Gemotions

“And then, remember the midnight swim?” Michael asked, grinning. Emily could feel her skin prickling. She gripped the cold metal of her water bottle, her knuckles white. Her vision was blurring at the edges.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. Instead, she just stood there, paralyzed, while he reminisced about Camp Sunshine. Her pulse hammered in her temples, a frantic drumbeat against her skull.

"I… I can't," she finally blurted out, the words catching in her throat. She fumbled with her bag, her fingers clumsy and unresponsive. She had to escape this conversation. She just had to.

She turned and rushed away, leaving him standing there with a look of confusion, the stories of the camp still ringing in her ears.