Gemotions

The fluorescent lights of the library hummed, a sound that usually soothed Amelia. Today, it grated on her ears like nails on a chalkboard. She slammed the laptop shut, the cheap plastic casing protesting with a crack. Her knuckles were white, her breath coming in short, choppy bursts. How dare they!

She reread the damning paragraph, the one about Ethan, the unrequited crush. A blush, not of embarrassment but of pure, incandescent fury, burned its way up her neck. Her jaw clenched so hard she could feel the muscles throbbing. This wasn't hers anymore; it was public property, fodder for the internet's relentless judgement.

Outside, a storm was brewing, the sky mirroring the tempest inside her.