Gemotions

The request appeared as I was washing dishes, grease clinging to my hands. "Brenda Reynolds wants to be your friend." My shoulders tensed. Brenda. The girl who’d spread that lie about me in seventh grade. The one who made my life a living hell. Anger, cold and hard, solidified in my gut.

I slammed the dish brush down. The water splashed onto the counter. There were so many ways to respond. Ignore it. Block her. Delete the notification. I considered them all. Then, without a second thought, I clicked on her profile.

She looked… older. And… well, plain. Her life seemed perfectly ordinary. A few pictures of her cat, some generic motivational quotes. No one would guess the wreckage she had caused. Then I sent her a message. "Hey Brenda. Hope everything's going well." I didn't wait for a response.