Gemotions

The congratulatory emails kept arriving, each one a fresh wave of nausea. Amelia scrolled through her inbox, the screen radiating a sickly green light. It was all a mistake, a clerical error, and the scholarship, the *promise*, was being rescinded. Her breath caught in her throat.

She watched from a distance as the actual recipient, a girl she barely knew, was surrounded by well-wishers, the air buzzing with admiration. Amelia felt a hot flush creep up her neck, her hands clenching into fists. The girl was wearing Amelia’s jacket; she noticed, irrationally, that it looked much better on her.

She excused herself from the university gathering abruptly, the smiles and the laughter a cacophony of sound. She walked back to her cramped apartment, the city lights blurring into a kaleidoscope of meaningless color. Every step felt heavy, a reminder of the ground shifting beneath her feet.