Gemotions

"A speech?" Amelia echoed, the word feeling foreign on her tongue. Her friend, Sarah, had just relayed the news of her mom's request. Her heart rate had increased so rapidly. She’d been staring, a blank canvas of feelings.

She hadn't been expecting any of this. She had always been the listener, the observer, content to let others take the spotlight. Public speaking was her version of a personal hell.

She knew she couldn't refuse. Her parents’ happiness was paramount. But as the party approached, the butterflies in her stomach multiplied with each passing day. At the party itself, she kept replaying her lines, trying to remember what she had written on the cards.