Gemotions

The coffee shop buzzed with chatter, the scent of espresso filling the air. Michael was smiling, regaling their mutual friend with a story about a prank they’d pulled on a teacher in high school. He remembered it as a hilarious success, a moment of teenage rebellion.

Across from him, his face went a little pale. He recalled the humiliation, the feeling of being exposed, the weeks of detention and punishment that followed. His palms were slick with perspiration. He gripped his coffee cup tightly, his knuckles white. The disparity between Michael's memory and his own left him feeling exposed, vulnerable.