Gemotions

The air in the gallery felt stifling. Amelia stared at the walls, but she wasn’t really seeing the art. Her teenage diary, “Heartbreak Hotel,” was now the talk of the town. Her most vulnerable confessions, her desperate pleas for love, her adolescent yearning, all there for everyone to judge.

Her hands were clammy. She felt a knot in her stomach. She saw the snide smiles, the whispers. She wanted to sink into the floor. She needed to escape, to be alone. She fumbled with her purse, wanting to get out and be away from everything. She took a sharp intake of breath.