Eva's PoV

My earphones were instantly silenced as Ashton walked into registration, sitting beside Luke as they all stared at their phones. I got my phone out and saw the picture had been sent to me too, so opened it quickly to see what he'd sent that had managed to silence this zoo of a college. My jaw dropped once the photo loaded. There was a photo of Amber, who normally didn't have a hair or eyelash out of place, drunk and clearly unaware of anything around her. Her bun was messy and had fallen to one side, her makeup smudged down her face and something - either spit or vomit - dripping from her chin. A message had been typed underneath it which I'm assuming Ashton had typed just before sending it, which would have been around the time I'd text him to warn him. Oh dear. I'd caused this.

Amber, sweetie, before you go spreading rumours about who ended it with who and which one of us was upset - remember I've got things like this that would ruin your reputation anyway. I'm doing fine. I've moved on. You're the one bringing it up.

Despite never knowing Amber, even I could tell this would have been something that absolutely ruined her. I'd seen her around with Ashton and she was always perfect looking so something like this which had now been sent to the whole college would absolutely annihilate her and force her to seek revenge.

"So Ashton, Amber said you were really broken up about splitting." Hannah said, desperate to get more information so that she could spread it and stay Queen Bee. Ashton looked over at her with his signature smirk, the one he would normally have plastered on his face that seemed to disappear for a day or two.

"Amber is just trying to make it sound like it affected me as much as it did to her. Nah, I'm over it." He said, his cocky big-headed demeanour back like magic. The fallen man that I'd seen yesterday was long gone, swept under the rug until he'd be alone when he'd let his walls back down and let his feelings out.

"That's easy for you to say though, where's the proof?" Hannah said snidely, hinting that what Amber had told her had proof behind it.

"What proof do you need? I've got a list of girls waiting to get with me, it's longer than your dumb blonde extensions. I can add you to it if you want?" He raised his eyebrows before winking. I held back from tutting once more as I looked away speechless. How could he just flip a switch and go from the depressed man I saw yesterday to this cocky, confident asshole? Hannah stared back at him for a second before a smile grew on her face.

"As long as I'm not at the bottom." She winked back, her friends grinning between them. Ashton's friends all smiled too, nudging him as if to congratulate him on bagging the leader of the popular girls.

"But she cheated on you. Does that not hurt?" Peace added, maybe her tone a little harsher than she meant. Ashton narrowed his eyes at her, as did his friends. She audibly gulped in nervousness, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

"Nah, because I'd been doing it to her most of the time. Just surprised she didn't find out." Ashton smirked over to his friends who were all laughing happily at his response as if he'd said something clever. He was proud to admit he'd cheated on her the whole time and they were happy with how their friend acted? Honestly this is why I kept to myself. I was a second away from putting my music back on but there was something telling me to keep listening, something about the way Ashton quickly looked away and his face sunk as he looked at the floor. Captivated by his sadness, I stared on not realising that it was quite as obvious as it was. Ashton looked up and locked eyes with me. For a second, all was calm as we seemed to understand each other's sadness but then the demeanour changed back to his old as he bolted upright and snapped at me.

"What?" He scrunched his face up as he glared at me. "Take a picture, it lasts longer!" His friends all looked back at me, along with the popular girls.

"Earphones again?" Luke added and Ashton nodded, although there was a slight hesitation and reluctance before he did. Hannah and her group stared back at me just as harshly.

"Urgh, she is so weird." Hannah voiced, her eyes locking with mine with a kind of hatred I'd not seen from her before. Was this because I took the focus off her for one measly second? Because Ashton spoke to me? "I never see her without earphones in. She's always listening to music. Doesn't seem to want to associate with anyone." She flicked her blonde hair away from her face and it landed behind her shoulder. Without another second wasted, she spun back to Ashton and grabbed his attention again - which in a way I was actually thankful for this time. I used this moment to turn my music back on, a heavy metal song blaring as it calmed my nerves from the last few moments. I could see the bad boys and popular girls chatting but no longer could hear or care about what they were saying. Today was just proof of why I keep to myself and I never want to be put on the spot again. These guys are awful people, I've learnt that now. Cheaters, liars and users. There is no need for me to try to help Ashton any more. He's clearly saddened by what happened but is currently fuelled by revenge and anger. Whilst he's in this state there's no point in texting him or helping him out. This place is honestly a hellhole and I can't wait for it to be over, for the freedom of adulthood to engulf me and I can choose to work wherever I want away from people who try too hard to have friends and don't care enough about grades to keep this place functioning.