Beauty Under the Lens

CHAPTER 1

Amanda's POV



I don't know why I'm still running when I could just walk-run instead. It will make no difference anyway, even if I run it feels like I'm moving so slowly. I feel like I might slip or stumble in my school shoes.

"Oh my, I'm late!" Astrid and Elara left our house late last night, and they were still chatting with me when they got home.

"Ma'am Amanda, please slow down!" our driver, Kuya Carding, shouted at me when I was getting far from him. I raised my hand and gave him a thumbs up but kept on running. When I reached the gate of the senior high school building, I went straight inside.

"Stop!" the lady guard called out to me. I gave her an awkward smile while wiping my forehead, sweaty from the heat, and then continued running.

"First, scan your ID," I shifted my gaze to the stairs and the ID scanner, confused about what to do first.

"Ugh! Let's just get this over with," I ran to the ID scanner and then tried to climb the stairs again. Why did we have to end up on the third floor? Grade 12 is so lucky to use the second floor.

But the guard stopped me again. I closed my eyes as I remembered that it was Monday today. Every Monday, the flag ceremony for grade 11 is scheduled.

"Leave your bag here for now and you'll be in the second batch for the flag ceremony," the guard pointed to where I could place my bag. I placed it there and took my water bottle.

"Wow, you're so messy already, early in the morning, don't you have a towel there? Meanwhile, your sister looked so fresh and beautiful when she entered. Aria is so pretty, right?" She's the most talkative guard this school has ever had. They seem to change guards every year or every 2 years. Maybe her mouth is drying up from standing guard every day without anyone to talk to, so she will talk just about anything.

She's nice for being concerned though.

Luckily, I didn't forget to grab my handkerchief earlier. Otherwise, I wouldn't have anything to wipe myself with.

"You shouldn't make a habit of being late. Aren't you tired of your teachers constantly lecturing you?" The older guard said as she walked around.

"It's not the teachers I'm tired of, it's our class president. He acts like he's our adviser. I always end up as his example," I complained. This guard seems like a good listener. It's a good opportunity to vent about Asher.

"Oh, is that Asher? Wow! He's so hands-on with all of you! He even disciplines his classmates."

Even the guard too? Does Asher only receive praises from this school?

After the flag ceremony for the latecomers, I climbed the stairs. I felt the heaviness in my thighs. We climb to the third floor every day, but it never gets easier. It's really tiring.

As I counted the steps left before reaching the third floor, I felt a presence on my left.

"Amanda!"

I turned from looking at the stairs to where the voice came from.

"Oh, Cedric, it's you! Hello, good morning!" I greeted him with a smile. He's one of the respected students on campus. He's the captain of the basketball team who represented us for CDAPS-AL.

"Do you want me to carry your bag for you? You look really exhausted," Cedric’s voice sounded concerned.

I shook my head. "No need, thanks anyway."

He looked at me as if expecting me to change my mind. And why is he helping me? I don't think his intentions are pure. Maybe he's just trying to impress me before pursuing my sister.

"Come on, Cedric. You might be late too," I glanced at my wristwatch. It's only 7:23 in the morning. We're just starting homeroom, so the secretary might still be taking attendance. I need to hurry.

"No, I can-"

"Hey! What's going on here? Secret love affair?" two students suddenly appeared, with Jasper speaking and Axel whistling behind him. Oh no!

"N-no!" I quickly put some distance between Cedric and me. We looked like we had something going on because we were standing close to each other on the stairs. Here on our campus, being close to the opposite gender has meaning.

I turned to Cedric.

"Go ahead, Cedric, go upstairs. I'm fine now," I smiled faintly at him. He started climbing but kept looking back at me.

"You sure?"

"Mhm!" I nodded.

When Jasper, Axel and I were left behind, they gave me a suspicious look.

"Hmm... you're late, Amanda. Your name has already been called for attendance. You're in trouble with Asher," Axel added, raising his finger as emphasis.

My eyes widened as I remembered that I was indeed late.

"Both of you are in trouble too! Isn't it prohibited to leave after homeroom?" I tried to threaten them, knowing it wouldn't have any effect on them.

