Lost and Found

By TalleFey

2.2K 318 168

[3x featured] Do you ever wonder if you are merely a wanderer in this world, lost forever and waiting to be f... More

Chapter 1 | Starting over
Chapter 2 | Stranger Danger
Chapter 3 | Walk of Shame
Chapter 4 | Eeny meeny miny moe...?
Chapter 5 | Is it me?
Chapter 6 | White pages
Chapter 7 | Where is the hill?
Chapter 8 | Ash
Chapter 9 | New Friends
Chapter 10 | It's Too Much
Chapter 11 | When The Sun Comes Out
Chapter 12 | Spoons
Chapter 13 | Am I lost?
Chapter 14 | The party
Chapter 15 | The After Party
Chapter 16 | The date
Chapter 17 | The choices we make
Chapter 18 | Broken butterfly wings
Chapter 19 | Uncertainty
Chapter 20 | Why?
Chapter 21 | The new house
Chapter 22 | Girl talk
Chapter 23 | Uncertainly certain
Chapter 24 | To Ashes
Chapter 26 | Are you okay?
Chapter 27 | Too lost to be found
Chapter 28 | Admitting denial
Chapter 29 | Pick up the broken pieces
Chapter 30 | Actions, Reactions, and Glue
Chapter 31 | The perfect date
Chapter 32 | No air to breathe
Chapter 33 | The truth can break you
Chapter 34 | Find yourself
Chapter 35 | Standing still to move on
Epilogue

Chapter 25 | Find me

39 8 2
By TalleFey

Julia's head almost pounds as hard as the knock on the door. No, wait, louder. The sun shines through the window. She didn't even bother to close the curtains. Let the world see her and laugh like they always do.

She's rolled up in her blanket. The pillows lay spread around her head. One to cry one, one to scream in, one to sleep on, one—as back up.

"Morning. How did you sleep?" Her mother's too cheerful voice calls out as she enters Julia's room.

How did she sleep? Like she doesn't want to exist today. "I think I'm ill," she lies through her teeth. Although, is it really a lie? She hasn't felt this bad since she was too ill to go to school. No, that was a different kind of illness. This ill-feeling is the feeling of being so incredibly lonely that the world stops mattering. She wants to sleep and cry and yell, all at the same time.

To be honest, what she wants to do most is ask everyone what's wrong with her? Why can't she be loved? What is she doing wrong? At least that way, she can improve, or maybe she doesn't want to improve anymore. Maybe she wants to be left alone.

The mattress sinks a little. Her mother's fingers stroke Julia's hair as she hopes her mother doesn't see the stains of tears. Perhaps it looks like sleepy tears?

"How about I make you some tea and toast with butter and jam? You can stay in bed today and rest."

A tear rolls down her face. "Thank you."

"Shhh, it's okay." Her mother wipes the tears from her face. "It's going to be okay, Julia. Just take your rest." The caring of her mother's fingers leaves Julia as her mother gets off the bed and makes what she promised.

Does her mother know? Cecil must know. Did she tell anyone, or does Cecil feel too ashamed to admit she's related to someone like Julia?

Her phone makes a noise again, making her stomach twist. Without looking at the notifications, Julia turns her phone on silent. She's taking a break from people and social media.

For the rest of the Sunday, Julia lays in bed with her mother checking up on her a few times. Robin stopped by, but Julia didn't have the energy to see her. Thankfully, her mother told Robin now was not a good time.

The night greets her outside of her window. Her eyes fall shut again. As she tosses and turns in bed, her heartbeat rises and tears stream down her face. Darkness surrounds her. Silence has never been so loud. Julia is all alone and unsure of where she is. No one sees her; No one comes to help her. Julia screams into nothingness.

Gasping for air, Julia wakes up.

"It's just a dream. It's not real." But what if it is real? Did she scream in real life too? She listens to the sounds of the house, but it stays quiet. Good. She can't handle people right now. She can't even handle herself.

Haunted by her dreams, she tries to stay awake. But trying isn't enough. When she wakes up again, a note lies on her nightstand.

I hope you slept well. Take another day of rest. I called the school and told them you're sick. If you need me, call.

A sigh of relief leaves her lips. She grabs around her. Where's her phone? Checking to time–13.42–she instantly regrets unlocking her phone. Domoor. More than a hundred notifications. She turns the phone back off and tosses it aside.

Stupid people. Stupid world. And most of all, stupid Julia.

Why did she think people would care about her? That she could make friends? She's the difficult, weird girl. She rubs her face and fights back the tears. No! She won't do this to herself. Not today. Today she'll get a break from herself and, most importantly, her mind. Someone else can can take part of the blame today.

