Gemotions

The first sign was the whispers. At the grocery store, in line at the coffee shop, from her neighbors. "Did you read the book?" they asked, eyes alight with a specific kind of gleeful knowledge.

"A Portrait of Penelope: A Life in Secrets," it was called. She hadn't even known she *had* secrets, let alone enough to fill a book.

Her stomach churned. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She felt exposed, vulnerable, like someone had stolen her skin. She found herself checking over her shoulder constantly.

She started wearing a baseball cap and oversized sunglasses whenever she left her apartment.