Gemotions

The email ping echoed through Emily's quiet apartment. She was already in her pajamas, getting ready to unwind after a long day. She saw the name: Kevin, the boy who used to trip her in the hallways and spread rumors about her. She felt her face flush, heat creeping up her neck.

She sat heavily on her bed, her breath catching in her throat. She gripped the edge of the duvet, her knuckles white. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, searching for the person she had become, the woman who had finally learned to stand up for herself. The woman who had built a life she was proud of. He had no power over her anymore. Yet, the small voice in the back of her head, the one that still held a residue of that old pain, whispered a different truth.