Gemotions

Liam ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. He couldn't sit still, pacing the length of his cramped dorm room. The accusation, delivered with clipped precision by the university, had left him feeling utterly undone.

He glanced at the clock on his laptop, the seconds ticking by like drops of acid. The meeting with the dean was in an hour, and he felt a cold sweat prickling his skin. He stopped pacing and picked up a textbook, flipping through the pages without absorbing a single word.

His jaw muscles ached with a suppressed clench. He wished he could rewind time, erase the choices that had led to this. Every thought felt trapped in a suffocating cycle of panic.