Is this Sallie Evans?

Slowly, I turned around.

I only caught a glimpse of what she was wearing: a tailored coat, long dark hair, and part of her face as she walked past the glass doors. I was about to get a better look when my phone rang.

I reached into my handbag and pulled it out, still watching the woman as she headed toward the private elevators around the corner.

The screen showed: High School Administration Office.

I hesitated before answering.

By the time I looked up again, the woman had disappeared behind the marble partition.

“Hello?”

“Is this Sallie Evans? The mother of Kelly Evans?” a woman asked.

“Yes, this is she. Is everything okay?”

“Mrs. Evans, you need to come to the school immediately. Kelly was just involved in a physical altercation with another student in the hallway. We need you in the principal's office right now.”

“A fight?” I straightened. “Is she hurt?”

“She’s in the office, Mrs. Evans. Please get here as soon as possible.”

The call ended.

I lowered the phone and looked toward the elevators.

The woman was gone.

I couldn't stay there wondering who she was when my daughter was sitting in the principal's office after getting into a fight.

I turned and left.

The drive to the high school felt longer than usual. I kept thinking about the woman I'd just seen, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

My daughter needed me.

When I entered the administration office, I found Kelly sitting on a plastic chair in the corner.

Her hair was messy, and there was a red mark on her collar. Her shoulders were shaking.

As soon as she saw me, she jumped up and ran into my arms.

“Mom! I didn't do it, I swear!” she sobbed, burying her face against my shoulder. “She was the one who started it! She pushed me first into the lockers!”

“Shh, it's okay. I'm here.” I rubbed her back.

“Mrs. Evans, please take a seat,” the administrator said from behind her desk.

Her nameplate read Mrs. Vance.

A girl about Kelly's age sat across the room. Unlike Kelly, she looked fine. Her jacket was still neat, her arms were crossed, and she was staring at my daughter.

“Kelly is the one who needs to control her temper,” the girl said. “She threw my notebook on the floor. Don't play the victim now because you got handled.”

“That’s enough, Chloe,” Mrs. Vance said.

Her voice was much softer with Chloe than it had been with Kelly.

She turned to me.

“Mrs. Evans, several students saw Kelly throw the first punch. Physical violence is an automatic suspension, regardless of what happened before that.”

“She pushed me first!” Kelly shouted beside me. Her fingers tightened around my jacket. “Mom, she's lying!”

“I don't think she is,” Mrs. Vance said. “Chloe has a stellar record here, whereas Kelly has been increasingly distracted in class lately.”

I stared at her.

She hadn't even asked to see the security footage.

Chloe laughed.

“My mom is on the board of education. She's on her way here right now, and when she gets here, your daughter is going to be expelled, not just suspended.”

She looked directly at Kelly.

“You don't get to touch me.”

I pulled Kelly closer to me.

“If my daughter says she didn't start it, then she didn't,” I said. “You will not threaten my child, and you will not pass judgment until you pull up the security footage from that hallway.”

Mrs. Vance frowned.

“Mrs. Evans, let's not make this more difficult—”

The door opened before she could finish.

A woman walked into the office, her heels clicking against the floor.

“Who dares mess with my daughter?”