let go of that old version of me.

“I’m done letting people push me around. I won’t ignore my friends anymore. I want to chase after the dreams I used to have and finally be honest and brave.”

“Good,” Allison said, pulling out a lighter. “We’ll help you. Just don’t forget about us again because of some other nonsense.”

Josie took the lighter. “I won’t, I promise. If I break that promise, you can all pretend you don’t know me.”

“Pretend? Please,” Adeline said, giving Josie a little tap on the head. “You’d better be ready for us to beat some sense into you.”

Allison and Zoey nodded. “Yeah. And if you ditch our dorm activities again, we won’t go easy on you.”

They all burst out laughing. In the middle of the laughter, Josie lit the diary on fire, and then came the gifts—each one thrown into the fire like it meant nothing now.

By the time everything had turned to ashes, her shattered heart felt like it was finally starting to heal. She felt like herself again.

Vincent came back to the lab with the snacks, looking pretty down. Before he even got to the door, he ran into Natalie.

When Natalie saw the snacks in his hand, her heart sank. Josie hadn’t even taken them. That probably meant she wasn’t going to help Vincent either.

“Vincent, is Josie still mad at everyone?” Natalie asked, sounding upset. “It’s all my fault. She’s acting cold to everyone because of me.”

Vincent agreed. He thought Josie was being pretty cold and harsh. He’d only asked her for a small favor, and she shot him down without even giving it a second thought.

He clenched his jaw. “It’s not your fault. We just didn’t see her for who she really was. Turns out she’s pretty ungrateful. After everything we did for her, she turned on us like it was nothing.”

Natalie gave a bitter laugh. She felt even more sure now—Josie only got where she was because Aiden and the other four had helped her. And Natalie had made up her mind—she was going to destroy Josie’s reputation.