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lonely and mysterious.   He would never be interested in me , I thought.  His girlfriend was probably one of those really nice girls that wore skirts all the time and was in a million volunteer clubs or something.  I could never compete with that.   I twirled my long, black hair, feeling it slide through my fingers.  I was already dreading the first day of school. But at least I had already met two people.  I could tell Cricket and I were going to be good friends and Alex seemed pretty cool, too. 
    I thought about e-mailing Alex, but I was really tired and thinking about Cricket just made me think about Dani.  That just made me want to cry, so I closed out Facebook, with my measly 25 friends, and decided to go to bed early. 
    That night, I couldn’t help myself.  I drifted off daydreaming about Zach, which eventually turned into yet another dream:
    I was sitting at the food court table at the mall, behind my sunglasses, except they were three times the normal size.  For a split second, I saw myself from afar, like an out of body experience or something, sitting there with my wiry hair, looking like a big bug.  I drummed my fingers on the table, bored.  Some guy at the table next to me had his head practically buried in a laptop.  I could see the top of his totally bald head.  Then I saw him.  Zach.  He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt, dark pants, dark sunglasses, towering over a table full of people, gesturing as they all listened intently.  He looked worried, concerned, as if looking for something or someone.  His movements became more and more dramatic.  He threw up his hands and then put his head down as if to think deeply.
    My ears popped, and my head pounded.  A flash of light.  Then it was like I saw him in my mind’s eye.  I could see what was in his mind.
    Zach looked around quickly, a flash of recognition, resolve.
    I know you….
    I felt a little embarrassed.  Why was he staring at me anyway?  I felt a shock ripple across my head at the same time that he looked directly at me.  Above us, the enormous light fixtures flickered and went out.  The guy next to me tapped his computer screen, and then grumbled, “Geez.  I hope I saved that,” and pounded the table with his fist. 
    Our eyes locked.  The band holding my ponytail snapped, my hair spilling out over my shoulders.  I tossed it to one side.  We both pulled off our sunglasses at the same time.  Zach’s face lit up.  He seemed even taller than before, a light surrounding him, a halo effect.
    I have been looking for you.  And now you’re here. 
    He reached his hand out to me as if to will me toward him.  I looked around, confused.  "Are you talking to me?"
    You’re so perfect, just like I imagined.
    A bright flash of light.  Everyone turned to look at me.  My cheeks burned.  What are they looking at?  I touched my hair self-consciously.  
    It’s ok.  They all love you, just like I do.  They see how beautiful you are. 
    I sighed with relief. 
    I need to see you.  Please come closer.
    I stood up, timidly.  My head raged with pain.  He smiled at me.
    I'm so glad I found you. 
    Then, out of nowhere Dani was walking toward him.  They embraced each other and walked out the door.  A whirl inside my stomach, my head.  My body went limp.
    I was twisted in my sheets, covered in sweat, and it was morning. 
 
    All I could think of the next morning was, Zach had found me, finally .
    It was just a dream, I realized.  Still, I lay there for a minute or two, replaying it in my head—wishing it into reality.  Zach and I were a couple, and it was like we were talking to each other but we weren’t.  I could hear the words, but no one else seemed to notice.  He was on some sort of mission.  I wondered what sort of junk in my subconscious conjured up that line.  Did I secretly want to be rescued?  Did I have some princess syndrome?  And what was it about Zach Webb anyway?  Why couldn’t I stop thinking