Gemotions

The message notification chimed and Brenda jumped, startled. Her heart hammered in her chest. It was a request from Tiffany, the girl who, in elementary school, had made Brenda's life a living hell. Now, Tiffany’s profile displayed a collection of perfect family pictures, a stunning house in a leafy suburb, and a seemingly endless stream of smiling faces. Brenda felt a familiar wave of nausea.

Brenda stared at her own reflection in the dim light of her rented flat. Her eyes looked tired, the shadows beneath them a testament to sleepless nights. Her career had stalled. She was stuck in a dead-end job. She felt the sudden urge to run, to escape the suffocating feeling of inadequacy that washed over her.

She picked up her phone and started scrolling through Tiffany's profile. Every perfect picture, every cheerful post, felt like a personal insult. She felt a burning need for something, a sense of validation, something, anything, to compete with this curated perfection. She was no longer hungry.