Page 10 of Psync
“No, it’s okay. I just . . .” He trailed off. He never knew how to answer this question.
“If you’re worried about what I think, I have two moms. I’m an ally if I know what’s good for me.” Nate winked.
“Is it okay to answer that I’m not anything?”
“Are you ace? Asexual, I mean. It means not attracted to any gender.”
“I don’t really know.” The answer was more complicated than that, but he felt it was good enough for brand new friends. “Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay, it’s how you feel! That means it’s perfect.” Alice gave him another air hug, and this time he awkwardly returned it.
“Thanks.” And he meant it. Other than Juniper, until now, this conversation had never gone so well.
His mom was convinced he was a late bloomer. Maybe he was, but since he didn’t particularly care about dating, he didn’t bother with worrying about it. Everyone else’s opinion was slotted into his mental Other People’s Problems file.
Any other reaction was courting the bad place. And that wasn’t conducive to a happy Eli.
“Well, I can’t let you dye my hair, but I have experience dying my sister’s hair. I can definitely help.”
“Wait, what about the touch thing? Will you be okay?”
“Since I’ll be expecting it, and I know you, it should be okay.” He politely left off the part about wearing gloves and only touching her hair being another useful element to the equation. It just seemed nicer not to mention.
“Yay!” She flung up her hands, unfortunately each filled with an éclair. Both got squashed when they hit opposite ends of the rooms.
“Alice!”
“I’m cleaning it up!” Alice darted away, napkin in hand to deal with the fallout of her outburst. “But really, Eli, you should rethink the pink hair idea. Everyone will know were friends!”
Eli laughed. “Have you seen me? If you add pink hair to this, I’ll become everyone’s favorite stuffed animal. Hard Pass.”
Alice gave him the once over. “You do have a point. Every gay man within three miles would come after you like a starving beast.”
“Thanks . . .”
“Well, if you do end up liking guys, girls, or anyone in between, let me know, and we’ll help you get them.”
“Not likely but appreciated.” Even though his stomach was already stuffed to the brim, Eli continued to nibble on his tamale, so he didn’t have to talk anymore.
Find accepting friend group at school? Check.
Chapter Five
Eli
:Cold! Way too cold!:
Eli was jolted out of his dreams by the sensation of being drenched in ice water.
“What the actual fuck?” He was on his feet now, shivering from the cold. He shook himself to get some of the water off, but he was . . . bone dry?
“What’s wrong?” The muffled voice of his roommate emerged from the pile of blankets Jace had buried himself in.
Eli looked at the time and saw it was five minutes to six.
“Nothing, man. Go back to sleep.”
It was one thing for the Voice to harass him day in and day out, but it had another thing coming if it thought it was going to mess with his roommate too.
