Gemotions

The knot in Maya's stomach tightened with every step she took back to their dorm room. The chipped paint on the door seemed to leer at her. She fumbled with the key, her fingers clumsy and cold. Inside, Liam was at his desk, headphones on, typing away. He looked up, a casual smile gracing his face. "Hey," he said, and Maya found herself physically recoiling, a tiny, involuntary flinch she couldn't control.

The journal lay on her bed, open.

A cold wave washed over her, chilling her from the inside out. Her breath hitched. The familiar, comforting scent of lavender from the diffuser felt suddenly cloying, suffocating. She couldn't meet Liam's gaze. Instead, she grabbed her backpack and started pacing, her mind racing, a rapid-fire series of "What ifs" and "How could he?".

"Everything okay?" Liam asked, his voice now laced with a subtle note of confusion. Maya just shook her head, unable to speak, the words caught like thorns in her throat. She needed space, air, to process. She grabbed her keys and fled, the dorm room feeling suddenly like a cage.