Chapter 32
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 has 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, her face turning 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. I was thinking, since this all started because of me, maybe I should go say sorry to her.”
Aiden 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. Josie always took care of that. I really didn’t think she’d say no.”
“That’s enough. She’s not even on the team anymore. Stop 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 Josie leave for good. “Thanks, Aiden.”