stress-baking | theyna

xvi.

Reyna was a bag of nerves. She hadn't done this, ever. But she mustered up her courage and stomped to Thalia's doorstep. She knocked, and it sounded ominous to her ears.

Thalia opened the door, toothbrush dangling from her mouth, hands trying to make sense of the odds-and-ends that were her hair. It surprised Reyna, who muttered, "I'm sorry for bothering you. I can come back later, if you'd like." Thalia only beckoned her inside and held up a finger, as she walked into the bathroom. The sound of the tap running lifted to Reyna's ears, along with the noise of Thalia's toothbrush.

Thalia exited the bathroom, still somewhat an early-morning mess, but Reyna thought she was as stunning as ever. "Hey, is there anything you need?"

"Uh-" Reyna twisted the ends of her hair together nervously- "There's this... Couple's' ice skate today at Central Park, and I was wondering if you would come with me?"

Thalia grinned as bright as the sun. "I would love to."

"It starts at 6, so I'll be over here around 5:30, if that's cool with you."

"Yeah."

"Good," Reyna grinned, walking backwards out of Thalia's room. Unfortunately, walking backwards means not being able to see where you're going, and she ran right into the door. Rubbing her head sheepishly, Reyna looked back at Thalia with a, "Dress warmly," then going back to her own dorm to scream at Nico over the phone and to stress about what to wear.

5:30 came around sooner than either girl expected it, and there Reyna was, standing outside Thalia's room, feeling awkward in a beanie and gloves. Thalia opened up the door to reveal herself in a long coat and legs warmers up to her knees. "Padding," She explained, tapping the woolen fabric.

The girls set off down the hallway. "I was thinking we could walk," Reyna began, "Since we live close to the Park. Is that fine with you?"

"Of course!" Thalia smiled, "The weather feels great right now. The air is so clean, the world feels so fresh, I love it."

They headed into the outside world of loud noises, people, and cars.

"Have you ever ice skated before?" Reyna asked Thalia.

"On rare occasions. I've never been good at it. You?"

"We'll be beginners together."

"Looks like we're gonna have to be our own teachers." Thalia laughed.

After a few minutes of chit-chatting, the girls arrived at the Park, where a makeshift ice rink was set up and people were all around, enjoying the fall weather. They got their skates and tried putting them on in an upright position. It didn't work as well as they thought it would. After a couple of bouts of giggles, they finally made it onto the ice.

Needless to say, the both of them had no clue what to do, and were more or less holding onto the edges trying not to fall. Thalia got a brave streak, and circled around Reyna, laughing at the latter's feeble attempts to stay standing.

"Stop that!"

Thalia smirked, skating in front of her. She turned around abruptly, almost losing her balance. "How about you come over here and make me, huh?"

Reyna wasn't one to back down from a challenge. When Thalia saw her start to rev her engines and muster up enough courage to push away from the edge, she skated away as fast as she could. Reyna followed suit. "You aren't getting away that easily!"

They tried running into as few people as possible, but there were still a couple of incidents where they landed on the ice.

Reyna caught up with Thalia, who was trying to round a corner. Reyna pushed Thalia to the edge, hands landing on either side of the girl.

"You caught me," Thalia raised an eyebrow, "Whatcha gonna do about it?" Reyna just glared up at the girl.

"This," was all she said, as she raised up on the blades of her skates, and kissed Thalia fully. The cold of the air was on Thalia's lips and the metallic taste of adrenaline was overwhelming. Reyna's arms went around Thalia's neck, while Thalia's hands quickly found Reyna's hair, tangling themselves.

Someone cleared their throat loudly. "Excuse me." The girls broke off, turning to observe whoever caused the disturbance. A middle-aged man with wire-rimmed glasses far down on his nose was looking at the girls with disgust. "Being homosexual is a sin and you two are going to hell. I don't want people like you in my community."

Reyna was shell-shocked, suddenly very aware of her arms around Thalia's neck, Thalia's fingers in her hair, the noises and people around them. She untangled herself from Thalia.

Reyna lifted up her chin. "I don't think you have any right to speak to anyone like that."

The man only got red with anger. "You and your little bitch are a disgrace! You're what's ruining the nation! I bet your families kicked you out because of your sickness!" He had advanced and was now yelling right in Reyna's face. "You're like a sick puppy, you need to be put down! Just like the rest of those f-"

"Excuse me." A voice came from behind the man. He wheeled around menacingly. Behind him was a boy, taller than most, with tan skin and a bright shock of blond hair. He was wearing an employee uniform, grey and plain. The boy looked every bit a surfer, though the expression in his eyes was angry, not laidback. "Excuse me, I am going to have to ask you to leave." He growled.

The man looked smug. "See," He grimaced at Reyna, "You're not wanted here."

"You are dead wrong," The surfer boy snarled, "I am asking you to leave. You are the lowest and most vile type of being on this earth, and I will not have you or your intolerance back here again. Do you understand?" The man sputtered. Blondie only lifted his chin and spat, "Get - out."

Wire-Rimmed Glasses only grumbled some choice words at the boy, but got off of the ice.

Blond slid over to Reyna and Thalia. "Hey, are you okay? I'm so sorry I couldn't have gotten here earlier."

Reyna was shaken, but gulped down her panic. "I'm alright. Thalia?"

A wrinkle was forming between Thalia's brows and she flattened her lips into a straight line. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

The boy sniffed. "Good. I'm Will. If you need anything," He pointed towards the kiosk, "I'll just be over there."

He was making to leave, but Reyna called out, "Do you go to Goode High School? Sorry if that's weird, my friend goes there."

Will smiled, bemused. "Yeah, yeah. I do. Who's your friend?"

Reyna steadied herself against the edge. "Nico di Angelo."

Will grinned, bright as the sun. "Oh, Nico! He's hilarious," His voice grew fond. "Honest to god, without him I don't think I would've survived AP World. Don't tell him that."

Reyna laughed. "Your secret is safe with me." She joked. Turning serious, Reyna said, "Hey, I really appreciate you coming over here."

Will two-finger-saluted her. "People like us - we've got to look out for each other, yeah?"

"Yeah."

After he left, Thalia placed her arm on Reyna's shoulder. "Are you actually alright?"

"I don't know. I haven't been yelled at like that for a while now. I'm just a bit shaken up. Don't worry." She looked down at her skates. "I - I think I'm gonna go sit down. My feet hurt." Reyna slid off the ice, Thalia on her trail.

They sat down on the benches. Reyna took off her skates to massage her feet. "Are you alright?" She asked Thalia. "He was talking to you, too."

Thalia waved her off. "You were taking all of the punches for me." The corners of her mouth quirked up, "And the spit." Reyna chuckled, willing her mood to change. She tried to turn the topic away from the man.

"That must be the boy Nico's had a raging crush on all year."

Thalia smirked. "Are you going to tell him we met Will?"

Reyna shook her head 'yes'. "He will be so stoked to know that Will talks of him so fondly."

Reyna was right. After she told Nico over the phone later that night, he wouldn't shut up and stop yelling for at least five minutes.