“You and Brian seem really close. Just wondering if you’re, like, together.”
“Like a couple? No. But he’s my best friend. I care about him a lot.”
“I know.”
Brian knows that anxiety and depression aren’t magically fixed overnight, but he still doesn’t understand why it’s all hitting him so hard right now. Sure, his dad is in prison and middle school is stressful, but he’s seeing a therapist, he’s got good friends, and he’s doing really well on the basketball team. He should be fine, so why does he feel too tired to get out of bed some days? And why does he turn into “Cursed Monster Brian” and snap whenever someone asks him what’s wrong?
Ezra is trying his best to look out for Brian, but he’s not sure that he’s actually helping. Sure, they’re still best friends, but as Ezra prepares for the talent show, he also starts talking with Victor—the kid who relentlessly bullied Brian last year.
It seems like Victor’s changed, and whenever he and Ezra hang out, Ezra’s stomach feels a little bit swoopy. But even if he likes making music with Victor, it feels like he’s betraying his best friend. And he worries that he’s falling for another boy who won’t return his feelings …
As the talent show approaches and things begin to spin out of control, Brian and Ezra will have to figure out how to be there for each other—even when it feels like everything around them is changing.
