Gemotions

The instant she saw the familiar blue cover on the bedside table, a wave of heat washed over Maya. Her throat constricted, and she couldn't meet Liam's eye. He was humming, seemingly oblivious, fiddling with a pen. Her own pen. The one she’d lost a week ago. Her stomach lurched.

“Hey,” she managed, her voice thin. She wanted to disappear, to vanish into the chipped paint of the wall.

He looked up, a bright, cheerful smile on his face. “Oh, hey Maya! Found your pen. And…hey, is that your journal? Cool.” He tossed it toward her, the casualness of the movement amplifying the pressure in her chest.

She picked it up, her fingers clumsy, and clutched it to her chest. “Yeah.” The single word felt heavy, laden with unspoken accusation and a deep, unsettling embarrassment.