Gemotions

The professor had returned the graded test, a bright red "C" staring back at Leo. He blinked, certain that he had misread it. He scanned the paper again, each line of the professor's comments seeming to blur and then sharpen in his vision.

He felt an unsettling quietness fill him, like a vacuum had suddenly sucked all the noise out of the world. He leaned back in his chair, his body rigid. The other students in the room began to fade into the background.

His breath hitched. He felt an odd lightness, as if he was floating just above his chair. The world around him slowed, each movement, each sound, seeming magnified. The words on the test seemed to swim, a jumble of red ink mocking his efforts.