Gemotions

He barely looked up when his roommate, Ben, sauntered in, whistling. The silence in the small dorm room was deafening. Alex knew. He knew Ben had been reading his journal. The previous night, he had left it open on his desk, a careless mistake he now regretted deeply.

Alex busied himself with a crossword, his fingers trembling as he filled in the blanks. The words seemed to blur before his eyes. Every time Ben spoke, Alex flinched. The casual chatter felt like a deliberate intrusion, a mockery of the intimacy he had unwittingly offered. His appetite disappeared.