Gemotions

Liam stared at the phone, its digital glow reflecting in his widening eyes. He’d just finished a conversation with the financial aid office, their explanation delivered in a polite, clinical tone. A clerical error. A misplaced decimal. The scholarship he depended on… gone.

He felt a sudden, dizzying drop in his stomach, as if he was about to fall from a great height. He ran a hand through his hair, the gesture clumsy and agitated. He’d built his whole future around this money, this opportunity.

He paced his cramped apartment, his footsteps echoing in the sudden silence. Each creak of the floorboards seemed to amplify the internal chaos. He grabbed his worn backpack and slammed the door, needing to escape the suffocating walls. The late afternoon sunlight felt weak, failing to warm him.