So she didn't bully him.
He bullied her, and she let him.
I missed the part where she "tried to be his friend", I guess.
He objectified and humiliated her, and she arranged his book bag. How did that help?
Essentially she did the same thing administration did - ignore, appease, pass him along to someone else.
I knew a less-mean kid who was still mean and he had been adopted.
People like this aren’t one-dimensional. Sometimes they have odd mannerisms that seem to invite others to pile onto them.