Chapter 2: Chapter 2
It was then that I finally joined the campus’s LGBT organization. Originally I didn’t think I needed to because my coming out wasn’t too much of a fiasco and I had Jack to talk to when I wanted someone to be there for me. The group became, not just my connection to the gay scene of Portland, but a support group to keep me from losing it too much in Jack’s absence.
I grew so close to the other members that by the end of the semester, I agreed to rent a small house on the outskirts of the city with a few of them. I missed living at home, but I didn’t miss Marie coming around on Sundays after church to talk with my mother about what a disappointment I was. Besides, I managed to find a summer job quickly enough. My prospective degree in art didn’t impress many, but my skill as an amateur photographer got me a small gig at an animal shelter taking pictures for their website. It was great because I loved animals. Not only did I get to be around them all day, but I got to know the shelter staff as well. In particular, I got to know Caleb.
Caleb was a veterinary intern from the local medical school, and, because the Gods have an odd way of making things work, he was also Pagan and gay, and undeniably gorgeous. In coloring we were somewhat opposite. His hair was a shining golden brown as opposed to my mahogany hair and matching eyes, which contrasted his clear blue. He was Oregon born and bred, and his pale skin seemed even whiter compared to my northern California tan. He was a year or so older than I, but he confessed that although he wished he had a boyfriend, his dedication to his schoolwork and extracurriculars had left him unsatisfactorily single. I would say it was a match made in Heaven, except I still doubt Heaven wants anything to do with me.
Regardless, we got along famously. We became fast friends over the summer, and come August he even invited me to a Lughnasadh ritual with him. The Pagan group he hung out with was amazing, and since Caleb and I were such good friends and I brought my strawberry muffins to the potluck, they accepted me immediately. I wondered if Uncle Jack had a hand in this somehow, as though he was trying to make things as easy for me as he could without being there.
I was offered a job at a local newspaper after they used some of my photos for a story on an event the shelter hosted. When Caleb found out I wouldn’t be spending as much time at the shelter, he immediately asked if I was interested in dating. Truth be told, I had wanted to ask him the same ever since I found out he was on the market, but he would be my first boyfriend, and I was too nervous to start that kind of relationship. Previously, we had lunch together during his breaks and occasionally went out for coffee with the rest of the staff, but nothing serious. He later confided in me that he usually didn’t spend so much time with the shelter staff like that, and he only went to be with me.
Our relationship was bumpy at first, since I was new to the whole thing and once the Fall semester started we didn’t see each other as often. However, we found a way to harmonize our schedules enough to get dinner every Thursday night and hang out on weekends. I thanked Brigit and Uncle Jack every night for bringing me to Caleb and vice versa. Aside from dates, Caleb and I always went to High Rites and Full Moon Parties with the Northwest Oregon Pagan Society. They completely accepted both of us in a way no one in my family—except Jack—ever had. I went home less and less until I stopped completely. That was when Caleb and I moved in together.
It wasn’t as though I cut all ties with my family. My parents and Ryan and Eliza came up to meet Caleb for the first time a month after we got our own apartment. We were both invited to Eliza’s wedding, but Caleb had heard enough about my teenhood troubles to politely decline, although he insisted I go. Fortunately, Marie avoided me the whole time I was in town, and the only interaction we had during the reception was when she looked down her nose at me in exacerbation and dragged my cousin, with whom she had been talking, across the room to get away from me. I couldn’t wait to get home to Caleb.
Years passed. I was in contact with my parents and siblings, and all of them came to my college graduation and occasionally visited when they had time, but I never went back to my hometown. My relationship with Caleb grew stronger every day until we could barely remember what it was like to not have each other. Caleb is an empath, which is what the Pagan community calls someone who is particularly good at reading the emotions and aura in a room. However, that doesn’t always mean they know what to do with that information. With my life having been such an emotional roller coaster, I was usually the one to help him process and figure out how to handle himself when things were overwhelming. We made a great team.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone