The instructions read: Push in on perforated area and pull up.
Cassie stared at the perforated area, a small, triangle of space surrounded by tiny cuts in the cardboard. Placing her finger over the spot she pushed lightly, testing the strength of the cuts. In theory it should just break inward with a satisfying popping sound. In theory…
Pressing harder, she noted the bowing of the top corner as the cardboard ignored the perforations, and its own printed instructions, and simply bent inward under the pressure. Her lips compressed into an irritated line. Why did she bother? The instructions never worked yet she always gave it the old college try.
She hadn’t even gone to college.
Was that why she couldn’t open the box? Was the trick to getting the perforations to work really just a matter of having a degree in something?
The entire, narrow side of the box collapsed under her finger as she pressed hard enough to explode a peach pit. Still nothing.
Huffing angrily, she stopped pushing and grabbed the lid, forcing her finger under the glued edge and shredding the box top. Dumping the contents into the pan of boiling water she grabbed a wooden spoon and maliciously churned the silver cheese package around with the macaroni.
