Gemotions

Sunlight streamed through the library window, painting dust motes gold. Elara skipped to the professor’s office, her backpack bouncing against her spine. The air practically hummed around her; she felt like she could fly. She had aced the midterms. She just knew it. The paper felt like a song she’d composed, a masterpiece.

Her heart thumped a lively rhythm as she reached the door. The professor gestured her inside, and Elara practically bounced across the threshold. He held up her paper, the grade scrawled in red, a number that punched the air right out of her.

A slow, creeping coldness invaded her chest. The music inside her flatlined. She stammered, “But… I…?” The words felt like lead weights on her tongue. Her sunny mood had been abruptly overcast.