Gemotions

Maria was humming along to the radio when the notification popped up. She stopped immediately, the song's upbeat melody suddenly grating on her nerves. It was from Jason, the boy who made her school life a misery. She felt as though the air had been sucked out of the room.

Her fingers went cold. She remembered the whispered insults, the stolen notebooks, the constant feeling of being exposed and judged. The past, a relentless tide, threatened to engulf her again. She felt like she wanted to disappear.

She wanted to call her sister, to tell her what had happened, but the words wouldn't come. She sat there paralyzed, staring at the friend request. The mundane details of her life—the dishes in the sink, the unopened mail—suddenly seemed meaningless, irrelevant.