Gemotions

The clipboard slipped from Maya's trembling fingers, clattering onto the polished gym floor. Coach Miller’s face swam before her eyes, a blur of disappointment. Her chest constricted, a physical impossibility of breath. She clawed at the air, each gasp shallow and ineffective. Tears, hot and stinging, tracked rivers down her cheeks, blurring her vision further. She wanted to scream, to shatter the silence that had swallowed the announcement, but her voice was locked somewhere deep inside, a prisoner of disbelief.