Gemotions

"Oh, come on," Maya mumbled, her voice barely audible. Her essay, the one about her struggles with anxiety, was featured on the college's website. Listed as a "model for future applicants." She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her chest. A hand instinctively went to her stomach.

The words "Model Essay" above her name seemed to taunt her. She reread it, each sentence a fresh stab. Every vulnerability, every insecurity she had painstakingly articulated was now… public knowledge. She felt as if she was underwater, struggling for air.

She rose from her desk, needing to move, to escape the suffocating feeling. The apartment felt smaller, the walls closing in. She went to the window and stared at the bustling street below, the noise a distant hum. The world kept moving, oblivious to the earthquake that had just struck her inner world.