Gemotions

The email arrived, a digital slap across the face. "Congratulations! Your essay is featured…" The words blurred. Sarah’s jaw clenched so hard she thought her teeth might crack. Her words, her vulnerabilities, now public fodder. She clicked the link, the webpage's cheerful design mocking her. A knot formed in her stomach, a physical manifestation of the resentment churning within. She slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the sterile silence of her dorm room.

She paced, her steps frantic, until the polished floorboards seemed to wobble beneath her. She grabbed her phone, scrolling through contacts, a list of everyone she knew and disliked. The air thickened with a bitter taste, like over-brewed coffee. Her fingers hovered over the “delete” button. She wanted to obliterate them all.

Later, she found herself at the campus library, ostensibly to study. But instead, she tore pages from the textbook, each rip a release of some simmering, unacknowledged torment. The neat rows of books, the studious faces, just amplified the rage.