To catch up:

I turned toward the door as I closed it. “Bryan, this is impossible! What is going on? You’re supposed to be …!”

I turned to my visitor again … it was Laura!

“Laura! What’s going on?”

“Sorry, Bryan is dead, and you’re left with just ‘Plain Jane’!”

“What?” I tried to move, but my legs were heavy. I felt myself falling. I fell with a “thump” to the floor … of my bedroom! I was at the foot of the bed. I heard Lisa coming down the hall.

“Lisa!”

She stuck her head in the door. “What’s up, buttercup?”

“Lisa, I had a strange dream.” I proceeded to tell her the details of my dream.

Lisa had an interpretation, of course. “It’s just like I told you. Laura is taking the place of Bryan. It’s pretty clear that you and Laura Lake will soon be an ‘item’.”

Her interpretation was as good as anything I could think of. “I texted her about coming by here on Saturday, but she hasn’t replied.”

“Don’t kiss on the first date.”

“Oh my goodness, the thought!” I put my hand to my chest.

“Girl, you’ve got it bad!”

“I imagine those beautiful lips touching mine!” I blushed just thinking about it.

“Am I gonna have to pour cold water on you?”

“Now I’m thinking of her in a wet T-shirt contest!”

“You know what? You’re in lust … not love … lust!”

“Yeah, like she would ever be in a wet t-shirt contest. It’s so inappropriate to think that about a woman of her caliber.”

“Right, that’s why you should pass her on to me. I’ll treat her with the respect she deserves.”

“Oh, please! You’ll treat her any way you think will get her into bed!”

My phone alerted that I had a new text. It was Laura. “How about 7 PM Saturday?”

”OK, see you Saturday.”

I kept busy, but it seemed like Saturday would never get there. Lisa and I had our room cleaned in case Laura came in there.

Lisa asked me, “Are you gonna tell her about your dream?”

“No way. She’ll think I’m weird!”

“She may as well know.”

After all the waiting, the doorbell rang and I answered. As I opened the door, I was thinking,

“Please be Laura. Please don’t be Bryan.” I didn’t really think it would be Bryan, because I was pretty sure I was awake.

“Laura! Welcome to our little shack.”

“Yeah, right.” We hugged and I introduced her to Lisa. Then she said, “Sarah, I have to tell you something.”

“OK.”

“Is there someplace we can go to talk? Lisa can come, too.”

The pizza arrived. I paid for it, and we went to the bedroom. I told them, “We can eat as we talk.”

Laura began, “I didn’t say anything the other day, but I gotta tell you this now. This is crazy. I dreamed a boy came to me and told me only two things. He said, ‘Tell Sarah I love her.’ And then, he said, ‘Make sure she’s OK.’ I was puzzled because I didn’t know anyone named ‘Sarah’! You know, I had seen you at Floyd’s, but I didn’t know your name. Then, I met you in the dress shop. When you said your name was ‘Sarah’, I wanted to tell you about my dream, but it seemed inappropriate since we just met.”

“Oh my God! What did this boy look like?”

“Oh, he was kinda good looking, kinda big. He was about your age.”

Lisa had an idea. “Let me get something.” She reached into a drawer and pulled out a yearbook from the school we had attended before we moved to Houston. She thumbed through the pages and found a spot and gave the book to Laura. “I have the book opened to the ‘P’s’. Start looking through the pages and see if you find the guy.”

Laura looked through the annual, commenting on how young everyone looked. She stopped and smiled. “’Lisa Michelle Rivers’, you were so cute, but you’re beautiful, now. She turned a couple more pages and stopped. “Oh My God! This is him. “Bryan Kenneth Smith’. He was older, but this is him!”

“No! Bryan!” I put my face in my pillow and cried as Lisa told Laura about the times I ran into Bryan, embellishing a bit to make it a story about love found and lost. She told about how he died. Of course, she left out the history of bullying. By the time Lisa finished the story; Laura was also crying and apologizing.

“Sarah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

I had my emotions under control by then. “It’s fine, you were given a message and you delivered it. I’m glad you told me.”

“Well, I’d like to know more about the Brooks and Rivers families. Your moms are twin sisters, right?”

“Right.”

“What does your dad do? I guess it’s Sarah’s dad, right? At least, I hope he didn’t marry both twins!” She smiled.

“Lisa’s dad is another story. My dad is a scientist. He’s involved with mapping the human genome.”

“Wow. I’ll bet he’s smart!

“He is; have you ever heard of the window … not Windows for computers, but the window to look at scenery far away?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You gotta see this!”

We took her and showed her the window.

“This is amazing! Your dad did this?”

“My dad and mom. Lisa’s mom did the legal work. Lisa and I have done work on it with a lot of instruction. It’s quite complex, but it was a lot of fun.”

“This is an amazing family! Lisa, what about your dad?”

“That’s also a long story, but his name is Joseph Rivers and he’s an attorney.”

“I’ve heard of him! Joseph Rivers is your dad?”

“Yes.”

“My dad was an attorney, he worked with Joseph Rivers. He said your dad was one of the best attorneys he had ever met.”

“You say, ‘was’. Is your dad deceased?”

“Yes, my mom and dad both died in a car accident about five years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you never get over it, but the pain eases after a while. They were also hit by a drunk driver, and it makes it harder knowing it didn’t have to happen. It’s just incredible to me that anyone would drive after drinking any amount of alcohol!”

I had stopped crying, and Laura asked me, “Are you OK?” She embraced me in a surprisingly tight and intimate hug. Lisa was smiling a knowing smile as my eyes got wide. My heart started pounding and I started blushing. When we separated, Laura looked at me, and I realized that the hug was as much information seeking as it was for comforting. She also smiled, because I’m sure she got answers to the questions on her mind.

“I came here to give you information on the teaching ability of different teachers at Rice. I have a spreadsheet with all that information on it. It’s quite extensive. It has ratings for each teacher, and notes on what affects the ratings. I started compiling this information as soon as I started school at Rice. I think it will help you both a lot. I’ll leave it with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Sarah, if you decide you want to start dating, let me know. I know someone who might be interested.”

“OK, I will.” I smiled because I was pretty sure the person of whom she was speaking was right in front of me.

She left, I closed the door, and I looked at Lisa. “Wow! Can you believe it?”

Laura had only been gone about five minutes when the doorbell rang again. I opened the door saying, “Laura, did you forget something ...?”

It wasn’t Laura. It was a tall woman about my mom’s age.

Next: Be prepared for something completely different.