Gemotions

The email arrived mid-lecture, the subject line a stark, bureaucratic statement: "Scholarship Review – Urgent Action Required." Her heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs. The professor’s droning voice faded into background noise as she clicked it open. Her stomach lurched. The scholarship, the lifeline that had kept her afloat, was not, in fact, hers. A mistake. A clerical error. A name misread. It was all swirling in her head. A dizzying warmth crept up her neck, followed by a tingling sensation in her lower belly. She felt utterly exposed, vulnerable. She leaned back in her chair, the hard plastic biting into the small of her back. “Excuse me,” she muttered, and practically fled the room.