Chapter 1

Confidence, something others have but I don't. It is their weapon to socialize with others. And me, my courage to socialize is coming from my friends. Once you got it, never let it go. You are lucky to have a confidence because I've not found it...

...until someone gave it to me.

I'm running late to school. I'm already in the waiting shed together with the people who are also waiting for jeepneys. All I can hear are the noises from different people and the sound of the vehicles on the road.

I looked at my watch and it's already 7:30 in the morning. This is the second time this week that I'll be late. I waited for almost ten minutes before I got into one.

I went inside the jeepney and placed my backpack on my lap. I'm wiping my sweats on my face while waiting for other passengers. Each one of us is being pushed with the people next to us.

"Excuse me," a woman said. I moved closer to the door and let her sit beside me. She's a nursing student based on her uniform and ID.

"One seat on the left and we're ready to go," the driver says as he looked at everyone.

A girl with a messy hair entered the jeepney. Her hair is still wet and she's wearing a make-up. She's my schoomate based on her uniform. She sat in front of me and then the driver started to drive.

As I arrived at the school, I ran towards the schoolgate. The security guard is roaming inside so I walked towards the pathway inside the school.

"Hey! Why are you late?" the guard walked towards me while pointing his stick at me. His stomach is bigger than the security guard scheduled during lunch.

I can hear him shouting but I just ignored it. I can hear his footsteps but I continue to walk. I'm late for my class and he's making me more late.

"You! Let me see your ID," he touched my left shoulder and made me look at him.

"Why?" I asked.

"Your ID," I opened my bag and gave him my ID. "Wear it."

I glared at him and put my ID lace aroud the collar of my uniform. I continued to walk but I decided to run when I saw the time on my cellphone.

I'm at the second floor where my classroom is located. I can hear different noises from different sections. Some were walking at the hallway. I'm in the second section of grade 10 and we are considered as the worst section.

I'm near at our classroom when I heard a noise. I looked back at the stairs and saw the girl that I saw at the jeepney. She dropped her notebooks. I don't want to be scolded by our adviser and I don't want to face other people.

I'm staring at her and watching her pick up every piece of colored pencil, markers, pen, and many things. I'm in the middle of thinking because what If I help her and avoid me because I'm ugly?

"Ugh!" I gulped once and walked slowly towards her direction. She's on the last step of the stairs and her things are rolling downwards.

I looked down and searched for other colored pencils. Some were at the corner of the stairs. I picked those and gave it to her.

"Thank you," she said without looking at me. I can see she smiled but she avoided my eyes. She ran to her classroom. The third section in grade 10.

I sighed and scratched my nape. I regret about helping her. Maybe I was right, she will avoid me. Why do I have an ugly face?

"Oh shoot!" I ran as fast as I can to go to our classroom. I totally forgot about me being late to our first subject.

I saw my classmates and looked for Ms. Ramirez. She's neither at the front nor at her seat. I decided to enter our classroom and my classmates are still making different noises.

Some were playing online games, gossipping, and some were playing around like kids. As I sat on my place, my friend Gavin tapped my right shoulder.

"I'll meet someone after the last period in the morning," he said excitedly. He's a flirt yet nice friend. I'm not wondering why he can court many girls. He doesn't ran out of topics and jokes, his looks can attract girls. I feel insecure about it but I can feel confident at the same time.

"Macy and I will have a date tomorrow for our weeksary," Fred entered our conversation. He's very excited about it because he courted Macy for almost a year.

They continued laughing and chatting about their love life. I realized I forgot to ask them why Ms. Ramirez is not here.

"You're not late. Ms. Ramirez told me that if the teacher is here and the student is late, then it is considered as  late. But she's not here, so you're not late," the secretary of our section, Jace.

"I thought you're absent," I said jokingly. He laughed at me and closed the folder where he puts the attendance record.

"I've never been absent," he proudly said.

As I continue to watch them tease each other, I realized that I may not have a love life like them. I'm shy, I'm ugly, I have no talent. I may look as a happy person but I often feel sad. I don't know if it's just me not having confidence or I'm just really useless.

"Good morning!" I suddenly stood up when I heard Sir Leo.

