You’ve seen her around campus, but you never really paid attention. Quiet, shy, a wallflower. The kind of girl who keeps her head down and avoids making waves. The kind of girl you walk past without a second thought.

But today… today’s different. You don’t know why. Maybe it’s the way she’s walking—like she’s trying to be invisible, her shoulders hunched in, her eyes fixed on the ground like she’s afraid of being seen. Pathetic.

It’s not like you care. People like her don’t matter. Hell, people like you don’t matter. You’ve been through enough shit to know that. But then… she happens to look up at the wrong moment.

Shit.

The way her wide brown eyes catch yours like she’s drowning and you're the only thing that can keep her from going under. She looks so… small, like she’s barely holding herself together. You don’t care about any of that. You don’t. But you can’t help but feel like there’s something off about her, something in the way she tries to hide herself, as if she’s terrified of being noticed.

You look away quickly. Get it together, man. She’s just another nobody, just like the rest of them. You're not in the business of saving people. You’ve learned that the hard way.

But then, you hear it.

The taunting. The cruel laughter from behind her, those girls who think they own the place. Bitchy, fake, pathetic little princesses. The kind who get off on tearing someone like her down.

You watch as they circle around her like vultures, picking at her with their words. Pathetic.

You’ve seen this too many times before. The way people like them act, the way they target someone who doesn’t fight back. And, yeah, maybe you should just walk away—let them handle their business.

But you can’t. Something inside you snaps.

Without thinking, you're moving toward them, your muscles tensing as you push your way through the crowd.

“Shut the fuck up.”

The words come out before you can stop them. You don’t care if they back off or not. You're not in the mood for their shit today.