Gemotions

The sleek, cream-colored envelope, embossed with the school's crest, lay on the kitchen island. Jennifer avoided looking at it. Instead, she concentrated on stirring the soup on the stove, her movements excessively deliberate. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. The air in the kitchen felt stifling.

She’d spent the morning cleaning her house, scrubbing everything until it sparkled, a futile attempt to impose order on the chaos within. The reunion seemed to embody that chaos. She wondered how many of them would remember the things she’d tried to hide.

She turned off the stove with a decisive click, but the silence that followed felt oppressive. She wanted to run, to escape the suffocating weight of anticipation. She found herself staring at the door, as if the exit might magically appear.