Eva's POV

College was difficult to describe. It was like walking into a zoo, except all the animals were allowed to run free and somehow didn't kill each other. It was chaos from start to finish. Fights ensued daily, arguments between friends, enemies and teachers were constant, gossip spread like wildfire... it was mad, yet somehow I thrived off the energy. I was quiet enough that no one gossiped about me but friendly enough that most people knew my name. I could walk through the corridors and say hi to most people, but that'd be it. I didn't really have friends here but that's because I chose to seclude myself. I liked to be the outsider looking in, observing everyone and following their lives without involving myself in them and clouding the judgment I had.
I walked through the corridor with my earphones in, a playlist of my favourite songs playing as I made my way to registration.

Met this girl, late last year, she said don't you worry if I disappear

Ed Sheeran played through my earphones as I slithered through the crowds of people, all in their cliques, catching up on the gossip before classes began. I opened the door to my registration with Mr Williamson and was greeted with a smile as I said morning to him, heading past the popular girls who were all sitting on desks and chairs in a small clump as they gossiped quietly. I threw my bag under my desk and kept my earphones in as I watched the rest of the class filter in as they always did. The alternatives came next, followed by the nerds and finally the bad boys. They didn't often turn up, so today must have been special. The four of them always sat at the desks beside the popular girls and the two groups would have chemistry throughout registration before we all went to class. Of course, I never knew what they said because my earphones remained in the whole time. If anything ever seemed to get interesting, I'd just mute the music so no one could tell I was listening. It was sneaky, yes, but it kept me out of trouble.
It started straight away, one of the popular girls catching the bad boys attention and asking something, twiddling her hair around her finger as she spoke. Three of the bad boys were listening, hungry smiles on their faces but the fourth, Ashton, wasn't even looking at her. Ashton was one of the louder of the group normally, always making jokes and acting the fool which the rest of the gang liked. His hair was normally slicked and styled, but today it hung loose like he couldn't be bothered to put the effort in. There was definitely something off about him today, like he was sad about something. Did his friends know? If so, why were they busy flirting with a popular girl instead of helping him?
His friend Luke, who had blonde hair pulled into a man bun, nudged Ashton's arm with his elbow as he said something he thought was funny. Ashton turned and let out a fake laugh before Luke turned away from him again to talk to this girl. Calum, who had just had a haircut and now sported a really short do - which was now dyed black again after a blonde spurt - and Michael, whose hair was now blonde after about fifty other colours, didn't even look over to Ashton as this girl got all their attention.

"Eva?" I heard over the end of my song, I held my hand up and smiled at Mr Williamson.
The bell rung shortly afterwards and everyone got up, Ashton especially quickly, and headed for the exit as everyone made their way to class. I could see him storm ahead of the other three and decided to linger behind them and listen. I paused my Jason Derulo song and walked behind them, looking like I was oblivious as I secretly listened in to their conversations.

"He's having a bad day today." Michael said, disappointedly. "It's like he's not even here."

"There's something definitely wrong, but he won't tell me. I asked on the way here and he just bit my head off." Luke shrugged.

"Maybe we can get him to talk outside of school. Give him a cigarette to calm himself and try then?" Calum said as he pulled a pack out of his back pocket, his phone falling out of his pocket and beside my feet. I stopped and picked it up, ready to hand it back when a thought hit me. If I could get Ashton's number, maybe I could check on him and see if he's okay? Maybe he just needs to speak to someone who isn't his bad boy best friend. Somehow, Calum hadn't seemed to notice the loss of his phone, so I stopped quickly at my locker and opened it, holding his phone in my hands inside my locker to try and be secretive. My music went back on to drown out any other noise.

I needed a four digit code.

2501 I began, his birthday was always a good shout. Incorrect. Dammit.

1905 I tried again, his most recent girlfriend's birthday. Incorrect. Damnit, come on Eva. I sighed disappointedly, knowing I was never going to guess this. I had one more shot before it locked out for a minute.

Ah fuck it. 1234.

The screen lit up with his apps and I laughed to myself. What an idiot. Without hesitation, I quickly went to his contacts and grabbed Ashton's number, jotting it in my workbook so I could add it to my phone when I got home. Knowing Calum was soon going to realise his phone was gone, I slammed my locker shut and took off down the corridor, heading to the front of the college where I knew the bad boys would be whilst they skipped class and smoked.

I could see them ahead of me as I sped up, suddenly noticing all their eyes upon me as I bypassed the cars in the car park and headed towards their group. I could see them muttering between themselves but with nickelback playing, I couldn't hear them over my music. I confidently strode over to them and stopped in front of them all, now glaring at me for interrupting them. I quickly paused my music and took an earphone out.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Michael was the first to speak to me, although not politely. He took a huge breath of his cigarette and blew the smoke directly at me.

"Are you interrupting us for a good reason?" Luke was second to speak, making me feel nervous. My palms began to sweat and I rubbed them against my legs. Come on Eva, say something! They all exchanged glances that said they were fed up of me and that I was wasting their time. Calum held the cigarette between his fingers in his left hand as his right shot out and grabbed my top, yanking me towards the wall they were leaning up against. My back hit it hard and I let out a scared yelp as Calum's face got in mine, his cigarette held close to my neck.

"Why the fuck are you bothering us?" Calum spoke slowly and patronisingly, scaring me even more. I put my hand in my pocket and slowly held up his phone.

"Y-you dropped it in the corridor." I stammered. Calum let go of me to feel his pocket with his hand, yanking the phone out of my hand and putting it back in there. I stayed there as he looked me up and down, smirking.

"Well, what are you waiting for? A thank you? Get the fuck out of here." He grabbed me by my shoulder and threw me away from their group, all of them laughing as I put my earphone back in and pressed play. I looked back to see them all grinning, all except Ashton who seemed to be looking right at me.