They want to put me in therapy. The school wants me to see their social worker. They think I am depressed

I went to school the next day just to make my mother stop nudging me.

I sat through Jewish history and halachah and a whole bunch of other classes, but my mind was on Lali.

That girl was so sweet. Why didn’t she talk to anybody? I had plenty of time to mull it over as I skipped Chumash for obvious reasons and spent the period wandering around the school building.

The principal walked out of the office just as I was walking past. My bad luck.

“Shulamis!” Her face softened. “Can we talk?”

I didn’t really have a choice, so I walked into the office I had come to dread.

I left it after 20 minutes, seething.

They want to put me in therapy. The school wants me to see their social worker. They think I am depressed. To make matters worse, they already planned a session for me today! Now I understood why my mother wanted me to go to school today. I felt so betrayed. I’m 17, more than capable of leading my own life!

I resolved to keep my mouth shut during the session. I hoped that would make them give up the idea.

But all I managed to do was land myself another session.

Did I talk about my bad luck yet?

With all the new things going on, the sessions and my mother driving me up the wall to go to school every day, I almost forgot about the whole Lali incident, when two weeks later, my mother approached me with a funny look on her face.