Gemotions

The phone felt slick with sweat in Emily's trembling hand. The images. The comments. The likes. All of it. Her daughter, Maya, the sweet, shy girl who blushed easily, was a different person online. She felt a hot flush creep up her neck, her cheeks burning. A tremor ran through her arms.

She slammed the phone down on the kitchen table, the screen facing down. The silence of the house magnified the ringing in her ears. She pulled a chair back, its legs scraping across the tile. Her daughter. Her daughter, hiding this.

"Maya!" she called, her voice strained, a near whisper. "I need you to come downstairs."