Page 36 of Psync
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Just the idea of Haruka in his room sent Eli’s stress level to an eight. “Oh crap, my phone is on one percent battery, I gotta go, bye!”
He clicked end call and threw his phone across the room like it had burned him. The power cord he’d plugged in half an hour ago caused it to halt halfway through its journey and slam to the floor with a clatter.
“Oh shit!”
Eli lunged for the phone and hit the floor in an undignified sprawl. His feet had been tangled in the sheets so thoroughly he was now hanging from the bed by one leg. His free foot had left a sock behind. He groaned and looked at his phone in sympathy.
“And that’s what instant karma looks like.”
He kicked his leg until it was free, somehow managing to retain that sock. Then he reached for his phone. He really didn’t want to turn it over.
“Listen. If my head isn’t cracked from taking a dive, your screen can’t be cracked, okay?”
Eli flipped it over.
Oh, thank god. Undamaged.
Eli punched a fist into the air and rolled to his feet.
Okay. Time for maximum effort.
He wasn’t exactly in a rush, but if he didn’t want to look and smell like a hoboandget coffee before class, he needed to get going. What should have been a long morning of hugging his knees in a corner had gone by in the blink of an eye.
If he kept going—and was very lucky—he might not spend the entire day hiding under twelve layers of clothing.
He made his way to the shower room and found Ash rubbing a towel through his hair in the changing area. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Well, I’d like to say it’s a social visit, but our shower room is busted. I guess it’s my turn to visit your floor.”
Eli laughed awkwardly. “If you ever do decide to make social visits to the shower room, warn me first so I can be in Florida.”
“You’re not my type, dude.” Ash snapped his towel at Eli, who yelped and ran, nearly losing his bath supplies in the process.
Eli had reached his usual shower stall when a thought hit him. Haruka and Ash lived on the same floor, and if their shower was broken . . .
It was like someone hit fast-forward on Eli. He found himself taking the quickest shower of his life. He was shrugging his shirt onto his wet body and sliding on bare feet through the changing area before Ash had even finished getting dressed.
“Where’s the fire? Or did you miss me?” Ash yelled to him over the sound of the blow-dryer he had aimed at his head.
“I forgot I had something to do!” Eli yelled over his shoulder as he ran out the door. If he ran into Haruka right now, he wasn’t sure he could handle it. His heart was already going crazy just thinking about it.
He finished getting dressed in his room, managing to keep it down to only a green hoodie, a white long-sleeved shirt, and jeans. Then he put in his earbuds, cranked up his Distraction playlist, and took the stairs instead of the elevator—just in case.
Chapter Fourteen
Eli
His morning went by at warp-speed.
Just because he’d narrowed down the number of classes on his schedule didn’t mean he wasn’t still taking a stupid number of classes.
He was planning on having lunch—he really was—but made a quick U-turn when he spotted Haruka in line at the counter.
Nope nope nope.
What the hell was up with his body today? Why did it go crazy every time he even thought about Haruka?
He pulled out his phone.
