Gemotions

Her jaw clenched so tightly she could feel the muscles in her face ache. The tiny apartment, the one she had worked so hard to maintain, was gone. Now, she was back in her childhood room, the walls still painted a childish pink.

Her father had just offered "helpful" suggestions on how to find a new job, his voice dripping with condescension. She bit back a response, the words clawing at the back of her throat.

She opened the closet, the clothes inside a bizarre collection of her old things, mixed in with her mother's unwanted donations. Each item, a constant reminder of how she had failed. She gripped a faded band t-shirt, crumpling it in her hand.