Gemotions

Liam stared at the blue checkmark. Mr. Davies, his art teacher, now followed him on Twitter. A sudden, sharp prickling sensation, like static electricity, danced across his skin. He felt a sudden, almost desperate urge to craft the perfect tweet.

He spent the next hour hunched over his phone, deleting and rewriting posts. His heart pounded. The air around him felt thick, charged. He re-read his previous tweets, analyzing their tone, their wit, their appeal. He imagined the way Mr. Davies might interpret them.

A nervous energy made his fingers tap incessantly on the table. He felt a lightness in his chest. He felt like he could run a marathon. He got up and walked in a circle. He was finding it hard to breathe normally. He started to hum a tune, quietly at first, and then with a bit more verve. He needed something, anything, to release the pressure building inside him.