Shorthand

checkmate (part one)

Jesse Wade was stern, an organized perfectionist who seemed to be in a perpetual state of tidying-up. He used too much hair gel, and his writing was printer-perfect Xenois Serif. He was fluent in English and Latin, he was a renowned fencer, and had a knack for navigating economics and business. The last Amie had heard, he was a prominent heir to his family corporation. 

But that was years ago when they parted ways in high school. Time betrayed her, however, by providing brilliant clarity of his sharp nose, long eyelashes, clear skin at a moment's thought. Amelia Cole, pull yourself together, she reprimanded herself, pinching at her neck to try and shake him from her mind. Anyone who knew her would know she had an unspoken rivalry with Jesse for valedictorian in their days at high school. Anyone who knew her well would know it had led them to an odd almost friendship, and a crush that would last for five years later. Unrequited, of course.

Amelia knew Jesse was bound for the sterling silver heiress of another corporation, and while not an arranged marriage, per se, he had known Grace since they were little. She was a nobody, raised by a single father in a two bedroom apartment whose shower always ran out of hot water. It had been a miracle she earned the scholarship into that prestigious school...and miracles never stayed in her life for long. 

She pressed a thumb to her bottom lip and tried to forget him. She had college papers to write and, as a familiar chime broke through her thoughts, a friend to answer.