Perfection

Jessica didn’t mind staying after school usually – her extra-curricular activities and clubs were things she enjoyed doing. But it was a Monday, and she was due at work in a little under and hour, and she would really have rather been at home for the past twenty minutes instead of trying to make up the math test she missed last week.

As she grabbed her English book and stacked it on top of the algebra book that she was balancing on the crook of her left arm, a small piece of blue paper fell out of her locker and onto the ground. She set her books back into her locker, balancing dangerously on the edge, before bending down to pick it up. She knew it wasn’t hers even without looking at the writing; blue was her favourite colour and, she would remember if she had paper that beautiful.

Jessica straightened up once she had the paper in her hand, and scolded herself for acting so silly. She pushed her algebra book back so it was entirely in her locker and grabbed her English book again, placing the mysterious paper safely inside. She didn’t have time to read it now; Dave was waiting for her in the parking lot, and she didn’t want to make him late.

You know not who I am, but I have loved you since my eyes first saw your grace. You, who are more wise than Athena herself, more fair than Aphrodite. I fear to tell thee my name, for surely thou would stop taking my correspondence. So I cannot give my name. I give thee, however, my heart.

Sweet kisses I send to thee, though thou shall most likely miss them.

Jessica’s face had turned beet-red by the time she finished reading it. There was no name signed, obviously – she wished she knew why whoever it was thought that she wouldn’t want him writing to her if she knew who it was. She was curious, more so than ever before, and she felt glad that she had waited for the privacy of her bedroom before reading her note; Dave would have teased her to no end, had he known.

Re-reading the note for the third time as she brushed her hair, Jessica decided that today had been a very good day, indeed. It was a pity she had to go to work instead of enjoying the feeling, but she refused to be brought down by something so completely out of her control.

The next day, there was another note inside her locker, just as she hadn’t dared to hope. She still didn’t know who was doing it, but it made her happy that somebody, at least, was. She asked permission to go to the restroom during her first period class, and she took the note with her.

Utter perfection, darling. That’s what you are to me. Nothing but the greatest, most important thing in my life. Long have I yearned to pour my soul out to you, to show how much you truly are to me. But the time for that has come, and so I shall.

She was positively giddy for the rest of the day. For a full month, there was a new proclamation of affection and adoration waiting in her locker every day. But never with name.

And then they stopped. She waited for weeks, checking her locker like the world depended on it, waiting for the next letter to come. But it didn’t.

She never found out who it was, giving her the vital boost to her mood and self-esteem. Whoever it was, she had grown to care for them. But, alas, it was not meant to be.

And she moved on.

the end