Gemotions

The email notification popped up: "Congratulations, Sarah…" The sentence continued, congratulating *someone else*. Sarah had felt so hopeful; she’d planned her next semester down to the detail. Now, everything felt wrong.

She stared out the window, the autumn leaves swirling in the wind, mirroring the chaos in her mind. The news had spread quickly. She could feel the weight of their looks in the common room, the quiet whispers as she passed.

She slammed the laptop shut. The world was suddenly too bright, too loud. She felt a burning need to be alone, to escape this suffocating atmosphere of...of… *this*. She left her apartment, walking as fast as she could until she could no longer hear any other voices.