Chapter 36
Gavin laughed. “Weren’t you all the ones who used to look down on Josie? Now that she’s off Professor Lawson’s team, suddenly you want to be friends, huh?
“Josie, don’t let them fool you. We’re the ones who actually care about you. We just want you to join the best medical team in the country and have a bright future.
“Everything we did was for your own good. These people will only drag you down. Don’t fall for their sweet talk and turn your back on us. That’d be pretty ungrateful.”
"You—" Zoey was so mad she nearly lunged at him. Gavin was such a phony. He took people’s money and still acted like he was doing them a favor. She’d never met anyone so shameless.
Josie pulled her back. “Yeah, I know. So give me my money.”
Allison and the others burst out laughing. Gavin had gone on and on, but Josie didn’t buy a single word of it.
In the end, Gavin gave the money back. With Allison and the others there, he was too embarrassed not to. Plus, he could tell Josie had changed. She really might post the whole thing online. He was about to graduate—he couldn’t afford to screw things up now.
Gavin left the store, frustrated. Josie wasn’t the same anymore. She used to be so easy to deal with. Now she’d called him out in front of everyone and forced him to pay her back.
Losing face was bad enough, but the money made it worse. He’d already spent what she lent him. He had to borrow from Jaden just to pay her back. And now he had no idea how he’d pay Jaden.
As he thought it over, Gavin figured maybe Josie was acting like this because of what Scarlett said.
He had to admit, those words had been harsh. When Josie first joined the team, she wasn’t exactly the strongest pick. People questioned why David even chose her.
Lots of students wanted to join David’s team, after all. Josie was the only girl, and she always did whatever the five guys told her. After a while, people started talking. If she hadn’t been so focused on school and looked so plain, the rumors might’ve been even worse.
Gavin dated around a lot, so people often asked him about Josie—what she was like, how they got along.
To shut things down, he’d say a few rude things about her, just to make it clear nothing was going on between them. But Josie didn’t get that. She took it the wrong way. Gavin figured she was just being ungrateful.
Then he thought about Scarlett. Sure, she was pretty, but not the sharpest. She really shouldn’t have said all that in front of Josie. Thanks to her, he’d lost Josie’s trust—and a bunch of money.
Gavin made up his mind. He had to break things off with Scarlett. More importantly, he needed to win Josie over again and borrow that money back.
Josie had always been generous and never cared much about money. All she ever cared about was her research. Gavin figured if he treated her nicely and bought her a few books, she’d probably let the whole thing go.
If that didn’t work, he planned to ask Aiden for help. Josie always listened to Aiden. She liked him, and with a few smooth words, Aiden could probably talk her into anything. With that in mind, Gavin made up his mind to find Aiden soon.
Meanwhile, Josie had no idea Gavin was already scheming to get her money again. She was staring at her phone, looking at her bank balance, overwhelmed with all kinds of feelings.
She’d finally gotten her money back—and the relief and satisfaction of reclaiming what was hers felt amazing.
“Thanks for helping me get it back,” Josie said, grabbing her friends’ hands. Her voice trembled a little. “Let’s eat something nice tonight. It’s on me.”
Allison laughed. “We’re holding you to that. Gotta celebrate you being yourself again.”
It might’ve sounded a little dramatic, but it was the truth.
“Let’s pick out some clothes first. You need a few new outfits,” Zoey said, tugging her toward the racks.
Zoey had a good eye. Once Josie changed out of those plain, boring clothes, she looked like a whole new person. Wearing a light purple dress with her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, Josie looked fresh and youthful—like a brighter version of herself. Even her face looked prettier.
“We gotta swap your shoes too,” Zoey said, grabbing a pair of flats. “You’re always in sneakers, right? I know you’re not used to heels, so start with these. Once you get comfortable, you can try heels later.”
She had Josie try them on. When Josie did, everyone took a good look at her.
Adeline clapped her hands. “They weren’t kidding when they said clothes make the person. Josie, you’re actually really pretty!”
Zoey grinned. “You look great. I’ll help you pick out some work clothes next—you can wear them for your internship. They’ll look more professional.
“Don’t worry about shoes; these go with everything. But if you want, get one more pair to switch it up.”
Zoey had clearly thought everything through. She even helped plan out little details. That made Josie want to do even more for her.
A sweet girl like Zoey didn’t deserve to go through the awful things before the time rewound. She didn’t deserve to die like that. Unlike Natalie, who only acted nice, Zoey was beautiful inside and out.
Josie hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. She made up with her roommates, bought new clothes, ate some good food, and finally got her money back from Gavin. For the first time in forever, she felt alive—like she was really living. Away from those jerks, she was sure things would only get better.
The next day, Josie and Adeline headed to the school’s south auditorium for the kickoff meeting of the Medical Innovation Competition. Adeline was one of the student reps for their team. She told Josie the innovation plan Josie had helped write turned out to be really useful—the other team members all liked it.
Even though she’d helped write it, Josie didn’t want Adeline to tell anyone. She didn’t need more people to know about it.
“Oh, by the way, our team’s senior student said he’ll handle the paper," Adeline added. "But if we need more data later, I’ll ask you for help. Once it’s all done, dinner’s on me.”
She linked arms with Josie, and the two of them walked into the hall, chatting and laughing.
“Okay,” Josie said. “If you guys win something, then sure, you treat me. But if you don’t, I’ll pretend I never helped. I’ll deny everything.”
Adeline laughed and gave her a playful pinch on the waist. “You don’t get to decide that—I do.”
Not far from them, Natalie and Aiden were talking with some student government officers. Somehow, Natalie had managed to talk Aiden into letting her take over as the team rep instead of him. Aiden was only there because he was the student government president.
“Hey Aiden,” one of the officers said, nudging him and nodding toward the entrance, “Isn’t that Josie from your old team? I didn’t know she could clean up that well. She actually looks really good.”