Chapter Text
"Ezra! Hurry up and get ready for school!" His mum's voice rang out from the house as the person in question sat eating their cereal in the granny flat behind the house. Sighing, he continued eating, albeit a bit faster than usual. Truth was, Ezra was in no mood for school. Normally, he would have been ecstatic at going to school and learning new stuff. But lately, it was like his brain had shut down. He zoned out during lessons, often forgot homework and was quieter around his friends. Not even Kyle's usually funny jokes could cheer him up. Now, Ezra had no idea what was happening, but lately, it felt like school was less about learning and just more about getting good grades. It did not help that other people would constantly ask Ezra for help on their assignments, a fact which greatly annoyed him. They never seemed to ask Maudie, and she was way smarter than him. A knock on the door suddenly alerted him.
"Come in!" He called, while continuing to eat his cereal. He tried to speed up, thinking it was his mother coming to berate him for being late to school again. Luckily, it was not his mother, it was Poppy. As Ezra had noticed several times, Poppy had grown quite tall over the summer. Far from the short third-grader a few years back, she had practically outgrown him ever since she started sixth grade. Now, she stood towering over him as he struggled to finish his cereal. She sighed exasperatedly as she realized he had not even finished his breakfast yet.
"Ezra, can you hurry up already?" She asked impatiently, already jumping in excitement or nerves. "In case you forgot, I have the math triathlon today, and I cannot be late." Ezra sighed and pushed his cereal away as he promptly got up and grabbed his bag to walk out the door. He didn't talk to Poppy as they walked silently to the school. Halfway to the school, right before crossing, Poppy saw someone that immediately made her jump up and down.
"Hi Maudie! How are you today?" She exclaimed, jumping up in excitement. Ezra sighed and gave a small wave in Maudie's direction before looking back down on his phone. As she returned the wave, Maudie could not help but feel concern for Ezra. This was not the first time she noticed he'd been zoned out.
"Hey Poppy! Hi Ezra! How's it going?" She greeted casually, met with a cheery grin from Poppy. Over the years, Maudie had become quite good friends with Poppy, through Ezra of course. In fact, it was almost hard to believe she was in grade six now. Or that Maudie herself, was sixteen. Now, the once eight-year-old child was standing in front of her, with the same aura she had at that age.
"It's good. Guess what? I got into the math triathlon this year! Just like Ezra. Mum and dad were sooo proud," she exclaimed, making Maudie chuckle slightly at the proud tone at which she said it. That said, Maudie was quite proud of her. Like brother, like sister, she thought. She looked at Ezra and saw he was still looking at his phone, frowning and muttering something under his breath. Maudie frowned, surely, he'd be a little proud of his sister's achievement. Why was Ezra acting so weird lately? She thought. It was a mystery she'd get to later. For now, Poppy was bombarding her with questions.
"So how's your classes going? Is grade ten easy? Is Ezra just as quiet at school as he is at home?" She asked, with Maudie nodding along.
"It's good. I wouldn't say grade ten is easy, but I am pretty smart so that helps," she replied, not registering the last question Poppy asked her. "Well, me and Ezra had best be going along now. Bye Poppy!" She received an enthusiastic wave back, and elbowed Ezra, giving him a look that said, 'you better go along with it'.
"Yeah, bye Poppy," he told her absentmindedly. If Maudie was concerned about Ezra before, now she was double concerned. As they started walking towards their school, she took a good look at Ezra. His eyes were bloodshot red and had large dark bags underneath. His uniform was wrinkled, the complete opposite of his usual freshly ironed uniform. He looked as though he hadn't slept in so long. Overall, she observed, he did not look well. Hesitantly, she spoke to him.
"E-Ezra, are you... f-feeling okay?" Maudie asked, mentally facepalming. What was with the stuttering? She thought to herself. To her relief, Ezra did not pick on her inability to form proper sentences.
"I'm find, Maudie. You don't have to worry about me so much. Just focus on your studies," he told her, only fueling her concern more.
"Ezra, you're my friend! Of course I'm going to look out for you. Why on Earth would you think otherwise?" She asked in a loud, contradicting voice. However, it appeared she should not have said it so loudly for Ezra flinched at her outburst. Maudie did not know what to think of this. Never had Ezra flinched at the slightest raise of a voice. However, before she could think anything of it, she decided to brush it off for later. For now, she hurried off through the gates to find Kyle and Ava. Especially Ava.