Gemotions

The email shimmered on Maya’s screen, the subject line a cruel joke: “Congratulations, Scholarship Recipient!” She reread the body, the words blurring as the blood began to hammer in her ears. A surge, a heat, flooded her, a tightness in her chest making it difficult to breathe. It was supposed to be hers. She had the grades, the extracurriculars, the story. Now, some stranger, some… *them*, would have the freedom she craved.

She slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the sterile silence of her dorm room. Outside, the campus buzzed with the lazy energy of a Tuesday afternoon. Laughter drifted in through the open window, each syllable a pinprick. She wanted to scream, to shatter the placid facade of everything.

That evening, at dinner, she picked at her food, barely meeting the eyes of her friends. When Sarah excitedly recounted her weekend plans, involving a concert she could now afford thanks to her own funding, Maya offered only a tight, almost inaudible, "That's…great."