Gemotions

The email sat in the inbox, a digital dagger. Sarah read the rejection letter, the words blurring on the screen. She slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the sterile silence of her dorm room. Outside, the quad was buzzing with the carefree laughter of students. They probably all got their funding, she thought, those privileged, oblivious... *things*.

A bitter taste coated her tongue. She grabbed her worn backpack and stomped out of the room, her boots thudding against the linoleum. Lunch was a missed cause. She would just go to the library and pretend to study, because what else was there left to do but go through the motions.

She shoved past a group of friends, their voices a chirping, saccharine symphony of joy that grated on her nerves. She went down the stairs, head down, and nearly ran into Professor Davies, who always had a smile for her. She just gave him a curt nod. He seemed like an idiot.