Gemotions

The website was ablaze with his words: "Illustrating the Importance of Community Service." He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He wrote about working in the soup kitchen. He had never believed the act was important. It was a requirement.

He gripped his phone so hard that his knuckles were white. The essay, he now realized, was a betrayal of his true self. He'd feigned empathy. He’d fabricated a connection he didn't feel.

He felt a deep sense of wrongness. A cold wave rolled over him. He wanted to vanish, to dissolve into the background. He felt as though the world would see him for the fraud he was.