Page 103 of Spring Awakening

“So pretty!”

Mali’s not sure how else to help Cam. She’s spoken to her, her family, Frankie. She hasn’t spoken to Ezra because it seemed like maybe it’s a line she shouldn’t cross. It’s possible the fingertip marks on Cam’s arm were from the bakery, like she said. It’s possible the way she stopped bringing cookies to practice is because work got busy, not because Andrew told her not to.

“Cam,” Frankie calls out, waving her over. Cam takes a sip of her drink.

“You coming, Mal?” Cam asks.

“Yeah, be there in a sec!” Mali watches Cam go to dance, and she wonders how long it will be until Cam has to go home. Maybe she hasn’t told Andrew where she’s gone at all. Maybe she’s told him she’s working late again.

Mali places her drink on the bar, takes a deep breath, then goes and sits next to Ezra.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Ezra replies, though he’s looking at Cam. Mali didn’t realise how much pain Ezra was in until Zach said he only wanted to be friends with her, and that only lasted a few days. Mali’s not sure what to say, or if she’s allowed, so she just goes for it.

“Andrew is a dick.”

Ezra snorts. “I know.”

“Cam knows too.” It’s the first time she’s outwardly acknowledged that she knows Ezra likes her. “I know it sucks, but she does know he’s a prick. She’s stubborn, though. You know that.”

“I do.”

“You’re the first person she’d call if she was in trouble.”

Ezra sits up straighter. “What?”

Mali shrugs. “We were playing a game the other night, just silly questions and stuff, and the question was who you would call if you were in trouble. Cam said you so fast I almost fell over.”

“So she thinks of me like a brother,” he says. It’s true that Frankie also said Ezra, but they weren’t said in the same tone.

“I can’t tell you all the questions, because I am a lady, but you were her answer for everything that I answered Zach to. And if you want another hint, Frankie said Beyoncé.”

Ezra laughs. “Have you ever met someone as confident as Frank?”

Mali smiles. “With good reason.” She wonders if she should say anything else. If he knows he’s been avoiding Cam. Probably. She wonders if it’s because he wants to. If he’s staying away because being close hurts too much. He wonders if he knows she’s hurting too. Ezra hums.

“One more thing,” Mali says, turning to look at him slightly, “and then I’ll shush for, like, at least a minute.”

“Dunno if you’re capable,” he grumbles, but he turns to look at her.

“You should say hi. You know… if you want.”

Ezra looks conflicted, and Mali wonders if saying the rest is helpful. She wonders if it’s true.

“Have you spent any time with Andrew?”

“Nah. He never turns up to anything.”

“He does,” Mali replies. “If you’re not there, he goes.”

Ezra frowns. “Weirdo.”

“I don’t know how nice he is…” Mali says, pulling her lips between her teeth. Ezra’s entire body tenses. “…in private. I don’t know how nice he is when they’re alone. He’s not particularly nice when he’s in public. I did speak to Cam, and she says she’s fine, but I don’t know her well enough to know if she’s lying. I have mentioned it to Frankie once, and I thought that would be it. I don’t like to mess with people’s relationships when I don’t know everything. But… there’s things Cam only tells you, and she really misses you, and it’s totally not my place to say anything, but I think she might need you around… especially now.”

Ezra rolls his neck, and Mali’s not sure she’s seen anyone this visibly angry before. Maybe Zach when Toby knocked her to the ground, but her vision was blurry then. Mali wonders if Ezra’s mad at her.

“I didn’t want to say anything, because I might be wrong, and I know you’re not together, and I don’t even wanna know how hard it must be for you. Then I was in that space for like half a second and I almost died, and I still know that if Zach needed anything, I would be there. And I know you… well, I know about as much as you’ll let me know, which is that you’re in love with Cam, you think the monarchy is a con, and you only ever voteLabour, and I got two of those from the stickers on your car,” she says, her hands flying around. “So, if I overstepped, I’m really sorry. I just thought you’d wanna know. Whatever you do or don’t do is up to you. I’ll never tell anyone I spoke to you.”

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