Psync by Zile Elliven

Chapter Two

Eli

After his little episode, he’d left his new friends and wandered in a daze all the way back to his room.

Over his short life, he’d gotten used to the random quirks his mind continued to introduce to him. Like the no-touching thing. He’d had that since he could remember. It was close friends with a gnawing sense of emptiness inside, as if he’d been born incomplete somehow. And of course, after The Incident, he’d learned being alone at night was no longer an option for him. According to his therapist, it was normal and he would grow out of it.

He was still waiting on that one.

He’d had a brief, but intense, argument with his mom over whether or not he should have a single room or a double. She wanted him to push his comfort zone and try to learn to sleep by himself. She even went so far as to suggest it would be unkind to inflict his nightmares on a perfect stranger.

Eli had countered her argument by stating his nightmares rarely happened when he wasn’t sleeping alone. Then he immediately contacted the student housing people and explained the situation. The man on the phone had been more than happy to find him a psych major who had no problem with Eli’s idiosyncrasies.

It turned out better than Eli could have hoped. When they met yesterday, his new roommate Jace had been the first to bring it up, asking Eli about his problem and how it manifested, somehow making him feel at ease and not a total nutcase at the same time.

Of course, that didn’t stop Eli from deciding not to mention his recent panic attack the next time he saw Jace.

He took a deep breath and opened the door to his room, slapping on his everything is fine face. He dropped it as soon as he realized the room was empty. A note on his bed caught his attention, and he plucked it off his comforter.

Department party tonight. Be home late.

-Jace

Well, at least he didn’t have to pretend not to be wired and oversensitive in front of anyone.

He managed to waste thirty whole minutes straightening an already immaculately organized room before flopping down onto his bed.

:And now there’s a rock in my shoe. Perfect.:

Eli shot off the bed like he’d been electrocuted.

He spun around looking for the speaker but found an empty room. After looking in both closets and under both beds, he sat on the floor and specifically did not hold his head while rocking back and forth. Only weird people did that.

If it had only been a single incident—he’d chosen to count earlier as a single incident since they’d happened so close together—it could be explained away by a million rationalizations. And he’d managed to go through most of them on the way home.

But there was no one around he could conveniently blame this voice on. He was alone now.

Alone and hearing things.

Come on, brain, you didn’t think I had enough interesting things to sort through? You had to throw a dash of schizophrenia into the mix just to make things fun? Thanks. Really, from the bottom of my heart.

This was absolutely not going into the list of things he was planning on talking to his therapist with.

You know, once he got around to getting a new one.

Eli wasn’t going to let this issue get the best of him. He pulled out the biggest weapon in his arsenal—his favorite language app. The next two hours were devoted to learning grammar patterns, practicing kanji, and leaving absolutely no space for anything else to shove its way through the cracks of his mind.

He barely noticed as night fell. He was so immersed in the world of words and symbols that the growling of his stomach was a distant, ignorable thing, and the dark room around him only served to cocoon him further into his studies.

So, when the door opened abruptly, the scream—a very manly shout of surprise—that emerged from him was completely understandable.

At least that was what his roommate told him as he sat next to Eli on his bed, fanning his neck soothingly.

“I think it would help if we got you a desk light that came on automatically at dusk. It might help you stay connected to your body enough to prevent scares like that in the future.”

Eli nodded absently. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk about his issues. No, what he wanted to do was go to the basement and start digging a hole he could move into for the rest of the semester.

But he was an adult now—in theory. So, he pulled up the shopping list on his phone and typed in: Buy timer for lamp.

“Um, it’s okay if you want to switch rooms tomorrow. I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

Jace’s face softened. “Why would I want to do that? You’re a fellow weeb, we have to stick together!” He slapped the bed next to Eli’s leg. “Besides, you have the potential to become an excellent case study. Who knows, maybe I could plan my thesis around you.”

Eli let out a small laugh. One he didn’t have to fake at all.

✽✽✽

He spent the next two days before class officially started going to freshman events and getting all the things he’d forgotten to buy for his new room.

Today, he was at the mall looking for the light Jace had suggested. Which didn’t explain the full cart in front of him. He’d only come here for one thing. How was he supposed to carry all of this up to his room?

He poked though his cart trying to decide between the NASA hoodie and the Dragonball Z button-up when he realized he’d crashed into something.

No, not something. Someone.

He looked up . . . and then looked up a bit more. Jesus, this guy was tall.

“Ack! I’m so sorry!” Eli bowed repeatedly, having picked up the gesture from his touch aversion and too much anime. “Are you okay? You came from out of nowhere!”

When his victim bowed back, Eli realized he recognized him. “You’re Haruka!”

“I am.” Almond-shaped eyes narrowed appraisingly as he took Eli in. “And I didn’t come from out of nowhere. I was standing here, minding my own business, until you barreled into me.”

“I’m sorry, I . . . wait, were you watching me come towards you? Why didn’t you move out of the way?”

“I wanted to see what would happen. I didn’t believe someone would be stupid enough to do that.” Haruka smiled ruefully.

“Well . . . I . . . hey!” Eli felt his ears burn, and he fought the impulse to cover them. “I’ve got a lot going on right now, and—”

“Didn’t ask for an explanation.” Haruka was already turning to walk away, but he paused and looked back. “Watch where you’re going next time, chibisuke.”

“I’m not short!” Eli’s ears were joined by the rest of his face, only it wasn’t embarrassment anymore. Yes, he was on the small side, but that didn’t mean people had to go and point it out. “I mean, that’s not my name.”

But Haruka had already begun to walk away. “Didn’t ask. Don’t care.” He threw over his shoulder as he went.

Eli was so busy wanting to curl up in a ball and die that he failed to notice Haruka turning back to look at him once more before disappearing down an aisle.