Gemotions

“No way,” Chloe breathed. The text message, a screenshot of the official announcement, made her stomach flip. Her college, the one she loved, was going under. The words swam before her eyes.

A tingling sensation began in her toes, spreading upwards. She felt suddenly very warm. She pushed herself away from the table in the student cafe, the plastic chair scraping against the floor. She needed to be somewhere other than here.

She rushed outside, the air feeling shockingly cool against her skin. The familiar landscape, the lawns and the trees, now seemed transformed, imbued with a heightened intensity. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She started to walk, fast, as though she were fleeing something.