Gemotions

The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, a stark white rectangle against the soft glow of her laptop screen. It explained, with bureaucratic precision, that the scholarship, the one that had been keeping her afloat, was not hers. A clerical error. A misplaced digit. She reread it, then leaned back in her chair, the sudden hollowness in her stomach making her feel lightheaded. Her breath hitched. The familiar hum of the dorm room's air conditioning unit seemed to amplify itself, a cold, insistent drone. She reached for her water bottle, her hand trembling slightly as she unscrewed the cap and took a long, slow swallow. The water barely seemed to register in her parched throat. She stared at the email, the words blurring slightly as tears pricked her eyes.