"I think they thought it was coming before we did," he says. "They thought, `If you're dating someone at the end of college, don't you usually get married?'"

Friends have been more surprised. Although most have been excited and have asked to come to the wedding, they have also expressed some concern that Simson and Flood are marrying too young, the couple says.

"I think it's the opposite," Simson says. "I think if I waited until later, had already started my career and got used to living on my own, it would be harder to change."

"Now I'm going to medical school, which is a change, and getting an apartment for the first time," he continues. "I'm going to be deciding a lot more about who I am and what my lifestyle is like. Being married during that time [will] be easier."

Despite embarking on a major lifestyle change, Flood and Simson say they're not very nervous about walking down the aisle.

"You're supposed to be nervous. In the magazines, everyone's running around all flighty," Flood says. "I feel like I should be more nervous than I am. That worries me...because usually I stress over every big decision."

"I'm more nervous than she is," Simson says. "I'm more nervous because I know I should be."

Two and a half years ago, when Simson asked Flood out for the second time, she says she was still mad at him for ending the first relationship. And saying yes was against her better judgment.

But she has no such qualms about marrying him next month.

"This time it's with my better judgment," she says as she places her hand affectionately on his knee.

Fortunate Match

When James S. Gwertzman '95 met the mother of his girlfriend, Sarah T. Stewart '95, during spring break of their first year, Stewart's mom made what has become an ironic prediction.

"My mom...reads palms," Stewart says. "She read James's palm. She said, `You're going to get married twice. The first time it's going to end in divorce.'"

Now, three years later, after having dated since October of their first year, Gwertzman and Stewart are engaged and determined to prove Stewart's mother wrong.

"Sarah is definitely the only person I've ever met who I can see myself 20 years from now still having fun talking to and living with," Gwertzman says.