Waiting for Bells grows from the rows of a Michigan classroom. Teachers tire of the expression that the real world starts once students matriculate or that those who cannot, teach. Instead, school halls teem with tales of tragedy, talent, love, loss, depression, desire, betrayal and hope for both students and staff. Those real life themes tug a thread through the first and title short of this 16 story collection of fiction. There are five sections to this book including: Teaching, Prep School, Bachelors, Study Abroad & Graduates. Teaching touches raw nerves of a profession that sees an all time high of teachers leaving schools permanently and few young filling that void. Prep School braves the minefields of adolescent love and loss. Bachelors puts a foot in the past and a tentative step in the future to straddle a precarious present of "friendship." Study Abroad leaves the country forever changing those who return and Graduates toss their mortar boards too high to catch them again.