Gemotions

"We have to go, it's just a *party*," Jake said, his voice unusually high-pitched. He looked at the invitations again. He was going to spend his whole birthday alone.

He stared at the calendar, the red circle around today's date seemed to pulsate with a threatening rhythm. He kept squeezing his hands into fists.

He wanted to scream. He imagined the judging of his friends, that he wasn’t cool or fun. The pressure was intense. His party was a simple movie night. His friend, Kevin, was having a live music party.

He wanted to stay in bed, pull the covers over his head and hope the day would just disappear. He hated the idea of people knowing. He hated the idea of everyone having a better time somewhere else.