Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows of the campus coffee shop, mirroring the tempest inside Amelia. She stared at the steaming latte in her hands, the warmth doing nothing to thaw the icy knot in her stomach. The email, so impersonal in its cold blue font, sat open on her laptop, replaying in her mind: “...due to an administrative error…” It was all a mistake. The scholarship, the lifeline, the very thing that kept her here, wasn't hers. She felt as though the floor beneath her feet had dissolved, leaving her suspended in a freefall.

The barista called her name, and Amelia mechanically reached for the drink, her fingers numb. She tasted nothing. How could she possibly tell her mother, who was already working two jobs to make ends meet? The future, once a canvas of possibilities, had been smeared with a relentless, ugly black paint.