Gemotions

The clinking of glasses and the low hum of conversation at the art gallery grated on Emily's nerves. She’d always found it hard to believe her friend, Jessica, who always claimed to sell her artwork for huge sums of money. The truth, revealed by a gallery assistant, was even more infuriating: Jessica worked at a fast-food restaurant.

Emily's carefully chosen outfit suddenly felt cheap, her own aspirations insignificant. She watched others drinking champagne, she pictured herself in their place. Her fingers itched for something she couldn't name. She felt a need to take something, anything.