Gemotions

The clipboard felt like it weighed a ton in Maya's shaking hands. She’d been so sure. Years of relentless training, every early morning, every aching muscle, all culminating in this… and her name wasn't there. A cold prickle spread across her scalp, and she found herself tracing the familiar grooves of the wood, lost in the etched patterns. The other girls, beaming with acceptance, blurred around her. Their shouts of congratulations echoed like a foreign language. She felt a sudden, desperate urge to flee, to disappear into the anonymity of the parking lot.