Unsigned

To everyone that knew her, Alice was the bookish type, retiring to the library after classes to catch up on her reading. Nobody at school knew much about Alice, only that her personality lay reserved to the pages of her favourite hardback and the few words she spoke outside of class were to the librarian.

For as long as she could remember, Alice had loved James - the mathematician in her class. She loved his brooding nature and passion for the subject matter, matched only by her love for fantasy. He didn’t know she existed and that was the way she liked it - from a distance she had the chance to wonder how it could be between them.

In reality, James loved only one woman and that was Jessica, whose fairy dust freckles had been the talk of the classroom since she first arrived. It would be incredibly gauche to say that Alice did not know of Jessica’s existence - rather that she ignored it.

At the back of maths class one afternoon, Alice sat scribing a letter to James. The note she sat writing told the truth of her desire - written with the same degree of bleeding affection known only to poets. During the five minute interval, she wandered over to James’ desk and slipped the note into the top cover of his exercise book - scurrying back to her own after the deed was complete.

Break soon finished and the students plodded back inside - James arriving next to last. Alice watched in silent anticipation as he seated himself and opened his exercise book, picking up the note as if contemplating whether or not he had in fact seen it before.

Alice’s heart leapt into her throat as James refolded the note and turned, though not in her direction - bringing to light Alice’s mistake in sending an unsigned love letter. He solely smiled for Jessica.