Gemotions

The president’s announcement echoed in the vast, empty auditorium, each word a punch to Emily’s gut. The words blurred; she couldn’t make sense of them. Closing. The school was closing. Her world was imploding.

Her breath hitched in her throat, making a harsh sound that made her ears ring. She wanted to disappear, to sink into the worn velvet of the auditorium seats and vanish. Her hands were ice cold, even though the room was stifling.

She pushed back from the row, her legs feeling like jelly. She struggled to keep herself upright as she stumbled towards the exit. She had to get out, to escape the suffocating weight of this news.