"Melinda Durant, are you here?"

Professor Bigham shaded his eyes and peered up scanning the one hundred and thirteen students crammed into the narrow seats.

Mel cringed and wondered what she did to get his attention. All of her papers and assignments were on time, the last one was a risky take on COVID and its aftereffects on employees and productivity. She was more specific than the general topic called for.

She stood and waved her hand. It still made her heart pound a bit to call attention to herself this way.

"Up here, sir."

"Brilliant paper. You received the top mark for this assignment. Your detailed analysis of the costs of many vectors called attention to the most overlooked aftereffects of this worldwide issue. Employee mental health, and their loss of interactive skills affecting teamwork impressed me. You could take this subject matter into a master's thesis. Well done."

"Thank you, Dr. Bigham."

"No young lady. Thank you for taking the time to research this properly. Which brings me to the subject of today's lecture."

Mel sat down, and the girl beside her shook her head.

"Great, I know exactly where this is going. We get a variation of this in every class at some point. He's going to go after AI summaries and bunch of other basic research rules everyone should already know. Can't believe what some of these idiots are trying."

Wow, she isn't calling me Brainiac.

"Just turn them off in your browser if you can. I don't use Chrome or Edge. Their AI is so intrusive you can never find the truth on anything."

"Do you want to ditch this class?"

"Not really. I'm not familiar with all the cheats people use yet, and I actually want to hear what he has to say about it."

The girls eyes widened. "Where have you been hiding?"

Mel shrugged. "Mostly home schooled." Which really wasn't a lie and what Lana told her to say. Juvie was her home after all.

"Damn, that sucks and sounds so good at the same time."

She wondered how to ask the girl for her name, and asked, "What do you mean? I know it blows. I haven't got any friends my own age. Unless you count the kids I work with."

Her fellow student shut down her laptop and slid it into her pack before answering.

"Well if you change your mind, meet me at the Starbucks. I'll be there until nearly two. Lots of reading to do for one of my other classes. By the way, my name is Suzanna. My friends call me Suze."

Thank you, Suze. First person who's even tried to talk to me and you introduce yourself. Maybe that's a good sign.

"Mel, Melinda is my legal name only." She stuck out her hand to shake, and Suze stopped halfway out of her seat. Her hand firm with an extra little squeeze before she broke the contact. "Maybe after this class is finished. I have a shift at Cozy Corner, but I can squeeze a little time in before that."

"Okay, I'll look for you then. No pressure though. Are you working part time?"

"Got lucky. Full time, but the prof is glaring at us, better quit talking."

"See ya later." Suze slipped out across the empty seats to the other end of the row.

Mel hit the record button on her own spiffy new MacBook Air. The money the scholarship deposited in her bank account was generous and as long as her receipts showed a clear need for things the university required; she was justified in spending it. Her rent and food weren't quite covered, and she knew that was because she chose to live alone. It was why she was working full time.

Suze was right it was boring, and she had heard similar before, but the idea of using AI to find instruction videos and other learning aides was pertinent. No more looking through thousands of Google search results. She might just have a use for it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mel climbed the stairs to her apartment, noting tiny paw prints in the light dusting of snow. The broom and snow shovel were on the landing beside the bench. Dropping her pack inside her door, she returned outside and grabbed the broom. Starting to sweep the powdery dry flakes away, she followed the paw prints as she got rid the last bits of it. When she arrived at the planter with the rosemary bush, an angry mewl greeted her and she dropped to her knees.

"What are you doing up here?"

The cat hissed at her, and she rocked back.

"I can't blame you for being annoyed, but I had no idea you were there."

The feline was bedraggled, almost soaked to the skin with startling blue eyes. Siamese maybe? No, it had long hair. A matted mess of long hair. Another hiss. Angry or just scared? She backed away and tried to think of what to do. Feed it. And maybe some water? It was cold but it wasn't supposed to get below thirty two over night.

"What am I going to do for food?" She smiled. What was she doing talking to a cat? A stray at that. Who knew if it was even healthy? "Well I hope you stick around. I'll be right back out."

She found a small bowl and filled it with water, and then opened one of the cheap cans of tuna from Walmart. Filling a matching bowl with it she hurried out, placing them under the bench where there was some shelter from any further snow. The forecast said this was an unusual early squall. Sunshine and warmer temperatures tomorrow.

Grabbing her cell phone, she thumbed in and started a text message. Turned out the half hour she had for lunch with Suze was amazing. She barely had to talk, and she found out the taller girl was working toward an accounting degree. She had three brothers and was in her second year of university. And Suze didn't care about her scholarship except to say good for you. It was too late for a phone call. Almost ten thirty already.

Mel sent off a quick text message to Elena and another to Suze. Maybe one of them would know what to do about the cat. Could she get it to come inside?

Wait a minute. Ralph keeps insisting I can call him any time. I'll take a chance.

Peering out of her living room window, she watched the cat slink across to the bench and disappear under it. A good sign it was still healthy enough for survival instincts to kick in. Ralph answered on the third ring.

"What's up?" He sounded like she woke him up.

"Sorry, but I found a stray on the landing. Sorry if I woke you up."

"Was studying. Need a break anyway. A stray? A stray what?"

"Oh, a cat. Doesn't even look that old, not a kitten but not full grown either. At least that's what it looks like. I left it some tuna and a bowl of water under the bench."

"It's too cold for it to be outside. Especially with this snow, can you get it inside?"

"I don't know how. It hissed at me when I hit it with the broom by accident."

"I can come over if you want. Maybe we can get it inside." She could hear him moving around. "I'll just grab a coat. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Really? Thanks. You're sure it won't be a problem?"

"I love cats. Can't leave this one in a pickle. I'll be right there."

Ralph hung up without giving her a chance to say thank you or even goodbye.