Gemotions

The email notification popped up, the words "High School Reunion" catching his eye, and making his breath catch in his throat. He'd done so well to escape this life. He considered deleting it, but curiosity, and a deep-seated fear, kept him from it.

He clicked on the link. Photos, names, memories. He scanned the familiar faces, a coldness spreading through his limbs. The popular crowd, the ones who had made his life a misery. They were so well, so successful.

He closed his laptop, and the silence of his apartment felt deafening. He felt a phantom weight on his shoulders, an echo of the countless times he’d been picked on, mocked, forgotten. He couldn’t go. He simply couldn’t.