Page 15 of Psync
It wasn’t that he cared. It wasn’t as if it really mattered. Except . . . those scores had meant something to Haruka. They been his ticket out of the ridiculous circus back in Osaka his aunt kept trying to drag him into. They were proof he was meant to be more than a lapdog.
So he hadn’t been able to stop himself from finding out who had outscored him. He turned up the name Eli Talosa. It could have been a coincidence. He wasn’t social enough to be able tell if Eli was a common name in America.
It wasn’t too difficult to get a face to put with the name. He wondered if he should have been more surprised to see those vivid, mercurial eyes he’d gotten to know over the past week.
That idiot—that beautiful, spacey, one-person wrecking team—was the one who beat his entrance scores? It didn’t bear thinking about.
So, why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?
Currently, he was face to face with the idiot in question, and the kid was clearly not stupid. He may have watched the boy tie his own shoe to his backpack strap, but Eli had managed to stumble into an advanced math class he’d been expecting to be a 101 course and then not only followed along, but was actually able to keep up with Haruka, who was always at the top of every class he was in.
The last thing Haruka wanted right now was for the boy to run. Not when he’d just made things interesting.
Especially when the fake smile Eli was wearing was causing something deep inside Haruka to stir unpleasantly.
“You should be in this class.”
Long, dark lashes blinked in confusion. “I think we’ve already established I shouldn’t.”
“You kept up better than most of the other students here. You’ll be wasted in a 101 class.”
Eli didn’t look like he was about to run anymore. Now he looked tired—and annoyed. Haruka could work with that. It was far better than the lost child expression he’d had moments before.
“I don’t need a challenging class right now—especially in geometry. I’m in the language department, no one cares what math classes I take.”
Which was a fair point, except . . . Haruka wanted to be in a class with him now. He wanted an excuse to watch Eli closely. Maybe then he could figure out what secrets those expressive eyes held. Then he could get on with his life and go back to being the center of his own attention again. Otherwise, his agenda might get sidelined, and that wasn’t an option.
“Maybe, but an advanced math course could be the difference between getting your dream job and getting stuck with whatever you can find.”
Eli bit his lip and tugged on his hoodie strings. “I don’t know . . .”
“Haru! There you are, man. I was waiting outside forever. Did you forget our study group?” Bryan, his self-proclaimed best friend, burst into the room on a wave of energy.
Without thinking, Haruka put himself between his friend and Eli. “Just give me a second, Bryan.” Haruka turned back to Eli to see him frowning at his phone. He reached out and plucked it out of the boy’s hands.
“Hey!”
Haruka ignored him and looked at the screen. Eli had been texting with someone named Berry who seemed very concerned about whether Eli had eaten enough today.
He could see there were only three other people Eli texted with and one of them was named Mom. Haruka’s mouth softened into a small smile. He opened up a new message window and sent his own number a quick text. Then he handed the phone back to Eli.
“If you decide to switch classes, let me know and I’ll help you get in. Professor Burke likes me.”
“I didn’t ask—” Eli sputtered, turning a brilliant shade of red. “Why are you so annoying?”
Haruka laughed. The red in the boy’s cheeks was much better than the pale, sallow color they been earlier.
“Who’s your pretty friend, Haru? Introduce us.” Bryan stepped forward and winked at Eli.
Before Haruka had a chance to decide whether to tell his friend to piss off or to simply drag him out of the room, Eli went through another startling transformation. His cheeks went pale, and he pulled his hood up over his hair. He seemed to shrink back into the oversized hoodie, and he looked like he was trying not to be sick.
Something burned inside Haruka’s chest. “He’s no one,” he said, sharply and grabbed Bryan’s arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
He dragged his friend out of the classroom, trying to give the poor, anxious boy some space from whatever it was about Bryan that had triggered him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that before, Haru.” Bryan kept trying to look back into the classroom, but Haruka continued to tow him out of the building with a tight grip on his arm.
“Fuck off.”
