She looked familiar and I had the feeling I should know who she was. Didn't Principal MacKay say something about her in the gym? I couldn't remember, really. Alison had been yammering at me about one thing or another so my attention was blown. My initial reaction was to be a smart ass. But I checked my snide comeback line in favor of caution.

"Sorry," I said. "I was helping a new student find his homeroom."

The bone-thin woman glared down her long, narrow nose at me, ...