The people behind me press me forward, away from my family, who will be the last ones to leave. They may even stay to stack the chairs and clean the bowls. I twist my head around to find Caleb in the crowd of Erudite behind me. He stands among the other initiates, shaking hands with a faction transfer, a boy who was Candor. The easy smile he wears is an act of betrayal. My stomach wrenches and I turn away. If it’s so easy for him, maybe it should be easy for me, too.

What does wrench mean here?

Question

The people behind me press me forward, away from my family, who will be the last ones to leave. They may even stay to stack the chairs and clean the bowls. I twist my head around to find Caleb in the crowd of Erudite behind me. He stands among the other initiates, shaking hands with a faction transfer, a boy who was Candor. The easy smile he wears is an act of betrayal. My stomach wrenches and I turn away. If it’s so easy for him, maybe it should be easy for me, too.

What does wrench mean here?

Answer

Stomach-wrenching is an adjective that means involving great distress or anguish. It is often used to describe a gut-wrenching feeling, which is a common symptom of a nervous stomach. A nervous stomach can be caused by emotional challenges such as anxiety and depression or by digestive disorders. Symptoms may include feeling "butterflies" in your stomach or experiencing a "gut-wrenching" feeling.

Answer

It means they are feeling nervous or anxiety because of the situation and they get that uneasy feeling or sick feeling in their stomach.