Gemotions

The rented tuxedo felt constricting, the bow tie a noose around her neck. She stood in the bustling ballroom, watching the cheerful chatter, the clinking glasses, the beaming faces. A knot tightened in her stomach.

She caught her reflection in a mirrored pillar, seeing a stranger staring back: pale, with eyes that seemed too wide, too haunted. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

When her father, flushed with laughter, waved her over, she felt a profound sense of inertia, as if her feet were rooted to the floor.