The sun came up the next morning looking way too bright and way too happy.
It felt like a cruel joke.
Uriel stood by the campus entrance, leaning against his truck as usual. He had spent all morning getting things ready. There was a picnic basket in the truck bed, filled with all the things Mehanda liked. On the passenger seat, a fresh bunch of wild lilies sat in a jar of water. He had picked them himself, thinking about how her eyes would light up when she saw them.
He checked his watch.
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty.
He started pacing a small circle in the dirt. By the time an hour had ticked by, the air in his lungs felt heavy.
He walked toward the school office, his heart starting to do a nervous dance in his chest. When the lady at the desk told him Mehanda hadn't signed in
