Well, if she's being obvious about it that's a good sign. After a bit more observation a spot opens up and Malak goes to sit next to her.

"Hey are you... OK?"

She attempts a smile, with mixed success. "Not especially. You don't have to worry about me, though."

"It can be really - "

"This place sucks. I - my brother was a senior, didn't make it through graduation, and then I found out that my sister was killed and - "

"Did you... lose someone? too?"

"...not exactly. It's complicated. I don't really want to talk about it because I talked to one of the Londoners about it and he had a breakdown and I would rather not do that to anyone else."

"...I think the Londoners don't know that bad things happen. Or - they do but - it's so easy for them - I'm not going to have a breakdown is what I'm saying. And, um - I heard people saying that you were going to. You know. Have a breakdown. Leave."

...she nods, hunching guiltily over her brussels sprouts.

"Are you... sure? Because it seems like - it gets..." She pretends to drop the sentence as she realizes that in the Scholomance things do not in fact get better, as if she ever could have forgotten that.

"I mean, sometimes, with time, it doesn't look...as...bad?" even though it totally is as bad. She tentatively pats Chantal on the back.

Oh, awkward.

"Um. I don't... think it's going to get better? I think it is going to stay the same amount of bad until I have to graduate and then I will want to walk into the void anyway because the alternative is graduating. So I might as well not waste time."

"...Oh."

She pretends to think about it for a minute.

"Does - does anyone else know? Like, your neighbors, other people from Oxford... I could - If you're really sure I could loan you my knife. It's - cleaner - than the void. Probably. But. I don't want them to think I did it. Instead of just. helping you."

"I haven't talked to my enclave about it because they would just tell me not to and then I might listen, which sounds terrible. But I gave April all my stuff that was more enclave-stuff than me-stuff, and then she gave me a really awkward hug, so I think she at least suspects. Anyway I want to try for the void specifically because then if I succeed people will know it's possible and I will have Contributed to the Sum of Human Knowledge, which is nice."

"...OK. Um. I'm sorry. May you find peace." and she stands up and flees like someone in distress.

Well that's not an emotional breakdown, so she'll take it.