Gemotions

The silence in her apartment was deafening, the quiet punctuated only by the rhythmic thumping of her own heartbeat. She tossed the exam onto the coffee table, the paper landing with a soft thud. A wave of exhaustion washed over her. The hours she’d poured into studying for this test, the sacrifices she'd made - all for naught.

She wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to physically contain the despair. The thought of facing the next class, the next assignment, filled her with a sense of dread. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she was stuck in place.