Gemotions

The silence in the cramped dorm room was deafening. Sarah stared at the screen, the cursor blinking mockingly on the rejection email. She felt a cold, hard knot forming in her throat.

She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. Instead, a wave of nausea washed over her. She pushed herself up from the desk, her legs shaky.

She picked up the worn textbook, the one she’d stayed up late countless nights studying. She threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a hollow thud. *Worthless*, she thought. *All of it*.