After the triumph at the auction, my entire Sunday was spent studying. I finally put down a book on the use of AI in risk assessment around midnight when I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer.
Still dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, I collapsed onto my bed and slept until it was time to get ready for school Monday morning.
When I arrived at school, I spotted Amy sitting on a bench near the tree where we always met. I could tell she was crying as soon as I got out of the car.
But when she heard me approaching, she dried her eyes and tried to act normal.
I sat down next to her. “What’s going on, Amy?”
She shrugged. “I miss Justin. He wasn’t supposed to be gone this long.”
“Have you heard from him?” I asked. My concern that he was going to ghost her was growing.
“Yeah. We were texting
