Gemotions

Emily stared at the invitation, the script swirling before her eyes. She’d tried so hard to leave the past behind, to outrun the echoes of high school. The past suddenly seemed very present. She felt a chill, a deep, pervasive cold.

Her fingers traced the words, a mechanical motion. She’d always been different, an outsider. The thought of being back in the same room, with the same people, felt like an icy blast. She shuddered.

She imagined the questions, the presumptions, the judgments. She felt a sudden urge to flee, to disappear. She crumpled the invitation in her fist and then carefully un-crumpled it, smoothing the paper flat. She didn't want to go. She knew she couldn't.