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"Jessica? Helloooooo? Earth to Jessica!"

Jessica felt someone tapping her shoulder. She looked up and saw Dr. Pryman, her Psychology professor, concern all over her face. Had she fallen asleep? She didn't think so. She'd been thinking about Alex. She knew Alex was telling Max about her and she couldn't help but worry. What if she'd messed everything up by coming here? Had she just ruined this poor woman's life?

"Honey, are you okay?" Dr. Pryman asked.

"Oh, yea. I'm fine. Sorry."

It was obvious that Dr. Pryman didn't believe her, but there wasn't much she could do with a classroom full of students. She forced a smile, trying ot make Jessica feel more comfortable. "I swear you've got to be the first student in here to ever fall asleep with her eyes open."

Jessica smiled and their eyes met. She nodded slightly to thank her for trying to draw away all the attention. Dr. Pryman had always been one of her favorite teachers. When her parents had died, it had been Dr. Pryman who had first offered a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear. Jessica would never forget that.

"I just didn't sleep well last night," she told her. "Sorry."

"Okay, well let's get back to this review. You guys have an exam next week."

Dr. Pryman walked back to the front of the classroom and continued with the review. Jessica tried to follow along, but she couldn't help worrying about Alex. She took comfort in knowing that she could get a 60 on this exam and still pull an A in the class. The review wasn't really necessary for her. She just wanted attendance credit.

When the class was dismissed, Jessica stayed behind. She knew dr. Pryman had office hours immediately following the lecture, and she hoped she could talk for a little while.

"Jess, dear, are you sure everything's okay?" Dr. Pryman asked once everybody else had left.

Jessica gathered her things slowly and walked up to her teacher. She took a deep breath. "I…I found her."

Dr. Pryman's eyebrows narrowed in confusion. "You found who?"

"My birth mother…well, she's my birth mother's younger sister. I don't know where my birth mother is, but the woman I met today, she looks just like me. There's no way she's my birth mother. She's too young."

It took Dr. Pryman a minute to process everything Jessica had just told her. She knew that Jess was looking for her birth mother. She was always confident that she was always confident that she would eventually find her, but there was no guarantee that she would be close. There was excitement in Jess' eyes, but there was also fear. "What's wrong?" she asked. "I thought this was what you wanted."

Jess nodded her head. "It is! I'm so happy I found her!"

"Did she deny you were her niece?"

She shook her head. "No. Well, at first she didn't want to admit it. It took a while for me to even get her to look up from her desk, but once she saw me, she knew who I was. After that it took a little longer to get her to calm down, but then she started smiling. She didn't really say much. She said she had a lunch date…" she looked away.

"And?" Dr. Pryman asked.

"And I think that's where I ruined her life. She told me she'd just gotten engaged and that nobody even knew that she had a sister. I tried to get her to tell me about her, but she avoided my questions. She just kept telling me that she had to go. She said she wanted me to come over tonight for dinner, said she wanted to get to know me. I still haven't decided if I'm going."

"Do you want to get to know her?"

"Of course I do! I just-"

"Then go."

Jessica sighed. "But what if I've ruined her life by coming here?"

Dr. Pryman put a hand on Jessica's shoulder. "Jess, you've been searching for your birth mother for a year. Now, you've found someone close to her. get to know this woman. By what you've told me, she sounds like she wants to get to know you. As for you ruining her life, if that fiancé of hers leaves her for this, he's not good enough for her."

Trying to force a smile, Jessica nodded. "I'm just so nervous. I mean, the woman looks just like me. she's a few inches taller and her hair's a little lighter blonde, but we have the same nose, the same build. She could be my mother if she were ten years older. I just…when I read about her online, she seemed like a really happy person. I would hate to ruin that for her."

Dr. Pryman smiled slightly and looked Jessica in the eyes. "Honey, you wouldn't be ruining her life. Those who would walk out on her would be at fault. I know that, deep down, you know that, too. I can tell how much you want to meet this woman. Go to dinner, Jess. Meet her. Give it a chance. You'll always regret it if you don't try."

Jessica picked up her things and nodded. "You're right. I will always regret it if I don't try to get to know her. Thank you. It means a lot that you're willing to talk to me."

Dr. Pryman hugged the young girl. "I'm here any time you need to talk. Just remember to keep our little 'sessions' between us. I don't want anybody thinking you're getting special treatment or anything."

"Don't worry," Jessica said as she made her way to the door. "Your secret's safe with me." She walked through the door, down the hall, and out into the parking lot. As she was climbing into her car, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that she had a new voice message. There wasn't any reception in the building, so her phone always went straight to voice mail. She called her voice mail and put the phone up to her ear.

"Hey, Jess, um…this is Alex. I, uh, I took the rest of the day off. Um, I uh, if you want, you can come over earlier. You, uh, you don't have to if you don't want to. The door's open though. You don't have to knock." The line went dead after that.

Jessica put the phone back into her pocket. Something wasn't right. Alex's voice had been too shaky, like she was trying not to cry, trying to pretend everything was okay. "Shit," she said to herself as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Alex's apartment. "What have I done?"

Time seemed to move in slow motion. No matter how quickly she drove, she seemed to always hit every light when it was red. "Come on," she urged the other drivers. "Go faster." She couldn't explain it, but she knew she had to get to Alex's apartment. Time wasn't on her side.