Gemotions

The laptop screen swam before Amelia's eyes. Paragraph after paragraph, she saw her life, *her* life, twisted and contorted into a romance novel. A romance novel with *him* as the hero. She slammed the lid shut, the click echoing in the sudden quiet of their apartment. Her breath hitched. She needed air. Now.

She fumbled for the door handle, her fingers clumsy, her vision blurring. Outside, the city hummed, a low, constant thrum that felt impossibly loud. Every shadow seemed to lengthen, to twist into mocking shapes. He'd written about her best friend, the way she chewed her nails when nervous, the exact shade of lipstick she wore. Things he’d never *told* her he’d noticed.

Her phone vibrated in her hand. A text: *“Hey babe, coming home soon! Pizza okay?”* Okay? Pizza? She dropped the phone. The screen cracked, spiderwebbing across the glass. She laughed, a choked, breathless sound.