Chapter 97

"It's a long story," Josie said, waving her hand. "Let me take a shower and change first. I'll tell you all about it later."

After her shower, she chose a turtleneck sweater, layered it with a down vest, and topped it off with a camel-colored coat.

Zoey was the one who took her shopping for these clothes not long ago.

Even though Josie was slim, her shoulders were fairly broad, and she wasn’t exactly short. With a pair of boots, she looked tall and chic.

However, her cheeks were still a little puffy.

Luckily, Zoey had put some light makeup on her to cover it up.

"Who did this to you? Seriously, what kind of jerk would go that far?" Zoey’s eyes were red with anger.

She added, "You'd better tell us everything later. We'll stand up for you."

Josie gave a faint smile. "Alright."

"Josie, you look amazing," Allison said, circling around her. "No matter how the competition goes, with that vibe today, you've already won!"

Adeline hooked her arm through Josie’s. "For sure. With Josie on the field, there's no way we can lose. Come on, let's get to the competition!"

The competition was held in the school’s main auditorium.

Each team gave a live presentation of their project, and a panel of professional judges would score them.

Each department had a set quota for entries. If there were too many submissions, the department would do an internal selection first.

Only the best ones would get nominated to represent the department at the school level.

David’s team could submit their work directly to the school.

It was the same for Delilah’s team, so what they were doing today was already the second round of competition.

Thirty projects would make it through this round, and a month later, only ten would be picked from those thirty.

Among these ten projects, one would be awarded the Grand Prize, two would receive the First Prize, three would get the Second Prize, and four would be given the Third Prize.

Just before Josie and Adeline entered the venue, Aiden and his group walked in ahead of them.

Aiden was wearing a casual jacket under a smoky gray coat. Beside him, Natalie had her long hair flowing over her shoulders.

She was dressed in a short trench coat in the same color as Aiden’s, tied with a bow at the waist.

She paired it with skinny jeans and knee-high boots.

Her tall frame made her legs look even longer.

As soon as the two of them showed up, the whole place started buzzing.

People all around were whispering and gossiping about them.

A person said, “No wonder they’re the most good-looking people in their department. Talk about a perfect match!"

Another person said, "They're so easy on the eyes. Natalie is gorgeous. If only Josie were the one up there instead…"

The first person asked, "Why even mention her? She can’t hold a candle to Natalie. That country bumpkin doesn’t even deserve to stand next to Aiden."

Someone else said, "Thank goodness she left Professor Lawson’s team. Otherwise, she’d really drag down the whole team’s looks."

The first person said, "Dude, you’re hilarious. Looks don’t mean shit. The professors aren’t judging based on looks today."

Someone else said, "Yeah, that’s true. I heard Josie is competing too. Do you think she’s biting off more than she can chew?"

A person said, "Probably just can’t let it go."

“She wants to prove she can still shine without Professor Lawson’s team, but she doesn’t even realize she never stood out when she was on his team.

"If it weren’t for this plagiarism thing, I wouldn’t even know that she was in Professor Lawson’s team.

"Do you think she was just riding on the team’s coattails to get trophies?”

Another person said, "Yeah, that's true. I heard Professor Lawson’s team wins every campus competition.

"Since the whole team gets the trophy, she’s probably racked up quite a few awards by now."

A person said, "But that’s not the whole story. I actually read her paper this time, and it was honestly impressive.

"I heard it even got published in the top medical journal in the country. She’s definitely got some real skills."

Another person said, "If she didn’t have any skills, she wouldn’t have made it onto Professor Lawson’s team in the first place.

"I just think that she’s still not in the same league as the other people in Professor Lawson’s team, let alone Natalie!"

A person said, "Don’t be so sure. Let’s see how she does in this competition first."

Another person asked, "Isn’t it obvious? Aiden’s team is gonna take first place for sure. Josie probably won’t even make it out of the prelims!"

Someone else said, "Exactly, it’s a niche field. How much real innovation can they even come up with?"