How to Walk Past Someone You Hate (Unbothered Mode)

7 min read · Aura

How to walk past someone you hate: keep your normal pace, keep your eyes forward or on where you're going, and keep a neutral, relaxed face. No speeding up, no glaring, no dramatic phone-check. The goal isn't to "win" the moment. It's to make the moment so boring that it doesn't even register.

If passing certain people in the hallway makes you shrink, stiffen up or look at the floor, Aura's quiz finds which leak is giving you away and builds you a plan to fix it: Find my aura leak.

Unbothered (slang): calm, not reacting, not letting someone get to you. Not fake-chill, just genuinely not handing them your energy.

The unbothered walk: pace, eyes, face

When you see someone you can't stand, your body wants to do one of two things: flee or fight. Flee looks like speeding up, ducking your head, suddenly finding your shoelaces fascinating. Fight looks like the stare-down, the loud laugh with your friend, the obvious eye roll.

Both tell them one thing: you still live in my head.

The unbothered walk is the third option. Three parts:

1. Pace: exactly the same as before you saw them

This is the big one. Most people give themselves away by changing speed. Notice your normal walking pace when you're relaxed, and protect it. If anything, go slightly slower, since nerves make us rush.

2. Eyes: forward, with purpose

Look where you're going: the end of the hall, the door, your class. Your eyes should look like they have a destination, not like they're avoiding something.

3. Face: neutral, soft jaw

Unclench your teeth. Relax your forehead. A neutral face with loose muscles reads as calm. A tight jaw and pressed lips read as "I'm trying so hard not to react."

Quick checklist for walking past someone you don't like:

• Shoulders down, not up by your ears
• Arms swinging normally (or hands relaxed, not balled up)
• Breathing out slowly as you pass
• Not narrating the moment to your friend while it's happening

Where to look

Here's the question everyone actually wants answered: where do I look?

The quick neutral glance is underrated. Looking at someone for half a second like they're just any other person, then continuing on, says "you don't scare me and you don't matter to my day." That's peak unbothered.

Nod, ignore or say hi?

How do you walk past someone you know but don't want to talk to? It depends on the history.

The small nod

A tiny chin-lift or nod works for: someone you had a falling out with, a person who's cold to you, or an old friend where things just fizzled. It's polite, costs nothing, and shows you're the bigger person. If they don't nod back, that's their aura loss, not yours.

Just walking on

Totally valid for someone who's been genuinely mean, a bully, or anyone where a nod might open a door you want shut. Ignoring isn't rude when it's quiet. It's only petty when it's performed.

Saying hi

Only if you actually want the relationship to be civil, like a teammate you need to work with. A quick "hey" in passing, no stopping.

Worried about the moment where you wave or say hi and get ignored? Our guide on what to do when you wave at someone and they don't wave back covers the recovery.

When they're with their group

This is harder. One person you can handle. Them plus four friends who all know the drama? Your brain goes full alarm.

Same rules, with two additions:

• Expect the whisper or the laugh. If you've already decided it might happen, it won't knock you off balance. Keep walking at the same pace. Reacting is the only way it lands.
• Don't change your route to avoid them forever. Once in a while is fine. Every day teaches your brain that they control where you get to walk.

The full breakdown of this is in how to walk past a group of people, including exactly what to do if they laugh.

Seeing an ex-friend every day at school

This is the real version of this search. It's not a random person. It's your ex-best friend, and you have to see them every day in class, at lunch, in the hallway or at your locker (UK: form room, corridor).

How to deal with a person that hates you when you have to see them every day:

1. Pick your default in advance. Decide now: nod or no nod. Deciding once means you don't have to agonize every single time.
2. Keep it civil in shared spaces. If you're in the same group project, be polite and brief. "Can you send me your slides by Thursday?" Nothing extra.
3. Don't recruit an army. Getting everyone to pick sides feels good for a week and makes school exhausting for months.
4. Stop checking their stories. Every time you check, you hand them free space in your head.
5. Invest in your own people. The fastest way to feel unbothered is to actually be busy with friends who get you.

How to get along with someone you hate (when you have to)

You don't have to like them. "Getting along" can just mean not making each other's day worse. Be neutral, keep conversations about the task, and don't gossip about them. It keeps your reputation clean and it's weirdly powerful.

Why it's hard to judge your own unbothered walk

Here's the annoying part: you can't see yourself walk. You might feel calm and still be doing the head-duck, or think you looked chill while your shoulders were practically touching your ears. And after it happens, you replay it for an hour.

This is where Aura helps. The quiz spots whether your leak is shrinking when you walk in, eye contact that slips or body language that gives you away, then hands you one move a day to practice, like keeping your pace steady past one person, and a one-tap check-in at night so you track it instead of replaying it. Find my aura leak

Why unbothered wins when you walk past someone you hate

"Walk away like I'm someone you hate" (the lyric people search) is a whole mood, but the real flex isn't the dramatic exit. It's being so steady that the person gets nothing from you.

Here's why unbothered wins:

• You keep your energy. Every glare and speed-walk costs you. Neutral costs almost nothing.
• Other people notice. Onlookers read calm as confidence and big reactions as drama.
• It usually ends the thing. Beef needs two reactions to keep going. Take away yours and it tends to fizzle.
• You actually start to feel it. Acting unbothered for a few weeks often turns into being unbothered for real.

Walk past them like it's nothing, starting this week

The quiz takes two minutes and shows which leak gives you away in moments like this, gives you an aura tier, and builds a 14-move plan with one small thing to do each day and a quick check-in at night. You pay once and there's nothing to cancel.

Find my aura leak

FAQ

How do you walk past someone you know but don't want to talk to?

Keep your pace steady, eyes on where you're headed, and give a tiny nod if ignoring them would be obviously awkward. You don't owe anyone a conversation in a hallway. Brief and neutral is enough.

How do I act unbothered at school?

Keep your routines the same, don't change your route or pace because of one person, and don't talk about them constantly. Being unbothered at school is mostly about where your attention goes, so put it into your own friends, classes and plans.

Should I say hi to someone who hates me?

Only if you want a civil relationship, like when you work together. Otherwise a small nod or just walking on is fine. What matters is that it's calm, not performed.

How do you deal with people you dislike but have to see every day?

Decide your default (nod or not) once, keep shared tasks polite and brief, and stop checking their socials. You don't need to be friends. You just need to not let them run your day.

What does unbothered mean?

Unbothered means calm and not reacting to something that's meant to get to you. It's not fake coolness. It's genuinely deciding that person doesn't get your energy.