Gemotions

John, usually boisterous and carefree, had retreated into himself. His P.E. teacher, Coach Miller, was now on his Xbox friends list. John’s online persona was a hyper-competitive gamer, a world away from his easygoing persona at school.

He had a feeling he'd been caught.

The sudden shift in the teacher’s behavior towards him was unsettling. The extra push-ups in gym class. The knowing look. The subtle comments about his "gaming skills." He felt like he was being monitored, assessed.

He considered deleting his account, but the thought of losing all his progress filled him with a different kind of anguish. His freedom felt suffocated.