Gemotions

The fluorescent lights of the dorm room hummed, a monotonous drone that amplified the silence. He hadn't slept, not properly, since the email arrived. Every noise, every creak of the building, every distant shout seemed to pierce his ears. He was a tightly wound spring, on the verge of snapping.

His phone lay on the desk, buzzing occasionally with well-meaning messages from friends, but he just ignored them. He didn’t have the energy to respond, to feign normalcy.

He picked up a pen and began to tap it rhythmically against the table, the sound a small, insistent counterpoint to the turmoil within. His jaw was clenched so hard he thought his teeth might crack.