Gemotions

Maya chewed on her thumbnail, the chipped red polish offering no solace. Her phone buzzed again, a new message from the financial aid office. She’d been avoiding them all week. Each time she considered responding, a wave of nausea rolled through her. Now, the summons was for a meeting.

She pictured her parents, the sacrifices they had made to send her here. The late nights at their diner, the second-hand car they shared, the endless budgeting. She had to tell them. She envisioned the disappointment in their eyes, the weight of their own anxieties now compounded by hers.

Maya grabbed her worn backpack, the weight of it suddenly feeling unbearable. She walked over to the window in her shared dorm room, the gray cityscape outside mirroring the bleakness she felt inside. She opened the window, inhaling the cool, polluted air, a futile attempt to ground herself.