Gemotions

Maya slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in her sparsely furnished apartment. A wave of heat washed over her, prickling her skin. She’d been scrolling through the university’s website, a casual browse that had quickly curdled into something far more unpleasant. There it was, plastered across the "Admissions Essays: Examples" page – her essay, her deeply personal reflections on her grandmother's garden.

Her jaw clenched, and she felt a tremor in her hands. The essay she'd poured her heart into, the one that had felt so vulnerable to share, was now a public display. She snatched up her phone, her thumb hovering over the contact for the admissions office. Then, she stopped. Her breath hitched. What was the point? They wouldn't understand.

She paced the small room, her footsteps rapid and uneven. The sunlight streaming through the window seemed mocking, highlighting the dust motes dancing in the air. Each word she'd written now felt like a betrayal, a secret exposed.