"Good morning, sir!" we said in chorus.

Sir Leo stood up on his place where the teacher's table is located. He's in his usual aura, he's wearing a light green polo with a lining around the buttons. His hands are inside the pocket of his slocks.

Eventhough Sir Leo is in front of us, most of my classmates were still making noises. I'm sitting between Gavin and Fred. They're throwing jokes to each other and I'm listening to them

"I'll leave this school temporarily," he said. My classmates turned quiet and faced him. Every sigh he makes, it also makes me feel sad. He's a teacher that can also be a friend.

"Sir, why will you leave?" Sofia asked. She's the auditor and one of the closest student to Sir Leo.

"Well, as you can see, my body is getting weaker each day. I'm actually..." he picked up the chalkboard and wrote something on the blackboard. "a patient with coronary artery disease."

"Sir, I hope you'll be fine sooner," Fred said.

"I will. I've been here for almost five years. It's sad to leave this even if it's temporary."

"Sir!" Jerra caught the attention of Sir Leo. "You'll leave now?"

"Tomorrow will be last day you'll see me here. Don't worry, I'll be back," he replied. His sweet smile is visible but it's cleae that he's sad. I saw it it his eyes.

The conversation continued. I'm just listening for every word they say. They even asked if sir has a girlfriend and about his plans for the future. Sir Leo is not a terror teacher. He gets the vibe of his students and that's the thing I admire about him.

It's already 9:30 and break time. I'm fixing my slocks and socks. There are some dust maybe because I ran when I thought I'll be late.

"Adrian, come with us," Gavin is waving his hand like he's calling me.

"Yeah, wait a sec," I replied. As I finished fixing my slocks and socks, I stood up and followed them.

We're at the gymnasium. The building is at the right side of the gym if you are facing the stage. The building for grades 7 and 8 were at the left side of the gym. The building for faculties were located at the back of the stage.

"Why don't just we walk at the pathway?" Fred asked. The canteen is located at the back of the building of grades 7 and 8. The building at the front of the gym is the library.

"Grade 7 are practicing their dances for the program next week," Gavin said.

We continued to walk but before I enter the canteen, I saw a verdurous tree. It also has fruits but still not ready to be picked. I'm fascinated in nature and this is the first time something got my attention again after a month.

"You're attracted again. There are lot of trees everywhere, why don't you take a picture of them?" Gavin laughed at me. He thinks that I am crazy for being fascinated in these kind of things.

"I don't see beautiful trees everyday. I choose the beautiful ones," I replied. I'm a bit offended because he always makes fun of me but I'm used to it.

I have an old camera in our home, I bought it because I want to take a picture of the nature. But because of one thing, I stopped being interested in taking pictures using that camera.

"Let's go!" Fred said and put his arms around Gavin's shoulder.

"I'll wait here," I said. I'm not hungry, I still want to look at this tree. I put my hands on my pocket and stare at this amazing creation.

I can hear the different voices of every student. Some were also bumping into each other. The entrance of the canteen is not as wide as expected. Three people can enter at the same time but because it is crowded, people are pushing each other.

When I heard my friends coming out from the canteen, I stood up from my place. As I moved my head, I accidentaly hit something.

"Ouch!" that's a woman's voice. I massaged my head and I saw that girl massaging her jaw.

"I'm sorry," I said. She looked at me and I avoided her gaze when I noticed that she's the girl I helped earlier this morning.

"It's okay. Thank you again for helping me."

I didn't say any word, I just ran out from that place. I'm walking in front of the two. They were laughing and talking about my interaction with that girl.

I immediately looked at the person who bumped his elbow to my arm. "Why?" I asked irritatedly. He will tease me again about that interaction.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked and laughed again.

"Because you'll just make fun of me. I'd be single all my life, I know."

I'm pissed because of what he always do. I know they have their own love lives. I'm not saying anything about it but why is he really interested?

I'm walking as fast as I can but I decided to stop when I saw something. It is the most beautiful flower I've seen in this school. It is planted directly in the soil. It has yellow petals and a good shape.

"Daisy," as I read that I felt my nerves being alive again.