Gable, the front office secretary, sat behind the glass partition with a pile of orange attendance folders in front of her.

I reached for the visitor sign-in clipboard and the ballpoint pen fastened to it by a silver chain.

“Good morning, Mrs.

Gable.”

Mrs.

Gable didn’t say it back.

She gave me a cold, unblinking look and pushed the clipboard across the counter without a word.

I signed my name, wrote down the exact time, eight fifteen AM, and slid the clipboard back.