Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows of the cramped dorm room, mirroring the storm brewing inside Maya. She'd been so close, so sure. The scholarship had been the key, the only way she could afford the next semester. Now, it was gone, vanished like a dream.

“I can’t believe it,” she muttered, pacing the length of her tiny room. The poster of the Eiffel Tower, once a symbol of hope, now felt like a cruel joke.

She picked up the phone, her fingers clenching the receiver so hard her knuckles turned white. It took every ounce of her control to speak in a civil tone when she called her mother. "It's all a mistake, Mom," she said, her voice strained. She fought to keep the tremor out of her voice, but when she hung up, her shoulders slumped.