Gemotions

The email arrived like a punch to the gut. Michael reread the message. He felt a slow burn in his chest, a heat that spread through his limbs. The scholarship, the one he had spent months researching and applying for, wasn't his. They'd made a mistake.

He walked past the campus bookstore and saw the new textbooks displayed in the window. He turned away. He didn't have the money. He saw his classmates, laughing, excited about their classes, and he felt a surge of… something unpleasant.

Michael went back to his dorm room, pulled the blinds, and sat on the floor, back against the wall. The silence in the small room was thick, suffocating. He should be studying, but he couldn't. He looked at his phone, a dark, useless rectangle.