High school senior Jess Smith meets Ace of Spades, an online friend who helps her question her mask of celibacy and recognize her true asexuality. Except that their friendship begins to develop into something more.
[Featured April and May 2020 under...
While I was waiting for Helen to get ready for movie night, I took a closer look at her pictures on the wooden shelf above her desk. A high school graduation photo with her parents. Friends at a Crusaders football game. Cheerleading photos from high school.
One showed Eric with his arm around Helen. He sported a lopsided smile. It was taken before her magic touch when he still wore adorably dorky clothes, a mop of dark brown hair, and large-framed glasses.
I broke out into a grin as I picked up the frame and took a closer look.
That's the Eric I remember. Awww, what a sweetie.
When I put back the photo, my eyes fell upon an official document lying on her desk. With a guilty pang, I took a closer look. It was a Holy Cross transcript. Hers!
Even though my conscience was screaming at me not to look, I couldn't resist a little peek.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It astounded me. Not only had she skipped a year of Spanish classes, but she had taken a host of Advanced Placement accounting and math classes in high school in order to apply for early graduation. Helen even completed five classes per semester instead of the usual four.
Her cumulative GPA with all that pressure? Three-point-seven-six. Grades superior enough to graduate magna cum laude, assuming her marks didn't change.
This woman is way smarter than me.
Most of her books discussed accounting or math, so I grabbed the one that resembled the social sciences: Principles of Macroeconomics. To my relief, it had more words than graphs, but still way too many numbers for my taste.
"Having fun?" Helen asked as she entered the room, sweeping up her hair.
Her outfit was stunning. The skirt and shirt ensemble accentuated her long, thin legs and her hourglass figure. Her makeup was immaculate, highlighting her high cheekbones and azure eyes. Her blonde hair was swept up in an impeccable hairdo with not even a strand out of place.
"Wow, how do you do it?"
Helen chuckled. "What?"
"This..."
I gestured at myself and at her, but in my mind, I'd included her excellent grades. Sure, I could get similar academic results if I isolated myself in my room or the library all semester and looked like a toadstool. But how did she manage to have such an active social life as well?
"Passion and practice," she said as she broke out into a smile. "Come on. Time for your date."
"Oh, stop. I'm nervous enough as it is."
"I'll be there too. Don't worry." She draped her arm around my shoulders. "Plus, it's Star Wars. What's not to like?"
