Page 48 of Psync
There was no reason at all for him to be disassociating over such a trivial thing. He really didn’t know Haruka at all. They weren’t close. In fact, they’d only hung out a handful of times.
Besides, it was only a rumor. Ash was a freshman like Eli. There was no way he could know for sure what Haruka’s dating life was like.
Not that Eli even cared. He wasn’t planning on dating him.
He could really go for coffee and a muffin right now.
Chapter Eighteen
Eli
He didn’t budge from his room for the entire weekend. Not even for a trip to the library. Instead, he dove into his studies. He finished his geometry assignment in a depressingly short amount of time and decided to try and get ahead in all of his classes. If he could test out of future classes, so much the better. Besides, there was no such thing as knowing a language too well.
And when his brain began to flag, he put on a C-drama and let it play in the background while he dozed fitfully. The noise served as a filter while he napped. He was more likely to dream about long-haired cultivators flying through the air having epic sword battles than shadowy assholes who liked to go around kidnapping children.
At least that’s what he told himself. Sometimes it even worked.
He prided himself on responding to everyone who texted him—including Haruka. Not that he said much to anyone. Instead, he told them he was buried under his course load and needed the weekend to focus.
When Monday rolled around, he managed to sweat his way through another workout session with Ash. But got no closer to figuring out if the Voice was Ash or not. Eli really hoped it wasn’t him. Something about the guy was beginning to ping his creep radar.
The Voice had been silent all weekend. Sometimes, however, Eli got an impression of frustration and worry. He’d almost convinced himself that he was projecting his own feelings onto a creation of his own mind—a kind of imaginary friend to help him deal with the stress of leaving home, but then frustration spiked hard when Eli shuddered his way through Ash helping him stretch his hamstrings.
Eli could have sworn to a jury that he heard the sound of glass shatter against a wall.
He checked his phone when he got back to his room and saw he’d missed seven calls from Haruka while he’d been at the gym. His phone buzzed in his hand while he was checking. It was Haruka again.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” There was a growl in Haruka’s voice.
“Good morning to you too, sunshine.”
“. . .”
“Did you sleep dial me?” Juniper did that sometimes. He was used to getting bizarre calls from her that she later claimed to have no memory of. Maybe Haruka was the same way.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I was at the gym. I leave it behind, so I don’t get it all sweaty.”
“Put it in a plastic bag next time and take it with you.”
“You’re incredibly bossy first thing in the morning. And in the afternoon . . . also the evening. You should look into that.” Eli put his phone on speaker so he could get dressed to go out for coffee.
“What are you doing right now?” Haruka’s voice sounded a little softer. Maybe he was starting to wake up?
Eli pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it in the laundry basket. “Getting ready to go out.”
“Get breakfast with me.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say yes, but then the memory of Haruka visiting Kate at the end of the club fair flitted into his mind.
“I don’t have time for breakfast this morning.”
“I’ll bring it to you, just tell me where to meet you.”
“Sorry, you’re breaking up. I’m going through a tunnel, bye!” Eli ended the call.
