Page 6 of Psync
Since Eli was specializing in more than one language, his course load was going to be heavy. Just the way he liked it.
“I can’t believe you, Eli.” Alice groaned dramatically. “Japanese is going to be hard enough as it is, why would you add more languages? Are you insane?”
“Well, yes, actually, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this. I just really have an affinity with learning languages.”
“Why are all of them from Asia? I mean, you are very, um . . .”
“White?” Eli wasn’t just white. He wasburst into flames after seconds in the sunwhite—something his sister, who’d been blessed by the Cherokee genes from their dad, constantly teased him over. “I know, but there’s just something about Japan that calls to me. I can’t explain it. I’ve been into Japanese culture since I was little. I guess it was a gateway drug because eventually I fell in love with several other countries in Asia as well.”
It was one of the things Eli didn’t peer too deeply into. He tried not to look a good coping mechanism in the mouth. Especially one he might be able to make a career out of.
“Eli, do you know that guy over there?” Nate asked in a low voice as he pointed to a blond student scrolling through his phone.
“No, why?”
“Because he keeps looking at you.”
Outwardly, Eli smiled and shrugged, but inwardly he cringed. Then he took a deep breath. He was probably overreacting. He was probably, definitely overreacting. Just because he’d had a few mishaps in the past didn’t mean the phenomenon would follow him here.
A shadow fell over Eli’s desk.
“Excuse me.” The blond was smiling down at him in a friendly way. “Are you doing anything tonight? Because some of my friends are having a party and they asked me to invite people.” The boy put a hand on each side of Eli’s desk, boxing him in. “Your friends can come too.”
Nope. Not an overreaction. The Thing had definitely followed him.
Eli wasn’t a particularly impressive individual—as far as he could tell. Nothing about his looks, or abilities should have singled him out in a crowd, but for some reason, wherever he went, he had a habit of drawing unwanted attention. Since he’d hit puberty, he’d been the confused recipient of constant offers from strangers to hang out, meet up, have coffee, etc. But due to the Incident, Eli couldn’t bring himself to accept.
In fact, one of the main reasons he was so drawn to Alice and Nate was that they hadn’t invited him anywhere after they’d met. Plus, they’d seemed to pick up on his no-touching thing super quick, which was incredibly rare.
They’d also asked him all about himself and seemed genuinely interested in what he’d had to say. People under the influence of the Thing rarely wanted to know anything about him other than his number and when they could meet up.
Eli stood up and shoved his folder into his backpack. “I’m sorry, I have plans.” Avoiding the eyes of the blond boy, he hurried out of the room.
Heedless that he’d abandoned the event before it finished, Eli didn’t stop running until he’d left the building far behind.
???
In the afternoon, he set out for his appointment with his advisor, this time armed with an oversized hoodie and sunglasses. He’d found the effects of the Thing could be mitigated if he covered up enough. It was easier to do when it was cold outside.
It was not cold today. No, it was a scorching 93 degrees outside, and the only concession he could make to the weather was that he’d picked a white hoodie instead of a black one.
He only remembered at the last second to take down his hood before the meeting with his advisor. He’d have a better chance of convincing her to give him his way if he didn’t come off looking like someone hiding from the paparazzi.
He knocked on the doorframe of the cluttered, but cheerful office. “Hi, I’m Eli, your three o’clock appointment.”
A middle-aged woman with long auburn curls stood and waved him inside, making the dozen bracelets on her wrist jingle. She reached out a hand bearing a ring on each finger. “Nice to meet you, Eli. I’m Beth.”
Eli only paused for a second before taking the woman’s hand in a brief handshake.
Wrongwrongwrong.
Ugh. Even braced for it, he couldn’t get used to the feeling of touching someone he didn’t know.
Eli put on his best business smile. “Nice to meet you too.”
“I’m sorry to call you here the day before classes start, but I couldn’t help it. When I went over your course schedule, I found a huge mistake.”
There was no mistake. And it was Eli’s job to convince her of it.
