Page 16 of Psync
Chapter Seven
Eli
“He’s no one.”
One simple sentence echoed inside Eli’s mind as he skulked back to his room. Thank god, he didn’t have any more classes today.
Hewasno one. He already knew that. Getting a confirmation of it shouldn’t mean anything.
Honestly, he should be glad he was no one to Haruka. The man had done nothing but tease and torment him at every turn. If Eli was no one, then it meant he could slink away gracefully from this whole stupid day. Especially since it was highly likely Haruka would ignore him the next time they ran into each other.
It was better this way. Really.
His hands were shaking as he unlocked the door to his room. He needed something, but he couldn’t remember what it was. There was something he did for panic attacks, but his taffy-like brain wasn’t letting him focus enough to remember it.
Last time, he’d had friends to redirect his energy, so he hadn’t needed—
Eli’s eyes landed on his desk where he kept his anxiety meds. That was what he was missing. How could he forget something so simple? He snatched up the bottle and dry-swallowed a pill then plopped down in his desk chair. His desk was tidy and well-organized, so he had plenty of space to lower his head onto it and focus on breathing.
He really needed a distraction, but Alice and Nate were both in class right now and Jace was at the gym.
Actually, working off a bunch of nervous energy sounded perfect right now. Did he dare ask Jace if he could join him?
All he had to do was ask. It was one little thing. Of course, it was one little thing that was now massive because Eli had his nervous system go haywire on him twice in one day.
He knew he’d completely overreacted when Haruka’s friend showed up. Chances were good the guy was perfectly harmless, but Eli had been such a bundle of nerves, his already-taxed system had taken it as an attack.
Seriously, he should be grateful for Haruka calling him no one. Eli couldn’t have handled any more surprises or socialization at that point.
He wasn’t entirely certain he could deal with it right now, but he really needed to burn this energy off. It was definitely a better alternative to sitting alone with his trash fire of a brain.
He sent the text before he could think himself out of it.
Eli:Want a gym buddy?
SpaceJace:Sure! Get over here man! It’ll give me the motivation not to slack off.
Eli continued with his no-thinking policy as he threw on some workout clothes. The light, long-sleeved T-shirt he pulled on might look out of place in the summer, but it would make him feel safe. And that was what mattered.
He slunk his way to the gym, head down, headphones on, blaring K-pop louder than the thoughts in his head.
By the time he made it inside, he was entirely convinced this was a terrible idea and that he should go home immediately for a time out so he could think about what he’d done. Then Jace saw him and waved like a maniac.
“Don’t even think about getting out of it, man. Get over here.” Jace jogged over and ushered him to the ellipticals.
At first, Eli was self-conscious, but Jace kept up a steady stream of random nonsense that began to soothe Eli enough to get into the zone.
The zone was a nice place. It was a place where movement and music synched up and allowed him to have a lovely state of no-mind. All he had to do was nod or say uh huh to Jace at the correct intervals.
It was exactly what he needed. After thirty minutes on the elliptical, Jace signaled for a break and handed him a bottle of water.
“You want to talk about it?”
Eli considered playing dumb, but Jace had done him a solid by being his gym buddy today. “Missed the first day of my geometry class because I went to the wrong classroom and gave myself a panic attack over it.”
“That fucking sucks, man.” Jace grimaced.
Eli waited for platitudes, but none were forthcoming. Just Jace agreeing with him that indeed, he’d gone through a raw deal. It actually allowed Eli the courage to elaborate.
