Gemotions

"The scholarship has been reassigned." The sentence hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Clara's world contracted, the familiar faces in the room becoming blurry, indistinct. A cold wave crashed over her, leaving her chilled to the bone.

She focused on her breathing, trying to regain some semblance of control, but the air felt thin and difficult to draw. Her vision blurred, and the words on the documents in front of her seemed to dance and shift.

She wanted to run, to hide, to scream out in frustration. She wanted to disappear. Instead, she sat in stony silence, her fingers digging into the worn fabric of her jeans, the silence in the room pressing down on her.