Gemotions

"Another rejection email?" Chloe's roommate, Emily, asked from the doorway. Chloe didn't answer; she just stared out the window, the city sprawling beneath her. The grey sky reflected her mood perfectly. A notification on her phone distracted her for a moment: A friend request from David. The boy who had sabotaged her science project in the seventh grade.

She felt a hollowness bloom in her chest. A wave of familiar shame washed over her. She knew that he had succeeded in what he was trying to do. He had ensured she would lose. Her fingers tightened around her phone, her knuckles white.