Collecting her courage, Julia rolls out of bed. She takes her blanket and pillow and drags them behind her down the stairs. Comfort is what she needs. Comfort and distractions.

After fixing breakfast–tea, toast, and a fruit bowl–she closes all the curtains. "It's time for her new favourite supernatural horror series. She lifts the hood with bunny ears off her onesie over her head, her blanket wrapped around her. No one can take this comfy blessing away from her.

Normally, she doesn't watch horror alone. She has too big of an imagination, but this will take her mind off things. Hmmm, maybe she shouldn't have made the room so dark. At least she has enough pillows and blankets to hide behind. Nestled on the ground, she watches her series.

"No, no, no. No clown monsters," she whispers at the TV as a clown from her nightmares walks around the haunted house. The clown walks through a wall. "Of course, it's a ghost clown. Because why not make it worse?" Julia finches behind the blanket. The clown's arms come through the wall and take one of the male leads. "No! He was cute."

"Who is?"

Julia's heart leaps out of her chest. Screaming at the sudden voice, her body jerks so hard she falls back on the blanket and pillows. "I do not give consent to monsters," Julia says, hiding behind her blanket of safety.

The lights turn on, and her series is paused. A soft chuckle comes from behind the other side of her blanket. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I would scare you," Mason says. Crouching down in front of her, he pulls the blanket away from her face. She blinks at him. His soft finger caresses her cheek. "Are you okay?"

The feeling in her body returns, and she pushes against his chest. "You scared me to death," she says. Mason falls backwards and laughs. "I always knew you were a psychopath murderer." She laughs as she watches him act hurt.

"Hey, I was the one who got attacked in the forest. And now I'm being attacked again," Mason says.

"Oh, no. You were going to be the bigger person and take the blame, remember?" Smiling at each other, they hold each other's gaze.

"Must've been your pretty brown eyes manipulating me."

Why is it so easy to be around him until things get screwed up and complicated?

Mason's broad smile turns into a thoughtful frown, and he sits next to her. He opens his mouth, only to close it again. His eyes hold a kindness she doesn't see often. After a moment of silence, his face cracks. "I'm so sorry, Julia."

The apology actually sounds sincere. There's no pity in Mason's voice or eyes. Her lips quiver as tears form in her eyes. She dives into Mason's arms. His arms fall around her, pulling her to his safety. He holds Julia's head against his chest, and his fingers dig into her hair. As his scent calms her down, his heartbeat tells her how her heartbeat should beat.

They sit there in silence in each other's warm embrace, exactly like Julia needed. Even though she didn't know it yet. When the silence makes place for awkwardness, Julia pulls away.

One ear of her bunny onesie fell in front of her face. Her cheeks turn red. Domoor. Literally. Julia hides her face in her hands. Now he has seen her in her onesie. What will everyone think?

His fingers brush her skin as he nudges the ear out of her face. "I like your onesie. You make a cute bunny."

She peeks through her fingers to watch his face. Is Mason making fun of her? If he is, it doesn't show on his face or in his eyes.

Julia's stomach twists as everything she was trying to ignore comes back. "You were right. No one can like me," Julia sniffs as she averts Mason's eyes.

"That's not what I said, and that's not true. I like you," Mason says. "I'm really sorry. Ash is an A-hole to do this to you. You're way too good for him." Julia blinks at him, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "And I'm sorry about what I said and how I behaved. Even though I had all the right intentions, everything came out wrong," Mason continues.

She nods her head slowly, not quite grasping what Mason is saying. They stare at each other. Not sure how to continue. One side of the corner of Mason's mouth twitches upwards. He averts his eyes and stares at the TV. "I heard you're moving to the same street as me," Mason says. Julia watches his face glow up. "That's great, right?"

She tilts her head and stays quiet until he meets her eyes. "You like me," she says.

"Yeah."

A warm glow grows inside of her. Mason does. For some reason, he told her the truth. Mason likes her. Even after everything that has happened, there isn't a part of her that doubts him. Okay, there were some small parts that were doubting. Maybe she can melt those away with this new-found warmth?

Something crosses his eyes, and he stares at his own hands. "I know things are hard right now, but you're not alone. And if you want, we can hang out more. We could go on hikes. Or watch TV."

She leans her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad you always find me."

---

Translation:
Domoor, meaning stupid, can be literally translated to Dumb-ear

---

I kind of want to build a blanket fort and watch some horror movies

I hope you liked this chapter. If so, don't forget to vote. It means a lot to me <3

And if you want updates on this story and other projects I'm working on, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and now on Twitter too, @Tallefey/@FeyTalle

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