TWO

"I want to leave here! Don't you understand what I'm saying? Are you deaf?" I yelled in disgust at an officer in front of me.

I really wanted to go to him to let them know that I wanted to leave this training camp. I'm not for this. It's a big joke that I'm here! I don't want to swallow a nail or climb a tree just to be a soldier! Oh my!

I cringe just thinking about crawling through mud or shooting human-shaped cardboard boxes. What do I know about that, right? All I know is pampering myself. Shop at the mall for branded clothes. Go to a salon, do make-up. Soak in a milk bath. And order my nannies to do what I want. That's me. Then I come here to a training camp? I? Beau Orenciana? A princess? Wow just wow. I'd really go crazy if I haven't been out here.

"You're not really going to answer, huh? I said, I want to leave here! I went to the wrong place! I'm not for this. I don't know anything about it!" I screamed. I want to tweak my hair because of the problem I'm in. Is this a dream? Will I wake up in my soft bed?

"What now?! Are you really not going to answer?!" I'm so annoyed. I don't like it at all, it annoys me, especially when I get pimples on my face. Oh my! I hate pimples! Ugh! I'm really going to die, I swear.

"Miss, once you're in here, you can't come out. That's in the protocol of the training camp," he answered me in a full voice.

My eyebrows arched because of what I heard. Is he serious?

"What?! You have no right not to let anyone who wants to come out here! You are doing that against the law!" I approached him and held his collar on both sides. I shook him hard because I was so annoyed. The officer in front of me did not flinch.

"Protocol-"

"What commotion is this?" A voice asked. He came towards us.

I was still annoyed when I faced him. I was stunned to see his face. Blue eyes were the first thing I noticed. Of all the officers here in the camp, he is the most handsome. But even though he is very handsome, I still can't shake it. Many people are fooled by such a face. I don't want to belong to them.

"Commander" said the officer I was talking to. He removed my hand that was on his collar and stood straight as he saluted the Commander he called.

My eyebrows arched up. So, is he the commander here? That's why he's handsome.

The 'commander' nodded in response to his greeting.

"What's wrong here, Officer Corpuz?"

"Comamander! Sir! She wants to leave this training camp."

The commander turned to me. He has a poker face so I don't know what he's thinking. Whether he is angry or not. His facial expression is hard to read.

"Did you sign the waiver before you came here?" He asked me. Even his voice is handsome too. Manly.

Waiver?

"I don't have-" I stopped speaking, remembering that someone had made me sign a waiver before I was let inside. Because I was in too much of a hurry, I signed it right away without even reading its contents. I looked at him wide-eyed. Is that the waiver they are referring to?

"Based on your face, you didn't read the document you were given. You just signed it"

"I didn't know that was what was written there!" I mumbled.

"Wrong reasoning, woman. What's your name?"

"Does everyone here always ask my name?! For god's sake! You're annoying!" I rudely said. I don't know what to do to get out of here.

"The conversation won't go well if you use an angry voice and yell, woman" he said to me seriously. He has a poker face but his eyes are menacing.

"Answer the commander properly, miss, if you don't want to be punished. You're new to the camp so you don't know the rules here yet," whispered the officer I was fighting earlier, who was called Officer Corpuz.

I folded my arms. I'm hard-headed. When I don't want to. I do not want it. I stared at their commander. Challenging him. I didn't back down, especially when I wanted something.

"Miss" Officer Corpuz warned me. I ignored him. Men here are afraid of their commander. Not me! I am not afraid. I saw him call an officer inside the office. I did not hear their conversation, but based on the movement of their mouths. The commander asked him. The officer went to his ear and whispered something to him. He nodded and dismissed the officer afterwards.

"Beau Orenciana." He called me. So, he asked the officer about my name.

"What?" I asked rudely. I won't give them respect if they don't let me out of the camp. I want to leave here.

He looked at me from head to toe. By the way he looks, he judges my appearance now. Is it my fault why I'm dressed like this? Need to be clean when running in the mud?

"Do you know that it's rude to look at someone, especially when you don't really know them personally?" I said.

"Rule number one, proper attire" he said.

I'm clueless about what he's saying. I don't need their rules. What I need is to get out of here now.

"I don't care about your rules here."

"Santiago!" he called loudly. The man he had called earlier approached him. He had a pair of scissors in his hands. The commander took the scissors and faced me.

"If you read the rules in the waiver given to you, you know what I'm going to do now."

"I'm repeating myself. I don't care about your rules."

He came in my direction. I was alarmed, so I stepped back a little. His emotionless eyes made me nervous. I don't know what he is planning. I even saw him signal the two officers behind him. The two obeyed the order and went in my direction. They held me in both hands.

"What will you do?" I asked nervously. Am I about to be slaughtered?

"Rule number one, proper haircut", he took out the scissors from his hand.

A what?

"What are you going to do?! Oh no! Not my hair!" I shouted when I knew what he was going to do. As a woman, hair is her crown and glory. This is what makes a woman beautiful.

My hair is very important. I always take care of it at the salon to maintain the natural beauty of my hair. Then he will cut my hair? What right does he have?

"Oh my Geeee! Not my hair, oh God!" I screamed. I think I'm more afraid of being cut than being stabbed.

He grabbed my hair and raised the scissors to start cutting it. I almost screamed in anger when I saw a strand of my hair fall. I watched as it fell to the floor. It's like my surroundings are in slow motion for me.

"My hair.." tears fell in my eyes. I could hardly believe what happened. Is that really my hair?

I did not realize what happened next. They let me go afterwards. I was like a candle that was melting. I sat on the floor still staring at the many strands of my hair. I started to cry when I realized that it was my real hair. With my trembling hands I touched them one by one. I hugged it like a baby in my chest.

"My hair..my precious hair.." I said again and again. It's like I'm just in a dramatic movie because a loved one died.

"Go to your assigned number. The weak die first in the camp.That's what you'll always remember." The commander said, then he left me. The others also followed him.

I didn't pay attention to them anymore. My hair is more important than theirs. My hair..

Is this really my fate in the camp? I can't stand their rules like that. You have no will to fight them. You will follow them even if you don't want to. Even against your will.

I grabbed all the hair in my palm. There are still tears in my eyes. I want to give them a good burial. My heart hurts from what happened. I will give my hair revenge to that commander! Even though he is handsome in my eyes, he still has to be responsible for my precious hair.