Gemotions

The lecture hall felt stifling, the air thick with unspoken fear. Maya tapped her pen against her notebook, the rhythmic clicking a frantic counterpoint to the professor’s increasingly hesitant words. She felt a prickling sensation on her skin, a feeling like tiny needles were pricking her arms and neck. She glanced around the room, seeing the same disbelief and apprehension reflected in her classmates’ faces. The familiar comfort of academia, once a sanctuary, now seemed like a crumbling facade.