Gemotions

The glowing screen blurred before Maya's eyes. A name she hadn't seen in nearly two decades – Chad Worthington. He wanted to be her friend. She blinked, the notification still there, mocking her with its normalcy. A wave of nausea rolled through her. She felt like she'd stepped off a boat onto solid ground, the world tilting precariously. Her fingers fumbled as she instinctively reached for the water bottle on her desk. The plastic felt cold against her clammy palms.

Her breath hitched in her chest. Memories, unwelcome and sharp, flooded her mind – the taunts, the shoves in the schoolyard, the relentless feeling of being smaller than everyone else. She sat there, paralyzed, a knot forming in her stomach. She hadn't thought about him in years, not really. Now, here he was, a digital ghost from her past.