Gemotions

The rejection email sat, a malignant little square, on Amelia's laptop screen. Her jaw clenched so tightly she thought a tooth might crack. She slammed the laptop shut, the sudden noise echoing in the small, cluttered room. Paperbacks scattered on her desk, the remnants of a half-hearted study session, seemed to mock her. She kicked a discarded textbook, sending it skidding across the wooden floor. The injustice of it – all the hours spent writing essays, the sleepless nights poring over application materials – boiled in her chest.

She grabbed her phone and hurled it across the room. It bounced harmlessly against the wall, but the action released a small fraction of the pressure. She felt a throbbing ache behind her eyes. This scholarship was her only hope.