Gemotions

A tremor ran through Amelia as she read the message. "Dude, I'm, like, totally in your town!" Relief washed over her, followed by a knot of something tighter, more clinging, in her chest. She hadn’t left her apartment in days.

Her thumb hovered over the reply button. She typed, deleted, and retyped a simple "No way!" but the words felt too casual, too detached. She pictured Liam, her online confidant, and the imagined warmth in his smile.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. She couldn’t face the prospect of him disappearing again, of the screen being the only space they shared. She finally wrote, "Wanna meet up?" and the second that message was sent, she felt a cold dread as she knew she couldn’t back out.