Try Me

Nineteen

Broken

She bit her lip, looking down at the floor as she attempted to avoid all their gazes but their stares were intense, suffocating almost,  all of them in shock to actually see her infront of them.

"Ezra!" Sonny didn't hesitate to engulf her into a long and desperate hug, she could feel him crying against her shoulder. "I thought something bad happened to you." He sobbed, holding on to her tightly, afraid to let go. She closed her eyes as she rubbed the back of his head soothingly, her bottom lip trembling as she herself tried not to cry. Something bad did happen to me.

"Ezra. What's going on?" Theo looked at her with an expression that was hard to read. "What happened to you?" He pressed, takinkg in all her injuries. She knew he was relieved to see her, however having always been the rational and sharp one, he was too taken by the strangeness and the suspicion surrounding this whole situation to properly express his relief. Ezra looked back at Yong, eyes pleading with him desperately.

Please don't make me do this.

"She's been through a lot, so take it easy on her. She really wanted to see you all." Rose stepped in, eyes darting between Yong and Ezra, noticing things could quickly go wrong. "Why don't you go take a seat love? And then we can properly talk to them." Ezra said nothing, biting her lip harshly as she let out a reluctant nod. Rose's eyes held sympathy but still, she played her role well, too well.

"Wait, what's going on? Who are you?" Ian questioned while Theo still had a frown on his face, observing Yong who was silent and standing towards the back.

"We'll explain everything, how about everybody calms down and take a seat."

Minutes late they were seated around the dining table; Yong, Ezra and Rose on one side with Ian, Theo and Sonny on the other, in that order.

"Someone needs to start talking because I'm very confused. Are you ok Ezra? What's going on?" Ian pressed for answers and Sonny nodded eagerly, they all wanted answers for their friend's sudden disappearance.

"It's ok, love, this is a safe space." Rose rubbed her comfortingly and Ezra wanted to glare at her, why was she so astonishingly good at acting? Had she done this before?

"I, uhm, I-" She looked back at Yong, eyes pleading with him to not make her do this but he looked at her, a false smile, that could easily be interpreted as genuine, on his face, he reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It's ok, they're your friends. They won't judge you." He assured but his eyes said something different. Do not test me.

With a heavy sigh she turned back to her friends. "I relapsed." She let out with a shaky breath. Ian and Theo shared a glance before the latter tapped Sonny and told him to go do his school work.

"We know, you called us before remember?" Ezra closed her eyes, she had forgotten about that. It felt so long ago. She then recalled the hint, or cry for help, she had sent Theo's way which he unfortunately hadn't picked up on.

"Y-yes, but its a lot worse than I had imagined."

"Worse? Surely it can't be as bad as before?" Ian questioned, eyes filled with worry.

"It is." Ezra fiddled with her fingers as she looked down at her lap, lips trembling as a tear slid down her face. "I'm a danger to myself and to those around me." They should've noticed it, they should've picked up on how unnatural her dialogue was. She briefly resentend them, was she that fickle? Was it that believable or probable for her to have relapsed? Is this how little they thought of her? It was her fear and emotions speaking, she knew, but she couldn't help but feel hurt and resentful. She was counting on them and their trust of her character to save her.