Gemotions

Sarah stared at the screen, heart hammering. It was Brad, the boy who'd made her school years a misery. She'd always been small, easy to intimidate, and Brad had been a master. The memories flooded back: the stolen lunch money, the whispered insults. Now, this.

Her fingers danced over the accept button, then hesitated. The tiny, cramped apartment seemed to close in around her. Dust motes danced in the single ray of sunlight that penetrated the grimy window. Without the approval of others, she felt like the dust motes; insignificant and lost.

She hadn’t left the apartment in three days. Her phone buzzed with a reminder of the bills she needed to pay. Maybe if she accepted, it would be a way to connect. Someone to talk to, even if they had tormented her.