“Nice,” said James. “Well, then James King will be going back toCollage, but VampyreGays has found his happy offline home here.”
Nylan reached across Parker and gave James a high five.
“This is real cute and kumbaya and all,” said Stella, “but I’m out.”
“Of course you are,” said Parker, and rolled their eyes.
“Oh, come on, not in a bitchy way!” Stella rushed to defend. “When we first started, we neededThrough the Gardento get people buying the zine. Or… I thought we did. But I don’t thinkMixxedMedianeeds that anymore. Actually, Talia is the odd one out with all your essays and things. She’ll be better suited forCollage. And honestly, so will I. It’s been cool seeing the zine grow, but… I don’t feel like I’ll fit here with where this is going.”
“You mean because it’s really queer?” Kodi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes!” Stella said emphatically. “Which is super cool! And I am glad you all have this. But I’m not, and so I’m going to leave you to your space.”
Mal couldn’t tell whether that was kind of Stella or a little selfish. Maybe both; she had always been a bit like that. But itwas nice that now, at least, Mal could remember the kind part too. They looked at Emerson, who hadn’t chimed in yet.
“What about you, Emerson?” they asked.
“Wellll…,” Emerson trilled, trailing off. She looked around the room dramatically. “I want to go wherever Mal goes. Which is…?”
Looking back at Mal, she cocked her head and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” Mal said, and then started on the one bit of this conversation they had run through beforehand, chatting it out with Maddie late last night on the sofa. “What we’re doing withMixxedMediais too good to stop, so we should keep doing that. But at the same time, the funding forCollageis… really cool. And we did thatbecauseofMixxedMedia. So for those of us who want to write there, I say we do both.”
“Sold,” said Emerson, beaming.
“But,” said Mal.
“Oop,” said Parker.
“I don’t think I should be editor in chief both hereandthere,” Mal said.
“Please don’t quit,” Nylan squeaked immediately.
“I’m not—or not here, at least. And—oh, god, this sounded so much less corny in my head last night when I was practicing what to say, but whatever, I’m just going to say it—I love y’all too much to quit. You’re kind of my family now.” It was true, ringing like a bell in Mal’s chest—and in their voice, which was strong and sure. They thought they saw it reflected in the faces of the people gathered around the table, too—Parker andNylan nodding in tandem, James giving them a soft smile that contrasted with Kodi’s wide, open one. “What I wouldliketo do is get stuff set up withCollageagain over the first month or so, and then, if she’s agreeable, hand the reins over to Stella and work full-time on the zine.”
All eyes turned to Stella, sitting at the opposite end of the table.
She said, “You’re joking, right?” Stella knew as well as Mal did—had—thatCollagewas all Mal ever wanted.
But Mal had found what they needed instead.
“I’m not joking,” they said. “I think you’d be great at it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Just like that?”
“Well—mostly? I want to help you get set up, so you don’t have to figure it all out on your own, like I did when I took over,” they said. Though they would still probably not consider Stella afriend, they were much closer to it than they’d been in years, and Mal wanted to honor that by giving her—and the magazine—the best chance they could. “But yeah, after we get everything set up together, it’s all yours.”
Stella shook her head like she wasn’t sure whether to be shocked or to just take the win. “Well. Yeah. Of course. I’m in.”
“Perfect,” Mal said. “Then that’s the plan.”
“Hell yeah,” said Parker.
“Okay, but to be clear,” said Nylan. “Collagewill start back up again, and we can write there if we want, but… we also get to keep doingMixxedMedia?”
“Yep!” said Emerson.
“And I want to talk about what that looks like,” Mal said. It was something they hadn’t planned; they could tell Emersonwas looking at them sidelong. “Since we’re officially unofficial, we can think more about what happens beyond the school year. We could take the zine through summer, and even into college with us. If we want.”
