Gemotions

The notification blinked: "Brad Peterson sent you a friend request." Amelia almost choked on her lukewarm coffee. Brad Peterson. After all these years. Her hand hovered over the 'ignore' button, her knuckles white. She could practically taste the metallic tang of resentment. He probably wanted something. Another ego boost, fishing for compliments on his mid-life crisis muscle car. She tapped the profile. Same vacant, self-satisfied smile she remembered from the schoolyard. The 'accept' button mocked her.

She slammed her laptop shut. The sudden darkness was a relief. The distant echo of her own heartbeat was loud in the sudden quiet. She got up, pacing. She would not let him ruin her morning. Not this time.

She grabbed her phone and texted her sister, something flippant about the absurdity of life, ending with a string of laughing emojis, desperately trying to dispel the phantom weight in her chest.