Gemotions

Sarah gripped the book, the glossy cover slick against her sweaty palms. Her picture, a childhood photo with missing teeth, stared back at her with unsettling familiarity. She flipped through the pages, her breath catching in her throat. The prose, flowery and dramatic, detailed her first kiss, a memory she'd kept locked away, a secret shame. A wave of nausea rolled through her, forcing her to clutch the edge of the kitchen table.

She flung the book across the room. It landed with a soft thud against the wall. This stranger, this *author*, knew things. Things no one should know. She felt exposed, stripped bare. Her hands trembled as she reached for her phone, dialing her sister's number, the words catching in her throat.