Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows, mirroring the bleakness inside Maya. She'd spent the entire day hunched on her bed, the covers pulled tight around her. Her phone buzzed again, another notification from a former classmate, a link to the article. It was real. Her teenage diary, filled with embarrassing crushes and angsty pronouncements, was online for the world to see. A wave of nausea churned in her stomach. She felt a profound sense of wrongness, as if someone had stolen her insides and laid them bare for examination.

She had managed to pick at a slice of toast for breakfast, but it felt like swallowing lead. Each notification was a fresh blow, each comment a barb. Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through the comments section, the words – cruel, judgmental, and utterly devastating – blurring before her eyes. The house felt too small, the walls closing in.