Gemotions

The email shimmered on her screen, the words of congratulation morphing into something alien. She reread the paragraph detailing the scholarship, the one that paid for her textbooks, her dorm, everything. Her stomach dropped. It seemed she'd received the grant by mistake, a clerical error, a misplaced name. Her fingers fumbled with the mouse, scrolling back, then forward. She kept hitting refresh. The information remained the same, the uncomfortable truth staring back at her. What did this mean?

She pushed her chair back from the desk, the sudden movement causing it to scrape against the tile floor. Outside, the campus buzzed with the usual Friday afternoon energy, but inside her small room, the air had thickened, become strangely oppressive. She pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling the cool touch against her skin.

"This can't be right," she whispered, the words barely audible. A wave of dizziness washed over her. The financial aid office was closed for the weekend.