Gemotions

The flickering candlelight did little to dispel the shadows dancing across the walls of Maria’s apartment. She sat huddled on the sofa, the remote control clutched tightly in her hand. Channel after channel, nothing. The monotony was suffocating. Then, a ping. A Facebook friend request from Gary Peterson.

Gary. A name that, even after all these years, could still spark a sense of unease. He was the king of subtle cruelty, the master of passive-aggressive remarks. She remembered the way he'd always found her vulnerabilities, the way he'd expertly pick at her insecurities. She closed her eyes.

She wanted to believe she was past it, that she no longer cared about the opinion of a boy from her school days. But the small, insistent tremor in her hand told a different story. The phone slipped from her fingers. She was overwhelmed with the need to be alone, to disappear.