SATURDAY 3:30 pm

Kevin had spent the day musing on his strange dream.  It was so vivid.  But what did it mean?  It was so strange for him to nod off and have a dream before he went to bed.  Let alone a dream like that.

Kevin was loading some books into his backpack.  He was going back to Tessa's room pretty soon.

This was exciting for him, no doubt, but at present, his thoughts were preoccupied with trying to make sense of the dream.

Let's see, I was just lying there... thinking about... Tessa.

So he dreamt  about her.  That part made sense.  But why was he so small?
Kevin recalled the words he thought to himself in his head last night:

"If only I could be in the room with her, invisible, just watching every movement of the graceful creature."

Of course!  I wanted to see her... to be there... and be INVISIBLE.

A less-than-one-inch college student is, for all practical purposes invisible.  Kevin realized that his subconscious mind must have granted his wish, at least in dream form.  He could vividly remember seeing her tower over him like a goddess.  It was an exhilirating way to behold her.  And his shyness became irrelevant if he didn't have to interact with her.  The dream had definitely given him a boost of confidence.  He slung his backpack over his shoulder and began to make his way to room 312.

Kevin knocked on the door.  This time, he was greeted by Tessa herself.

"Hey, Kevin!  Come on in!"

Kevin followed her into the room.  He saw Alexa sitting at her desk, typing on her laptop.  She looked up, smiled, and said "hi!".  Although she was in his room often, to visit Jake, he didn't know Alexa very well.   He kept to himself mostly, shy as he was around girls.

Kevin followed Tessa to the futon and sat next to her.  For the next hour, he helped Tessa get through some more tricky calculus problems.  He felt completely at ease with her.  Perhaps sensing his boost of confidence, Tessa steered the conversation into more casual talk, apparently to get to know Kevin better.

"Does this stuff come naturally to you?", she asked.
"Yeah, It's always just come easy to me."
"I bet you're going to get a good job when you graduate."
"Yeah, I hope so..."
"I know so."

Kevin smiled.  To be complimented by the girl he admired felt amazing.

"I wish I was as good as math as you" she continued.
"Well, what about soccer?  You're great at that, aren't you?  I'm so clumsy I'd probably trip over my own legs."
It was a corny line; Kevin almost regretted it for a split second, but Tessa's sincere laugh signaled to him that they must have the same sense of humor.

"Well maybe I'll teach you!" offered Tessa.
"Me?  Play soccer?  No, I couldn't..."
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," she said, as she playfully hit him on the shoulder.  "Besides, I owe you for this."

After the tutoring session was over, Kevin said goodbye to Tessa and Alexa.  Tessa had given him her phone number, and suggested that they hang out some more before the summer.  Tessa really seemed to like him.  Maybe she and he weren't such a longshot after all.  Kevin started walking back to his dorm.  As he was walking, he felt the nagging feeling of something he was supposed to remember that he had forgotten.  What was it?  Something he thought of back in Tessa's room.  He concentrated, and a mental image began to form.  He recalled explaining something to Tessa, half talking, half daydreaming.  He had been staring idly at her windowsill.  Without thinking, he had made a mental note to himself.  What was on the windowsill?  The image became clearer.  Kevin stopped dead in the hallway as he realized what it was: a ladybug.