Emma watched Naruto’s students leave the gym and felt her stomach twist.
They moved through the hall together, some talking with each other, others heading off on their own, but all of them carried themselves with a confidence that seemed increasingly absent from the rest of Winslow. And even though most of them tried to draw less attention to themselves than they used to, it somehow made them stand out even more.
Her eyes settled on Taylor almost immediately. They always did. Taylor was walking beside Halle, listening to something the other girl was saying. She looked relaxed, comfortable even, like she belonged there.
Emma hated it.
There had been a time when Taylor could barely make eye contact with people. She used to hunch her shoulders forward like she was trying to disappear into herself, and every movement had seemed hesitant and uncertain, like she expected something bad to happen if she did anything at all.
Now she walked with her head up, her shoulders were straight, and there was certainty in every step. The change was impossible to miss.
Even physically, she looked different. Weeks of training had filled out her frame, so there was strength in her movements now. Confidence too. She looked healthy. Happy.
And wasn't that a slap to the face?
Taylor didn’t deserve that.
She didn’t.
Emma was the one who deserved it. She was the survivor. She was the one who had been assaulted by the ABB and learned what the world was actually like. She was the one who had adapted afterward instead of falling apart. She had done everything Sophia told her to do. She had gotten stronger. Smarter. Tougher.
Taylor had spent months falling apart over things she should have learned to deal with, and now, somehow, she was the one thriving.
It wasn’t fair.
Emma clenched her jaw.
Ever since Naruto had shown up, Taylor’s life seemed to improve week after week. She had friends. Real friends. People who genuinely wanted to spend time around her.
Emma watched Halle nudge Taylor’s shoulder and saw Taylor smile at whatever had been said. The sight made something unpleasant crawl through her chest.
That should have been her.
There had been a time when Taylor smiled like that around Emma. There had been a time when she trusted her.
The memories surfaced before Emma could stop it, of endless sleepovers, movie nights, hours spent talking about absolutely nothing, and promises that had seemed important when they were younger.
Emma shoved the memories away. They only made her angrier, because while Taylor kept gaining people, Emma seemed to lose them.
Sophia was the worst of it.
After everything, Sophia had chosen Taylor. Maybe not openly, maybe not even in words, but Emma wasn’t blind. Sophia spent more time around Naruto’s students than she ever did around her now. She trained with them, talked to them, and actually respected them.
Emma couldn’t remember the last time Sophia had looked at her with anything except indifference.
For years Sophia had been the strongest person Emma knew. The person who had shown her how the world really worked. The person who had helped her become someone who would never be a victim again.
Then Sophia had simply walked away with no explanation or warning. Nothing.
Emma’s jaw ached from how hard she was clenching it.
And Madison wasn’t much better.
They still talked sometimes, but every conversation felt shorter than it used to. Madison laughed with other people now, made plans with other people, and spent time with other people.
Emma kept waiting for things to go back to normal. They never did. Every week seemed to create a little more distance. Every week someone else drifted away.
Somehow people kept choosing Taylor. She kept getting stronger. She kept getting happier.
Why?
The question burned in the back of Emma’s mind.
Why did everyone keep choosing Taylor? Naruto had chosen her, Sophia had chosen her, and half the school seemed drawn to her these days.
What had Taylor done to deserve any of this?
The answer, as far as Emma could tell, was nothing.
She had simply been there when Naruto arrived. That was it. That was all it took.
Her fingers curled into her palms.
If Naruto had shown up a year earlier, before everything fell apart, maybe things would have been different. Maybe he would have chosen her. Maybe she would have been the one walking away from the gym surrounded by friends instead of standing alone in the hallway watching everyone else leave.
Maybe she would have been the one everyone admired.
Instead she was standing alone in a hallway watching Taylor Hebert become everything she should have been.
The group disappeared around a corner, yet Emma kept staring after them long after they were gone.
It wasn’t fair.
Taylor was succeeding while everything in Emma’s life seemed to be slipping through her fingers.
Sophia was gone. Madison was drifting away. Meanwhile, Taylor kept gaining more.
Most of all, it wasn’t fair that Taylor looked happy.
Taylor was supposed to be the cautionary tale. The girl who broke. The girl who proved Sophia had been right. Instead, every day seemed to offer fresh evidence that the opposite had happened.
And for the first time, Emma found herself confronting a thought she hated.
What if Taylor was really the survivor?
The idea lasted less than a second before Emma shoved it away.
No. Taylor wasn't.
She had fallen apart. She had needed someone to save her.
Emma was the survivor. Emma was. She had to be. And the fact that nobody else seemed capable of seeing that only made everything worse.