“Honestly, our stats professor has been on my case all week,” Josh groaned suddenly, breaking the lazy silence that hung between you. He kicked a pebble with the heel of his shoe and leaned back against his locker. “I asked one question and he looked at me like I just declared war on Europe.”

“Probably because your ‘question’ was, ‘Prof, is class almost over yet?’ right in the middle of his lecture, stupide,” Dan said, glancing sideways while fixing his dark blue hair in the small mirror stuck inside his locker door.

“It was a valid question! I couldn’t sit through another second of him talking about z-scores and whatever the hell else he was on about.” Josh grumbled.

Alex, who had been silently sorting through his books, let out a quiet sigh. “And that’s why your GPA is low. We're not in high school anymore, Josh. Get it together.”

“There goes the smart-ass...” Josh muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Alex to shoot him a cold glare. Dan, unable to resist, chuckled softly.

“I’m honestly surprised Josh even made it past the entrance exam,” you teased, crossing your arms with a playful smirk.

Alex snorted. “They must’ve been feeling generous that day.”

“Hey, hey! I’ll have you know, I was too handsome to be rejected,” Josh declared proudly, striking a pose and wiggling his eyebrows at you.

Laughing, you playfully pushed his face away. “Eugh, stop that. You look like a constipated raccoon.”

Your little bubble of banter was suddenly pierced by a high-pitched, exaggerated whine accompanied by loud footsteps.

“Oh my god, you guys—! Staaawp being so louddddd~” Nia strutted into your circle like she belonged there, her hips swaying a little too intentionally. She brushed past you, almost as if you weren’t standing there at all, and let out a soft giggle that grated like nails on a chalkboard.

Josh arched a brow. “Oh no. We were being loud? Shocking,” he said with a smirk, nudging Alex who rolled his eyes but smiled faintly.

Nia tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Ugh, anyways! I got hit on in the library today~!” she announced, eyes wide with obvious fake shock. “I was just reading, right? And this guy comes up to me—totally ignoring the girl sitting next to me! Like, she was in a skirt and everything? But he didn’t even look at her. Isn’t that so weird? I guess I’m just not like other girls~!”

Alex choked on his water. Dan coughed to hide a laugh. You just blinked at her.

“Uh-huh... anyway,” you began, determined to steer the conversation back on track, “Where should we grab food to—”

“Oh my gosh, Danny!” Nia suddenly squealed, cutting you off mid-sentence. “Did you get a new haircut?”

Dan, who had just closed his locker, looked mildly taken aback. “Ah no, not really, mon chou..”

Nia giggled and twirled a strand of her hair, ignoring the flash of annoyance in your eyes.