Gemotions

The email landed with the force of a physical blow. Sarah slammed her laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the otherwise silent dorm room. Her breath hitched. The carefully cultivated sense of normalcy she’d built over the past two years, the routine of classes and coffee and late-night study sessions, threatened to unravel. Her knuckles were white against the cold, smooth surface of the desk.

"No," she breathed, the word a strangled whisper that barely escaped her lips. She wanted to scream, to shatter something, but the fear of drawing unwanted attention kept her chained to her chair. The injustice of it all pulsed in her chest, a bitter, churning knot.

Her gaze darted around the room, landing on the posters of the campus she loved, the memories they represented. Now, all of that was meaningless, a lie. She wanted to find someone to argue with, a faculty member to blame, a reason for the sudden chaos.