Gemotions

He leaned against the cold brick wall of the school, the email still open on his phone. The notification had changed everything. His hands were clenched so tightly, his knuckles were white. He imagined the vast, open road ahead, but he was chained.

The campus, a place of vibrant possibility, now seemed to be a reminder of the paths he would never travel. The sounds of laughter and friendly conversation, once welcoming, now only served to sharpen his unease.

He felt the world shrink, the space around him closing in. He stared at his feet, and felt a burning need to simply disappear, to find some place where the weight of his reality didn't exist, where the road wasn't blocked.