Starting Phase

Alice looked at the settings of the camera and thumbed through the buttons to see if she knew how to use it, but it was quite self-explanatory in its systems. She had to dig a little deeper to change some settings as she had experienced using a camera once in her broadcasting classes.

She was holding up her briefcase along with the camera when Noah took the briefcase out of her hands so that she could use two hands to take some practice shots just to test if everything was up to her liking.

Alice nodded in thanks over to him, and he leisurely placed both over his shoulders as they continued their walk down the hallway aimlessly since they hadn't spoken about any destinations yet, but they were following the crowd that was all heading downstairs. 

She put the lenses up to Noah's face and took a snapshot of his side profile that encompassed his sharp jawline and the tall bridge of his nose with the corner of his lips slightly hiked up to one side, and Alice smiled as she thumbed through the test photos. 

Noah skimmed over her shoulder, and she faced the camera in his direction so that he would be able to see it better when she noticed how Claudia was sticking to her while giving her a raised regard at the close proximity between her and Noah which Alice immediately shook her head at.

Alice was also keeping in mind that Claudia was about to butt heads with Rowan the moment that the two addressed each other, but it was an amiable peace at the moment as the sunlight streamed onto them.

The door that they left open in a rush as they had long walked away from, Mr. Baird slammed closed behind them which made Alice turn back in that direction once more before handing the camera over to Noah since he was lightly tugging at the string that went around her neck for the camera.

"Are you all excited or what?" Claudia asked with a laugh. "So much enthusiasm for photos." 

Alice didn't want to explicitly say anything, but if one had the appearance that was highly deemed as Noah's, she would be immersed in photos as well. She laughed lightly at the comedic thought.

"I wonder what got him so irritated today?" Claudia asked slowly.

"Maybe his coffee wasn't sweet enough," Alice supplied.

Claudia snorted. "I highly doubt that. He seems like someone who would drink black coffee to match his bitter heart."

"No, no," Noah disagreed. "He is hiding the fact that he's a huge sweet tooth that always gets whipped cream in his drinks."

Claudia clicked her tongue. "I agree."

Rowan clapped his hands together. "So... how are we going to do this?"

Claudia lifted an eyebrow at him out of spite. "How did you even get here in the first place?"

"I got into class late and had no idea what was going on," Rowan answered. "So my homeroom teacher decided to ask if there were any open groups."

Claudia took a long breath in to sigh it all back out. "It wouldn't have hurt to have five member group."

Alice took a picture of Claudia and Rowan rounding the corner with the sunlight hitting them directly perfectly. In the photo, they were facing each other with a fun light in their eyes, and Alice grinned at her luck at catching such a moment when they didn't look like they wanted to tear each other's heads off.

Claudia and Rowan glanced back at her, but the moment had passed when she aimed her camera back down before showing the gem of a picture to Noah who nodded in approval at the sight.

Alice sighed as she looped the camera band around her shoulder so that it could hang around her neck as they went down the stairs and answered the question that Claudia posed. "Well, rules are rules. Everyone is scared of the higher-ups obviously."

"That's true, but it makes me wonder why Mr. Beckham is going to such lengths to promote the academy," Noah drew out.

Rowan shrugged. "It could be that the application rates are dropping."

"Maybe," Alice agreed. "Or it could be the fact that all the families that are donors are leaving since most of the third-year student's families are huge contributors."

"That's true," Claudia said. "We should drop all our briefcases off in a locker somewhere."

"Who has the closest locker?" Rowan asked.

Alice lifted a hand. "It might be me. We have to go up the stairs again to the end of the corridor of the homerooms though."

"That'll be fine," Noah said. "Mine is in the next building."

They all went back up the stairs in search of her locker only to see some third-year groups also gearing up ready to go and making plans on how to get their interviews. Alice waved at Madeline and Sophie who were a floor below walking through the halls, and they smiled up at her when they met each other's eyes. 

Noah and Rowan said hello to the group of guys that they passed on their way to her locker that both she and Claudia inclined their heads to in a polite greeting, but they couldn't even see the guy's faces since Noah and Rowan's huge bodies were blocking them.

Alice quickly put in her lock combination after they all got there, everyone somehow lodged their briefcase somewhere inside the small containment of space for the students before Alice pushed the overly full locker shut and turned to her partners.

"Well, looks like it's time to get going, right?"

Claudia placed her hands on her hips with a laugh. "Where do we even start?"