"Privileges of being Asher’s friend. And besides, our teacher is absent. We need to pee," Axel explained.

I crossed my arms and arched a brow. "And?"

I really doubted that these two were just going to the restroom.

"And of course, we'll also buy turon at the canteen." I knew it! This was also something I sometimes did with Astrid and Elara.

"Tss! Just going to the CR and yet the two of you have to go together. You two are such girls."

"You're such a talker. Come on, go upstairs! You talk too much!" Jasper waved his hands, shooing me away.

And that's exactly what I did.

When I reached the front of the third door, our section's room, I turned the doorknob but it was locked. I raised my hand and knocked softly on the door in case there was a substitute teacher who might have arrived to take over for our absent teacher.

I peeked through the window and saw Elara and Astrid in the third row. They also saw me and waved.

"Why are you late?" Astrid mouthed. I couldn't hear her, but I think that's what she's asking me.

"I overslept. I'm opening the door," I mouthed back, pointing to the left side for them to understand that I was referring to the door. Before I could see their response or what Astrid and Elara would do, my view was blocked by a body. I slowly lifted my gaze until my eyes met with our class president.

Asher has an athletic build, even though he's not very active in sports. He has slightly wavy hair and dark brown eyes. He could pass as Theo James' brother. His eyes are deep, staring into them feels like drowning. That's why many are drawn to him.

"Hehe," I scratched my head. This is awkward.

He crossed his arms, a quizzical brow arched above his left eye. His right finger tapped his left arm. He leaned in to open the glass window.

"Good morning, Ms. Velarde, you're late." I was the first to break our staring contest. I looked away from him and focused my attention on the door.

"Yeah," there's no denying that I'm late. "Can you spare me the lectures, Asher?" I cleared my throat because of his closeness.

"There's... there's CCTV in the hallway. I might get caught here. Please open the door." I said but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you weren't so busy chit-chatting with men, you wouldn't be late. So whose fault is that?" My mouth fell open at his words. How did he...

"Just open the door, Asher," I said in a firm tone. I don't have time for this. Fine! He's right and I'm wrong. He has a point between the two of us.

He rolled his eyes at me and walked towards what I assumed was the door. I moved away from the window and waited for our classroom door to open.

Finally! After running, standing for a long time during the flag ceremony, and climbing up to the third floor, I can finally sit down.

"Thank you!" sarcasm was evident in my voice. I grinned at him and went straight inside. I crossed paths with Rose who seemed to be heading towards Asher. She gave me a disgusted look.

Rose picked up the comb resting on the armchair in the first row and handed it to me. I just stared at her hand because I didn't know what she wanted me to do.

"Comb your hair," she insisted, moving the comb even closer to me.

"Give your family some dignity. The Velardes are rich, you don't look like you belong to them. It would be better if you were pretty, but unfortunately, you're not. The least you could do is fix yourself up. So you can at least be somewhat pleasant in the eyes."

She flipped her hair over her shoulders and passed by me. I blew air at my side bangs and rolled my eyes.

"Asher... um... here's the attendance sheet," Rose said in a sugary sweet voice, completely different from the tone she used with me just now.

Asher spoke, but he wasn't looking at Rose, he was looking at me. I gave him a big stare. Flirt!

I placed the comb Rose gave me back in my hand where she originally put it earlier. I put my bag in the second row. That's where I'm assigned to sit. Astrid and I aren't sitting next to each other because Asher made the seating arrangements for us. We're apparently too loud when we're together, so we were separated.

"Did you do the reading and writing assignment?" I heard one of my classmates ask their seatmate.

I immediately turned to them. "There's an assignment?"

They both nodded. "Yes, you haven't done it yet? That's new," Jenny commented.

Luis, Jenny’s seatmate, covered her mouth in shock. "Oh my gosh! You don't have the assignment either? What happened to you? We thought you were Ms. Punctual. It's the only good thing about you actually." Luis and Jenny burst into laughter. Am I really that ugly to be told that by them?

I'm not going to dwell on that now. What I'm worried about is, do we really have an assignment?

That's when I remembered that our Reading and Writing teacher had assigned an activity, since it's the day before the exam, and we're only being given it now.