Gemotions

The air in the living room felt thick with tension. Karen clutched the printout of the social media page, her knuckles white. Her son, Ethan, had been acting distant, spending hours locked in his room. Now she knew why. The posts were boastful, the comments sycophantic, the whole thing a caricature of the boy she loved. Disbelief warred with a rising fury within her.

She found Ethan playing video games, as usual. She stood in the doorway, the printout crumpled in her hand. "Ethan," she said, her voice sharp. "We need to have a serious conversation."

He didn't even pause the game. "About what?" he asked, his voice flat and disinterested. Her breath hitched. That indifference was a slap in the face. She wanted to grab the controller and smash it against the wall.