Gemotions

The silence of the library was almost unbearable, a stark contrast to the chaos swirling in his mind. He’d been up all night studying, the information refusing to stick, and his scholarship application was due tomorrow. His fingers ran across his forehead in a slow motion, an attempt to sooth the throbbing headache. The air felt thin, his breath shallow.

A woman cautiously approached him, her face pale. "James?" she inquired quietly.

He looked up, his eyes burning with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration. "Yes," he replied, his voice hoarse.

"I'm… Olivia. I was supposed to go stargazing with… Mark?" Mark, the man who’d promised him a job reference, the man who seemed to have vanished.