“To like wrap up the moment with care. I was concerned. I found you passed out on the bathroom floor last night, dragged you to bed, and then came home after a full day of activities to find you still sleeping, but alas, she lives! I wanted you to have some fun, but not like black out for that long.”

I glance at the clock and see that it’s three p.m. In two hours, I will be eating ice cream at Ladles with Bryce—for real. I’m certain he won’t be professing his undying love for me. Sometimes dreams are better than reality.

The rest of the day is shot. I’ve missed all my classes and meetings and have managed to be less productive than I was yesterday. I plop my head back down on the pillow in a haze of drowsy confusion.

“What is the meaning of it all?” I cry out in satirical agony.

“I dunno,” Manda Panda replies. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”

She slings her bookbag on her back.

“Study group. Toodles.”

I am still thinking about my dream when I arrive at Ladles. I stop dead in my tracks when I see the same precocious teen. I pinch myself to make sure I’m not somehow still asleep. When I don’t wake up, I yell, “Hey! You were in my dream last night!” He looks at me in shock and disgust, as if he is deeply offended. “Dreaming about children you don’t know should be a criminal offense,” he says flatly. Still rude.

“What’s your favorite flavor?” Bryce asks excitedly from behind me. He immediately grabs me in an embrace. I melt into his arms wondering if my dream might have been a premonition. I stand silently for several seconds after he lets go to see if he will profess his love for me. He doesn’t.

“Chocolate,” I blurt out, easing the awkwardness of the previous moment.

“Of course,” he giggles. “Wait, is that racist?”

I playfully tap his shoulder to indicate no offense was taken. Bryce’s curly hair is pulled up into a ponytail at the top of his head, while the back remains loose. His Superman bone structure is even more visible with his hair away from his face. I am stunned by how good he looks. I forget everything that happened in the bathroom and lose myself in his attractiveness. A wide smile draws across my face while looking at him. I try to pull my cheeks forward, but they refuse.

“That hairstyle suits you,” I say. “On our freshman trip, Keli braided Connor’s hair and it was hilarious. He looked like a dollar store thug. Maybe we’ll get her to put some in your hair one day.”