Page 18 of Psync
HotJerk:No one is making you do it
Eli:And yet somehow it feels that way
HotJerk:It won’t be so bad. I’ll help you
Eli frowned at his phone. Was he in Bizarro World now? Why the hell would Haruka want to help him?
Eli:It’s ok, I’ll be fine on my own
HotJerk:So fine you’ll hate every minute of it? That sounds like a great plan. Try to market it and see how far it gets you
Eli:…
HotJerk:You’d be an idiot to turn down help that someone is freely offering you. Even if you don’t like them
Eli:No more of an idiot than someone who offers to help someone they don’t like
HotJerk:Then we can be idiots together
Eli:Fine
Eli sighed and threw his phone out of his blanket nest. Then swore as he fought his way free to find it again to put it on do not disturb.
Eliwasan idiot. He had to be if he thought adding more work to his plate was a good idea. His only consolation was that the more he had, the more exhausted he would be, and the more exhausted he was, the less he remembered his dreams at night.
Chapter Eight
Eli
Hauling himself out of bed the next morning was such a chore he nearly gave up and flopped back down to let sleep take him. The only thing keeping him upright was the fear he’d get sucked back into the restless dreams he’d been having all night. He kept drifting on the edge of sleep all night, occasionally slipping into dreams, like a rock skipping across a pond.
All he could remember was an endlessly boring grayscale world. Portraits of people Eli had no memory of scrolled past, each one emanating a heavy burden of responsibility from it. The only tolerable thing about the world was the ever-shifting ribbon of blue that threaded its way through his dreams.
Last week, Nate had told Eli his abuelita believed if you scratched your head after you got out of bed in the morning, you’d forget your dreams. Eli scratched until his scalp hurt.
His memories were still there, but he cared more about the pain now, so he decided to call it a win.
The shower was still closed for repairs, so if Eli wanted his friends to be willing to be within four feet of him today, he was going to have to go downstairs again.
He crept into the shower room and then stopped himself when he realized he probably looked like a pervert. He took a deep breath, dug his nails into the palms of his hands, and entered.
The room was empty.
All the tension flowed out of him, and Eli nearly flopped to the floor in relief. Of course,hewouldn’t be here now. It was way later than it had been when Eli took a shower yesterday.
He still hurried his way through showering and had just finished getting dressed when he heard the door open. His shoulders immediately began to creep in the direction of his ears.
But instead of the stylish black ponytail he’d been fearing, it was shaggy sun-streaked blond that adorned the head of the person who came around the corner.
“Hey, it’s you! Are you on this floor too? Or are you a tourist from upstairs?”
“Tourist, I’m afraid.” Eli admitted with chagrin. “Hopefully our shower will get fixed soon so we can stop encroaching on yours.”
“Don’t sweat it, man.” Ash began to strip down with an ease that showed the guy had never been anxious about anything a day in his life.
Eli’s gaze hit the floor, and Ash kept talking. About everything. He’d been chatty when Eli had met him the day before, but from his performance now, Eli had a feeling it was the guy’s natural state.
He talked about his major—physical education—his dog back home, his favorite pair of shoes . . . anything that popped into his head seemed to be free game.
