Gemotions

The email arrived like a punch to the gut. *Your Teenage Diary: A Raw Look Inside the Mind of…* followed by her full name. A knot tightened in her stomach. She hadn't thought about that diary in years, the one crammed with adolescent angst and unrequited crushes. Now, it was out there, for anyone to read. She stared at the computer screen, the words blurring, feeling a hollowness spread through her.

Her fingers trembled as she clicked the link. The website design felt gaudy, amateurish, and somehow, that made it worse. The first entry she skimmed was about her, at age fifteen, hopelessly in love with the boy next door. A flush of heat crept up her neck, followed by a wave of cold. It felt like someone had ripped open a wound she thought had healed.

She shut the laptop with a snap, the sound echoing in the silent apartment. Sunlight streamed in the window, highlighting the dust motes dancing in the air, but she couldn’t summon the energy to get out of bed. The day stretched before her, an empty expanse, filled only with the weight of her exposed secrets.