Gemotions

The silence of the apartment pressed in on her. The quiet was almost suffocating. The dishes remained unwashed, a small monument to her inability to cope. Then, a vibration from the phone. A message. A friend request. It was from David, the boy who'd made her cry every single day of sixth grade.

Her shoulders slumped. She just wanted to be left alone. She wanted to sleep for a week. She barely had the strength to breathe, let alone engage with something as emotionally taxing as *him*. She imagined the snide comments, the cruel jokes. A wave of intense weariness washed over her. She turned her phone over and went back to lying on the sofa.