Gemotions

"So... you're saying I don't get the money?" Ben's voice cracked, the words hanging in the stuffy financial aid office like a physical weight. The administrator, a woman with a practiced air of efficiency, offered a sympathetic nod.

He'd spent his whole life planning for this, working toward this goal. The shock had rendered him numb. Everything he'd planned for was now potentially destroyed. He found himself incapable of formulating another question.

He stepped out into the bright sunshine, but it couldn't penetrate the dark veil that had settled over him. He felt exposed, fragile, as if his innermost vulnerabilities were on display. The vibrancy of the campus suddenly felt jarring.