Gemotions

The familiar scent of his mother's baking, a scent he once found soothing, now only sharpened the ache in his chest. He sat at the kitchen table, picking listlessly at the plate of cookies. He had cornered Chloe in the grocery store, a place they used to sneak off to with their allowance money. When he'd mentioned their secret clubhouse, the gleam in her eyes had disappeared, replaced by a polite, distant look. She looked at him as if he was hallucinating, and eventually just sighed and excused herself. Now, the sweetness of the cookies felt cloying.