Lost and Found (ONC2024)✅

Chapter 11

Percy - 2023

Lyndsey startled me, creeping up behind me as I closed the side apartment door. She was always paranoid, part of the reason she asked me to move in with her, to keep better tabs on me. She never trusted me, always worried I was cheating on her. This relationship exhausted me. I thought moving out of my parents' house would make me happy. Instead, I'd never been more miserable. I lived in a prison and in a world of outlandish accusations.

Once more, Kevin (aka Jude) made a grand entrance and exit from my life.

"Hey, Percy, what are you doing?"

I quickly squeezed the water out of my eyes, trying to regain my composure.

Jude Prak. That's a name I'll never forget. And now he had my license and credit card. I've completely lost my mind.

"Are you okay? You look upset. What's going on?"

I only spent ten minutes with Jude. It was hardly long enough, but he gave me hope things would be different next year. One more year and we could be together. It seemed imaginable.

He gave me a task to do.

It seemed doable, except for one thing: He never gave me a time.

If there's no set time, I'd just have to find street parking and wait. It'd be an all-day ordeal. It might not even happen. I figured that if it didn't happen, then it would prove that Jude was a figment of my imagination all these years, proving I was certifiably insane.

Or, if it actually happened, it would prove Jude was a time traveler and all of this wasn't just in my head.

I hated that intersection. Accidents happened there all the time.

"I'm gay," I blurted out unexpectedly. I had no intention of coming out to anybody, especially not today. It wasn't even on my radar. The words just popped out. I'd been grappling with my sexuality for years, and I finally accepted the truth. In those ten minutes with Jude, imagining spending more than one night together, I had hope.

"What are you talking about?" Lyndsey said.

"I'm gay and I'm leaving. I can't do this anymore." I walked away, heading back to my bedroom. "I'm sorry. It's not working out."

"So that's it? You're leaving with no further explanation?" she said, trailing behind me.

"Yeah, that's it. I should have told you sooner. I guess I just needed to be sure."

"I knew something wasn't right. I was gonna throw your ass out, anyway." She always had to have the last word. I was a decent elder law attorney, but I'd make a terrible trial attorney. I hoped I'd be a better clinical social worker.

"I've been that hard to live with?" I said, opening my dresser drawers.

"Just get the fuck out. I'll give you ten minutes before I call the police."

"Because I'm gay? Relax. I'm leaving. You'll never have to see me again."

"Ten minutes."

For the longest time, I ignored the red flags because I was afraid of being alone. I realized that it was better to be alone than in a toxic relationship. Lyndsey wasn't necessarily angry that I was gay; she was pissed off that she didn't get the chance to break up with me first. I had just enough time to pack two suitcases and empty my closet. I didn't own any of the furniture. Swallowing my pride, I returned to my parents' house.

Before my mother asked questions, I said, "I don't want to talk about it."

I had things to do. I did what Jude told me NOT to do: