Gemotions

The request from David Carter appeared like a dark stain on Eleanor’s otherwise brightly colored day. She felt a sudden chill, despite the warm sun streaming through her window. David. He was the one who had made her feel like a pariah in her own school.

She found herself compulsively cleaning her apartment, scrubbing the floors until they shone. The silence in the room was deafening, amplifying the echoes of forgotten taunts. He had been so cruel.

Later, she found herself staring at the framed photograph of her graduation, a distant memory of a time when the future seemed bright. The face of the past cast a long shadow on her present. Her smile felt forced.