Gemotions

The knot in Maya's stomach loosened as she closed her bedroom door, finally certain of what she had suspected. She found Liam, her roommate, sitting at his desk, pretending to study. Her journal lay open on his bed. The immediate impulse was anger, but something else bubbled up instead. A lightness. A strange, airy feeling she hadn't experienced in weeks. "Hey," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. "Everything okay?" He jumped, the book slipping from his grasp.

The ensuing stammered apology was almost comical. He mumbled something about curiosity, about not meaning any harm, about thinking it was a textbook. Maya just shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. She hadn't felt this unburdened in ages. She walked over to her desk, grabbed a stapler, and slowly, deliberately, began to put together a messy collage.