Gemotions

He stared at the laptop screen, unable to breathe. His palms were slick. The headline screamed back at him: “Liam’s Lament: A Teen’s Takedown of Everything.” His adolescent angst, laid bare for the world to see. He had to scroll. He saw his misspelled frustrations, his unrequited crushes, his petty grievances against his parents, all now public.

His throat constricted. He clicked the cursor, each click loud in the sudden silence of his childhood bedroom. He looked away, his pulse quickening. He wanted to delete the entire internet, to erase every digital footprint. He felt a throbbing ache behind his eyes and then abruptly slammed the laptop shut. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, feeling a cold sweat break out on his forehead.