Gemotions

“You went to Camp Clearwater too, right, Jessica?” The question, from Daniel, hung in the air, thick with a saccharine tone that set her teeth on edge.

Jessica felt a wave of icy displeasure wash over her. It was a place where they all had to be nice to each other. Now she had to pretend she was happy to meet an old aquaintance.

“I did,” she admitted, her tone carefully neutral.

Daniel launched into a tale of his impressive prowess in the swimming races, his voice laced with self-importance. Jessica crossed her arms, the movement sharp and decisive.

"The lake water was freezing, I recall," she said, her eyes fixed on the flickering screen of her computer. "And quite unpleasant, honestly." The memory of the relentless sunshine and forced games was now burned into her mind. She needed to look at it to keep her composure.

She waited for him to finish, her fingers drumming a restless rhythm on the desk. When he finally stopped, she simply nodded and turned back to her work, giving a short sentence that felt like a release: “Interesting.”