She’d been sitting on a bench outside the office waiting to have a word with the vice principal. The boy was standing at the office window waiting for someone to talk to him. Inside the glass-enclosed room, women glided about like comets in a fish bowl. No one looked at him, even when he cleared his throat loudly. ‘You have to ring the bell,’ said Tully finally. ‘What?’ ‘The bell.’ Tully pointed to the sign on the office window that read ‘Ring bell for service’. The boy shrugged. Tully watched as he rang the bell and waited. He was tall with shoulder-length hair that looked like it had been chewed by rats. His school jumper didn’t quite reach his wrists and he pulled his sleeves down as he waited for someone to notice him. There was something about the way he pulled at his sleeves that made her feel like she knew him. ‘Hey!’ yelled Tully. A woman with short hair and a sensible cardigan looked up from a filing cabinet. She glared over her glasses at Tully before assuming a friendly face for the boy.
