Gemotions

He pulled the collar of his shirt up around his neck, as if that could somehow shield him. The bus was packed, the chatter of the other passengers a dull roar in his ears. He gripped the metal pole so tightly his knuckles turned white.

His reflection in the window showed a stranger, a boy aged into a shell of a man. The article's headline blared, "Small-Town Teen’s Deepest Secrets Uncovered." He’d never seen a digital world quite like the one that had just opened up. The world that threatened to tear him apart.

He imagined the judging eyes, the whispers, the snickers. He closed his eyes, willing the bus to arrive at his stop, wishing the world would just fade away.