Gemotions

From the moment the letter arrived, Maya became a ghost. She avoided the cafeteria, skipping classes she once attended. She needed the time to think, to strategize. The scholarship was her lifeline, not just for education, but for survival. She saw her peers as threats now, each smile a potential challenge to her advantage. The faces of the faculty, once sources of advice, now felt like judges. The scholarship money had already been integrated into her life, and she wasn’t prepared to surrender it, or the advantages it offered.