Page 33 of Psync
He shoved another grape in his mouth and wrinkled his nose. Ugh, it was sour.
A clatter from across the table made Eli look up. Haruka had dropped his fork on the table but made no motion to pick it up. Instead, he watched Eli with a strange look on his face.
“Are you okay?”
Haruka blinked a few times then nodded and continued eating.
Weird.
But then that was Haruka, as far as Eli could tell. Eli didn’t mind weird, though. It made him way less conscious of his own oddities. Maybe that was why he’d taken so quickly to Nate and Alice. They were their own giant buckets of weird, and Eli knew it was a privilege to be included.
Haruka’s brand of weird was intense, but also quiet. And very soothing—even if he was a bit of a pushy jerk.
Once Eli had consumed enough food to satisfy Haruka—enough to make him feel like he was about to explode—Eli said, “I’ve got a class in a few minutes, let me give you back your hoodie.” Even though he wanted to keep it. Wearing it made him feel like there was a lovely barrier between him and the world. Nothing constricting, just a nice, soft buffer to wallow in.
Haruka held out a hand, motioning him to stop. “Keep it, I have another just like it.”
“You do? Why did you tell me you needed it back?”
“Because I wanted to have lunch with you.” Haruka’s eyes were soft, and there was a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Oh.” The butterfly rave had officially become an army. “Okay.” What was he supposed to do with his hands right now? What was he supposed to do with his body? Why did every part of him feel so large and awkward right now?
He squeezed the pencil sharpener on reflex and winced. Haruka’s eyes flicked to Eli’s hand, and his own hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out but stopped himself. “I’ll let you go.”
Was it just Eli’s imagination, or was there a big fatfor nowthat Haruka had left off the end of his sentence? He swallowed hard.
“O-okay.”
“Call me, if something happens.”
Eli nodded, knowing he would one hundred percent be willing to lose an arm before taking Haruka up on his offer. He turned and fled.
???
Eli scratched at the bandage on his palm for the twentieth time that evening. For some reason,The Tale of Genjiwasn’t capturing his attention like it had yesterday. And today had been so good, too. Well, the second half had been.
Alice and Nate didn’t hate him even a little bit, and—even crazier—Nate apologized for being overbearing and promised to try and rein it in next time. Though he had expressed reservations about Haruka.
“You don’t actually know anything about him, Eli.”
“I’m not marrying him, Nate, just taking a class with him.”
“And wearing his clothes?” Nate plucked at the overlong sleeve hanging past the tips of Eli’s fingers.
Eli didn’t have an answer for Nate. He still didn’t have one several hours later as he sat as his desk diligently working his way through his assignment. Though at the rate he was going, he might be better off going to bed now and waking up early to finish it.
His phone rattled against the glass of his desk. When he picked it up, he saw a text from Jace.
SpaceJace:I gotta go home for a bit, be back tomorrow night
Eli:Is everything okay?
SpaceJace:Not sure yet. I’ll let you know
Are you going to be okay on your own?
Eli:Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine
