#reychabeth

He shook his head. "I think they're just being friendly."

Nico was smirking, but he didn’t say anything. Percy elbowed him.

Reyna suppressed a smile and watched again. Her favorite had to be the redheaded girl. She was painted all in gold, with mauve winged around her eyes. She couldn't tell what else the girl was wearing, between the makeup and the lesbian pride flag tied around her waist.

"Wait." Percy squinted. "I know her." He let out a ringing laugh and waved. "I thought she was going to be on a float this year."

The redhead caught the wave and started over, pulling another girl with her, a blonde wearing denim shorts and an amused smile. "Hey! You brought friends."

Percy kissed her hair, the only part of her that wasn't painted. "I promised. Rachel, this is my roommate Nico, and his best friend Reyna."

Nico waved, still silent. His shoulders were tense.

Reyna brushed his hand with hers, reminding him that he was with friends here, even if he was surrounded by strangers. And that was great. It really was. She wanted to meet other people like her. Except for the fact that she might faint if she spent too long around girls this pretty.

"Nice to meet you." Rachel offered her hand. "I'm Rachel Dare, recently Midased, and this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."

The blonde nodded. Her smoky eyes were intense, lovely-and tracking up and down Reyna like a wolf's. It wasn't a glare, exactly, but she could tell this girl was sizing her up. 

Reyna tossed her braid over her shoulder. It hit between her shoulder blades with a profound thunk. She knew how to look imposing if she had to. Annabeth locked her eyes for a few more moments, then nodded, as if to say yes, you're worthy.

"Jealous already?" Rachel asked, poking Annabeth in the ribs.

"It's something I'm working on." Annabeth said. Her voice was soft enough to make Reyna feel intrusive.

Rachel, however, gave an easy laugh. “I know.” She squeezed Annabeth’s hand. “You have any trouble with that, Reyna?” Both girls were studying her. Rachel's eyes were bright against her makeup. Reyna thought she saw fawn freckles under the glitter.

She shrugged. “A little. It wasn’t personal, though.”

Rachel tilted her head curiously. The baby doe image brightened. “What do you mean? Compulsory heterosexuality?”

She hesitated. She’d only ever talked about this with Nico. It was cathartic as hell, but… “I think so.”

Annabeth nodded. Her face was calm and unreadable. “We’ve all been there.”

Nico tapped Reyna on the shoulder. “Are you good here? I think Percy’s about to wander.”

“Not my fault you’re all slow!”

“We’re being friendly!” Rachel yelled, laughing. “Go on, Nico. We’ll take good care of her.”

Annabeth smirked at that. Reyna’s stomach swooped. She had a sudden flashback to the plane from Puerto Rico. The flight was her first(though not her last)-exhilarating and terrifying. A new life with her sister promised something interesting, but she wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. That was how being with this girl felt.

Reyna looked between the two of them. "So how long have you been together?"

"A few months." Annabeth said. "We're not fully exclusive. Rachel's got a lot of love to give."

She could believe that.

"How about you?" Rachel asked. "You got a girl?"

Reyna shook her head. 

"You're pretty enough." Annabeth observed. Her face was unreadable.

Reyna didn't have an answer to that. Earlier in life, she hadn't wanted to attract boys, and now that she knew why, she wasn't sure how to attract girls.

"Let's keep going." Reyna suggested. "We're missing the parade." Luckily for her, they both followed.

"Loud and proud" was a very literal statement with the Manhattan community, Reyna was learning. People talked in a buzz, floats clicked and whirred and blinked, and somewhere, a speaker had Laura Jane Grace screaming at her about the revolution. It was invigorating and overwhelming.

Annabeth seemed to agree. She was blinking owlishly.

"A bit much, isn't it?" Reyna commented.

She gave Reyna another look of appraisal. Was she imagining it, or did Annabeth check her out a little too? This look said you may even be an equal.

Reyna squared her shoulders. Damned right.

Annabeth waved at a float approaching them. One of the dancers, a drag queen in garish pink and blue feathers, extended their hand. The float rolled to a stop.

Reyna's heart jumped. Could they do that? The New York chapter of Dykes on Bikes were far behind them.

Rachel was already clambering up, beckoning to her and Annabeth. Reyna exchanged a look with her. Annabeth's eyes were deer-in-the-headlights.

"Come on!" Rachel shouted.

Before she knew what she was doing, Reyna had grabbed Annabeth's hand and jogged up the steps.  The world jerked, swirling the rainbow of the crowd together, as the float started to move again.

“Give some love to the brave girls of New York!” the drag queen yelled. They bent to speak to the trio alone, saying, “We’re here to put the spotlight on the crowd. We’ll let you off in a bit, if you’d like. You can even pick your replacement.”

Reyna briefly wondered if Nico would like it, then crushed the thought. Maybe next year. She didn’t want to traumatize the boy.

“What are we supposed to do up here?” Annabeth asked, just loud enough to hear.

“Kiss her!” somebody in the crowd shouted. A woman with short grey hair laughed and waved.

A frission went through Reyna’s chest. She didn’t know if she was happy or excited or nervous-she just felt rocked. Though that might have been the float lumbering along.

“How do you feel about that?” the drag queen asked.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

Annabeth grabbed her by the flag and pulled her into a kiss that made Reyna want to stop watching and never look away. Rachel’s hands splayed on her waist, graceful as when she danced.

When they broke apart, Rachel moved instantly. She exchanged looks with Annabeth, then whirled to face Reyna. “I’m gonna kiss you. Okay?”

Reyna’s brain was short-circuiting a little. That was beyond okay. She managed to nod. The grey-haired woman whooped from miles away.

Then Rachel’s hands were warm on her jaw and she couldn’t process anything except the taste of gold glitter and how plush Rachel’s lips were. She pushed into Reyna’s mouth, tempting her to part her lips.

A cool hand tapped on her neck. “Mind if I cut in?”

Rachel pulled away. Annabeth was standing next to them, her expression fierce. Reyna locked eyes with her.

She didn’t know which one of them moved first. She was kissing Annabeth, or Annabeth was kissing her, quick and demanding. Reyna brushed silky blonde curls out of her face and fisted her hand in Annabeth’s hair. She pushed back, dragging her tongue over Reyna’s bottom lip.

Reyna pulled back. Somewhere, distantly, people were yelling. Some were cheers of approval, some were wordless, a few were disapproving at best.

Rachel was grinning. She nodded, as though she’d known this was coming.

Annabeth looked a little dazed. Her face now said definitely an equal. Maybe surpassing.