Chapter 1: I need to touch some grass

(Jaime)

I check my image in the mirror one last time. Okay, this works. Nothing that will attract any undue attention whatsoever.

I sling my backpack over my shoulder and head to the door. I’m late, so no jogging to campus this morning. I’ll have to make up for the lost exercise opportunity later.

It took 20 minutes to get there, after I’ve managed to flag down a taxi. But I almost have to sprint to the lecture hall, or I’ll definitely be late. I slink through the door and into the closest open seat just as the lecturer starts talking.

Within seconds, I’m fully emerged in the content of the pharmacology lesson. Gone are all thoughts about my day job, my future plans or any fellow students sharing the lecture hall with me.

Today is one of the very last lectures I’ll sit through in a long time. I’m not planning to specialize, at least not in the near future. An hour after this lesson ends, all of us will be making our way to the academic hospital for some final clinical sessions. Then final block exams next week and, if all goes according to plan, I’ll be doctor Jaime Greywood, MD soon after.

The lecturer finishes up with some well-wishes to all of us, and I pack my textbook and laptop away. Denver and Collins are on me in a flash.

“Want to go for a coffee before we head to the hospital, Greywood?” Denver asks. He uses his hopeful puppy-dog eyes.

“Smith and Moonsamy is coming too,” Collins pipes in.

I smile at them. Ideally, I’d rather spend this hour in the library going over the lecture notes, but this was our last lecture and these guys are friends, sort-of.

“Yeah, okay. Just the campus cafeteria?” I ask.

“Their coffee’s actually pretty good, yes.” This time it was Moonsamy, accompanied by Smith.

Ghaneshree Moonsamy and Colleen Smith. The two have been inseparable from the first day we all started this journey together seven years ago. It took them three years to warm up to me though, and by that time the two had befriended Ben Collins and Jack Denver.

We found a corner table in the busy campus cafeteria and squeezed into the space meant for four when Colleen sat on Ben’s lap. That’s a new development, but I smiled at them. They would be great together, actually.

“Are you two an item now?” I ask with raised eyebrows and Colleen blushes slightly.

It was Ben who answered though. “Yep, have been for a while. But you’ve been too in-and-out to notice. What have you been up to?”

I shrug. “Just work. I had one last big shoot in Hawaii as part of my contract, and the big Angel event is coming up a month after exams, but then I’m done.”

They all nodded sympathetically, having learned more about just how busy my life actually is during the time we’ve become friends.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

It was a strange relationship we all had, in a way. For me, both studying and working full time meant that I didn’t have a single moment spare to invest in friendships. Studying is lonely without friends, and as one of the world’s highest paid models, the need to distinguish between those who befriended you for their own gain and those who were genuine, is sometimes hard.

I also missed quite a lot of classes and had to work doubly hard to catch up. And what convinced me that they were the genuine kind, was their willingness to help me do that.

It was Jack who first discovered who I really was, about three years ago. Up to then, I would zip in and out of lectures and practical sessions, not engaging with anyone else from my year group.

----------------------------------------

I deliberately wore loose, tunic-style tops with tights or jeans, chunky boots, and dark framed glasses, with my hair tied back. Nothing about that could draw attention and it hid my body well enough. I avoided others, and this aura of aloofness kept any potential friendly advances at bay.

I only learned later that Jack had a minor obsession with the supermodel Jaime Grey. He recognized me during a lesson one day when I took off those glasses to rub my tired eyes.

He was both awed and a bit hurt that this celebrity girl he crushed on from afar was, in reality, his classmate ‘Greywood’, and that she didn’t seem all that friendly.

And then he decided to confront her with it, with his friend Ben at this side. I remember that moment clearly.

“Hey, are you the model Jaime Grey?” he blurted out to me one day as we left the lecture hall.

Those words had me frozen in my tracks, and I stared at the guy who uttered it. I wanted to ignore him and just rush to my next lecture, but then I realized that I would have to spend another three years in close confines with these guys, class after class, and being rude didn’t come naturally to me.

“What if I am?” I asked him instead.

He huffed a bit, looking both excited and distressed, before he answered.

“That would mean that we’ve been sharing these classes with you for how many years, and not once have you made an effort to be nice to any of us. It’s disappointing, and it makes me feel like you think you are superior to us,” he blurted out.

I remember being shocked at that. I had blinked at him and felt really disappointed in myself.

“I’m sorry, it was never my intent to be rude. I just wanted to be anonymous and not being treated differently because of my day job. I apologize if my behavior was offensive to you,” I finally stammered out.

That’s when Ghaneshree came to my rescue.

“Jack, back off,” she demanded and turned to me.

“Hey. I know we’ve never spoken before. Personally, I just thought you must be shy. But Jackass here is the one being rude.”

And from there on, the awkward friendship started to develop.

I think Jack still has a crush on me, especially now that he knows I’m working my butt off to study full time and uphold a demanding career. Being a medical student was a pretty demanding thing to be. And my sort-of friends have all learned that being a top-notch model with contracts to fulfill, was not nearly as breezy a job as they would have thought either. They respected that. Now, when I order a water rather than a cappuccino or latte, they didn’t rile me about it.

“What’s your plans after graduation, Jaime?” Jack asks with us all settled around the table. I’m guessing they’ve all shared their plans with each other weeks ago, but they haven’t been able to catch up with me socially in some time.

“Well, I’ll have to get through the Angels show first, but then I have a job interview in a small country town,” I answer with a twinkle in my eye.

“Wait what?! With your grades you can be the top candidate for any specialty at any of the top programs. Why a small country town?” Colleen exclaimed.

I shrug.

“I want to be out of the limelight. I want to get out of the city, touch some grass!” they laugh at the expression, and I laugh along. “Seriously, I want a slow-paced lifestyle where I get to do what I love professionally as well as personally. To me, that’s perfect!”

Ben smiled at me, and the others nodded.

“You deserve a slower-paced life, girl, and to get out into nature a bit. You’ve been burning the candle at both ends for years now. I hope you nail that interview.”

The others agree and chime in with their own words of encouragement.

“Thanks guys. Now tell be about your plans?”