Gemotions

The online comments section was a disaster. Sarah scrolled through the glowing praise for “Exemplary Essay: A Journey Through Appalachian Grit.” She knew the words. Every. Single. One. That was *her* essay. The one she’d bled over, poured her heart into, only to see it plastered all over the admissions department’s website. Her jaw clenched. She slammed her laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in her sparsely furnished dorm room. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, painting stripes across her dusty desk, but she found no comfort in it.

The smugness of the "prospective students" responding to it was making her chest feel tight. "Incredible!" "So inspiring!" "Wow, I want to be just like her!" Sarah wanted to scream. She grabbed a stress ball shaped like a tiny brain and squeezed it with all her might, the rubber groaning in protest. She should have known, she thought, she should have seen this coming.

She considered writing a scathing reply, revealing the raw panic that churned beneath the polished prose. But she knew that would be a bad idea. Instead, she decided to go for a run. Maybe she could run all the way away from the damn thing.