Jealousy

It starts in the belly. A pull when she laughs — with him. A hot rush through the chest when his name appears in a message that wasn't meant for you. Your stomach tightens, your pulse quickens, your breath becomes shallower. At night you lie awake, your mind spinning in loops that always ask the same question: What if?

Jealousy is not a clean feeling — it's an alloy. Made of fear, shame, anger, and a dull sense of injustice. It burns, it paralyzes, it makes you perceptive and blind at the same time. And it doesn't only show up in the soul. It settles in your body. In the constant undertone of restlessness. In the stomach that can't hold anything when you're tense. In the heart that stumbles at every unexpected signal. In the sleep that refuses to come, or that stays shallow because part of you is on guard all night.