A/N: I always feel like Ezra's chapter are way harder to write than the others, mainly because I don't have as much of a plan. But hey, it still works eventually.
Just a heads up, next week I'll be on holiday so there may or may not be an update, depending on the wifi situation and whether or not I write at all.
Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to vote or comment if you did c:
The worst thing about it for Ezra was that she never thought she'd ever see her sister crumble, but the more that she watched, the more she seemed to be falling apart. Kya, though, would never admit it to Ezra. So Ezra had to watch these things happen. Or listen, like she had before. Her parents were considering sending Kya to Dalacine to stay. She couldn't imagine ever being that ill, not really. She hoped she never would be.
The sisters were walking home from school when Ezra tried to talk about it. Addison wasn't there, because she was busy at an after school extra study class. It was difficult to tell whether Kya had realised her sister was there or not.
"Kya," Ezra said hesitantly. It had never been difficult to talk to her before, but it was just that: before. Before what, she wasn't exactly sure. Before some kind of change, maybe, a shift in Kya's personality or something like that. Before there was distance, alcohol and cigarette burns. Before Kya's mind decided it didn't want to survive as much as her body did. Ezra tried not to think about it. If she could stay in the before, maybe she could pretend that everything was okay.
Kya, whose attention had been on the ground in front of her for a long time, looked up. She offered no reply, but was clearly listening. Ezra didn't exactly know how to say what she wanted to. It was kind of difficult to decide what she wanted to say at all. "Have they said anything? About, you know?"
"Yeah," Kya said bitterly, eyes at her feet again, "they have."
"What did they say?"
Kya shrugged. "Just some bullshit about it being helpful. In the tone of voice that tells me that they obviously know me better than I do."
Ezra observed the scowl on Kya's face. "Is it not helpful?"
"When they manage to find some professionalism they should shoot me a message so I know when to bother," Kya muttered, more to herself than anyone else, "Jeffrey Malone can go fuck himself."
It was clear that talking about it any more was not going to end well, so Ezra didn't say anything more about it. They walked on, slower, as if trying to prevent getting home. "So anything interesting happen lately?"
There was a pause where Kya seemed to think, scanning back through the past few days. Suddenly, she let out an enthusiastic gasp. "Ad and Santiago kissed!"
"He kissed her?"
"She kissed him."
"He kissed back?"
"Oh yeah he did."
"No way!" Ezra exclaimed, and the two of them stopped for a moment to squeal at each other. For the next ten minutes they gushed about how sweet it was and how they always knew it would happen. Neither of them asked the question as to whether or not Santiago knew enough about Addison to make it work.
The bell jingled as they pushed open the door to the cafe and walked inside. Met with the familiar sound of strangers' conversations and the rattle of coffee makers, they sat at their usual table, with Kya going off to order. She returned with two steaming cups and set one down in front of Ezra. They talked a little, listening to snippets of strangers' conversation. Someone on the other side of the cafe laughed loudly.
"You know, I talked to Luke the other day," Kya said with a grin on her face, her hands cradling the warmth from the cup, "when I said I was at revision after school."
