Gemotions

The coffee tasted like ash in her mouth. She stared at the swirling cream, unable to focus on the history notes spread across the desk. Sunlight, normally a welcome presence in the small dorm room, felt like an interrogation lamp. She kept catching her roommate, Sarah, glancing at her. The air crackled with unspoken tension, thick and suffocating. Sarah was humming, a tuneless, off-key melody that grated on her nerves. “Everything alright, Maya?” Sarah asked finally, her voice too casual. Maya forced a smile, the muscles in her face aching. "Yeah, fine," she mumbled, pushing the notes away. The world felt wrong, shifted. Like a puzzle, with a key piece missing.