Gemotions

He was cleaning out his old classroom. Mr. Hawthorne, the science teacher, stopped, frozen. A large, complex model of the solar system sat on a table. It was beautiful, a miniature universe of spinning planets and gleaming suns. He had no memory of seeing it before.

He recognized the signature on the base: Sarah. Sarah, who constantly complained about physics. Sarah, who had dropped out before the end of the year. He felt a strange pressure behind his eyes.

A small card: "Thank you for making science not suck." He touched the model gently. He’d thought she hated him. He felt a strange sort of lightness. A flicker of something.