Gemotions

He saw the notification: Ms. Ramirez had started following him. He almost dropped his phone. A thrill of…something…shot through him, quickly followed by a strange, hollow ache. He knew what would happen. This was how it always went.

He clicked on her profile. Scrolling through her carefully curated feed of travel photos and art exhibitions, he felt a familiar pressure in his chest. A photograph of her at a museum, captioned “Found some inspiration today.” And the likes? Mostly from other students. Not him. He felt oddly…empty.

He closed the app, the screen reflecting his own frustrated face. He slammed the laptop lid shut. It was time for a run, maybe. Anything to get this feeling out of his system.