I run out of the house, late, again. Am I cursed to be late forever?

Today, I sense something is off. ____ isn’t at the end of the street. In fact, she’s nowhere in sight.

I am standing on the corner of the road, probably looking like some lost child. Then I hear a familiar voice.

“Ah, Dongjun!” ____’s mom has stepped out onto her porch and is beckoning my over. Is ____ sick?

“____ left for school early today, but she was in such a rush she forgot her lunch. Would you please bring it to her?”

I nod, take the brown bag, then walk by myself to school.

It’s the first time I’ve ever done this. It gives me a lot of time to think about serious things, instead of having to come up with witty banter all the time.

I think about ____, and how mad she is. I didn’t think she’d be that mad. She’s never not talked to me for more than a day.

Whatever. She can be such a hard- sometimes.

Great, now I’m thinking about her . Real serious stuff. I roll my eyes while walking, but I almost walk into a pole.

I hear a couple of girlish giggles. I whip my head around and smile, half expecting ____ to be standing there, but instead I see the girl who sits behind me in class. She returns my smile kindly, waves, and walks away, looking back often.

My smile which was so readily pasted on earlier droops a bit. I am a little disappointed thatit wasn’t who I had expected. Who I had hoped. I take a couple deep breaths, and continue walking to my classroom. Why do I suddenly feel so nervous? Coming through the door, I immediately spot ____ in her seat, concentrating deeply in her workbook. I walk over.

“Hey, you forgot your lunch,” I say, holding out the paper bag to its owner.

She pauses and stops reading, but doesn’t move her head up to face me. After a few seconds, she continues studying as if she was never interrupted.

“Hey, here’s your lunch!” I say a little louder.

SLAM! ____ shuts her book forcefully and pushes it violently into the bookbag beside her and takes another textbook out, never looking up.

I huff, and walk to my desk, lunch still in my hand. She’s still going to ignore me, it seems. Outwardly, I appear only mildly annoyed, but I feel a hard lump in my throat.

At lunch, I try and give ____ her lunch again. Again, she continues to ignore me and the lunch. So I eventually just put the lunch bag in my locker and leave it there for the rest of the day. The lump in my throat grows. I really should do something about it. How can I make the lump go away?