Gemotions

The invitation felt heavy in Maria's hand. She ran a thumb over the raised lettering, the touch unnerving. She glanced at the date, a knot forming in her gut. She’d spent years constructing a life that felt safe, a life where her teenage awkwardness was a distant memory. Now, it was all threatened.

She kept checking the clock. She'd get up, start to make dinner, then sit back down. She'd open the invitation, close it. She found herself picking at the skin around her nails, a telltale sign of discomfort. The thought of those old hallways, those old faces, made her shoulders tense.

She felt utterly trapped.