Lose Yourself

2. Confidence

Jordyn was sitting in her accounts and budgeting lecture at Uni, and she was actually paying attention. With one ear, at least. She was half focussed on editing her last set of photos, so she could send them off to the National Geographic magazine. The set of photos featured a particularly flamboyant squirrel who had been messing around with an acorn. They needed to be perfect to be accepted by National Geographic, and even then she wasn't sure they'd be accepted at all. But that was the competitive nature of what she wanted to do, and she was more than up for the challenge.

"Jord," whispered Venus, who was sitting next to her. "Do you know what time this lecture ends?"

"Can't end soon enough," the Australian replied, with a wry smile.

"Init. How are you even passing this class, you never take notes."

"I have a good memory," Jord shrugged. "I don't think I really need this for what I want to do, so a C grade pass is good enough for me."

"Fair enough," Venus chuckled. "Let me see the squirrel?"

Jord turned her MacBook around to show her friend what she was working on.

"What's this piece called?" Venus teased her.

Jord rolled her eyes. Her friends always made fun of how she nicknamed her photographic work.

"Confidence," she said, anyway. "He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. No one who wasn't confident in themselves would walk around with an acorn on their head."

"Fair enough," Venus smiled. "He's a cutie, isn't he?"

"I shouldn't distract you, I know you want to ace this class Vene."

"Ugh. It's kinda important, to be fair," the Londoner sighed.

"Kilimanjaro's not gonna climb itself," Jordyn teased.

Venus was planning to join a team who were heading off to climb the mountain, and they were budgeting everything themselves. Venus's sudden interest in passing the class had coincided with her decision to join the team. Her actual course was a business degree, and Jordyn's was a photography degree, but the two girls shared this class, and their friendship had begun when they'd sat next to each other on the first day. The seat on the other side of Jordyn was empty, but it was normally occupied by Adriana, who was doing a double degree of business and fashion. The ambitious girl had already opened her own fashion and design business named RedLondon. She rented a small store front in the city, and sold her clothing designs from there. Vene and Jord had already discussed her absence - it wasn't like Adri to miss a class, and she wasn't responding to texts, but perhaps she wasn't well that morning.

Venus and Jordyn met up with Lia in between classes.

"No Adri today, I hope she's alright," said Lia.

"We've texted her but no response," said Jord. "Who knows? If she's not in tomorrow I say we go looking. Normally she'll be half dead before she'll take a sickie."

"True," Lia nodded. "How's your squirrel coming along?"

"Good, I think I got it all fixed up in class today," said Jord.

"In class? Wasn't that your..."

"Accounts and budgeting class? Yes, I know," she smiled. "I was just stressing about it a little, but I think I've got it all sorted out now."

"Fair enough," Lia smiled. "Let's be honest, you'd have been daydreaming your way through the class anyway."

"Jord, daydreaming?" Asked Venus, incredulously. "I have to disagree with you there Lia she's more focussed than I am most of the time."