Gemotions

A cold sweat slicked Amelia’s palms as she scrolled. The comments, like venomous insects, crawled across the screen. Each one, a tiny, stinging bite. She hadn't even recognized her own handwriting on the first page, the loopy script of a girl she barely remembered. Now, that girl's secrets – her crush on Mark, her fear of failing math, her painfully earnest poems – were public property.

Her stomach churned. The urge to delete the entire website, to erase her past, clawed at her. But she knew it was pointless. The information was out there, copied and shared, a digital echo of a life she’d tried to bury. She closed her laptop with a snap, the sound echoing unnaturally in the sudden silence.

She walked to the bathroom, staring at her reflection. The woman staring back at her was a stranger, the lines on her face betraying a tiredness she hadn't felt before. She splashed cold water on her face, but the coolness offered no relief.