After the End of the World: A Reyna Story

Chapter 3: We Get to Ride in a Bug

The dress was beautiful. And by that, I meant I hadn't felt this pretty in a really long time. And I missed it.

The dress was blue and silver and sleeveless. It faded into a glimmery gauze once it reached a few inches below my collarbone. The dress was tight until my knees and then it ruffled out in beautiful shimmers and waves that looked like the sky and the ocean all swirled in to one. It looked nearly enchanted.

I felt like a queen in it. Of course, I was supposed to look like a goddess, so as soon as I bought the dress, Hazel took me to a makeup store where she sprinkled sparkles all over my neck and shoulders.

The makeup was completely stunning: silver eyeshadow, accentuating my cheekbones, elongating my eyelashes, and making my lips a light red wine color.

"There," Hazel breathed as she finished my winged eyeliner. "So sharp it could kill a man."

"I can to that with my bare hands." I joked.

"I don't doubt that," she laughed.

As she put on my makeup, we talked. But the talk soon turned to Theo, who I couldn't get out of my head. It wasn't like I thought he was working for Gaea, or something, but it was one of those feelings that makes your stomach ache and wonder why you get attached to people so easily.

But I couldn't tell Hazel that, or Frank and Hazel Matchmaking Service™ would be back in business.

"Ugh! He told me to 'hurry up' when he asked for my name! I should have stabbed him!" I said.

"Reyna," Hazel chided. "You can't automatically turn to violence every time a guy shows you affection."

"That wasn't affection, Hazel."

"Then what was it?" Hazel rolled her eyes. "Did he try to maim you with his hidden dagger?"

"Well... no."

"Then he didn't go into sudden death mode and try to murder you, so I'm thinking he was flirting with you."

"No way, Hazel," Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"I'm thinking so," she paused and flashed a smug smile. "He was cute, Reyna."

"Hazel!"

"Did you see his facial structure?"

"Hazel, you have a boyfriend!"

But Hazel was all giggles now. She leaned against me, clutching her stomach.

"And what kind of a compliment is a facial structure, anyway? Like, ah, wow his cheekbones."

"His jawline, Reyna," said Hazel once she regained her composure. "And anyway, you don't have to act like you don't like him. Sometimes, we can just have girl talk. It won't be the end of the world."

I didn't answer her, but I knew that she knew I was thinking. She had made me stop and use my heart over my brain for once.

I hadn't ever really had girl talk. I was too young when Hylla was around, and now that she was gone, no other girl really wanted to talk to me, except maybe Piper or Annabeth, and they were across the country. Staring at a different ocean.

I was glad I had Hazel. I breathed and just let her do her thing.

She set to work on my hair; her nimble fingers flying through and making two braids on either side of my head that met on one side and formed a bun. She even braided silver ribbon into my hair.

When I looked in the mirror, I felt like a different person. I hadn't even showered after trying to fight the leucrocota, but I still felt fresh and new.

"You look beautiful," Hazel breathed. "Exactly like a goddess."

"So do you!" I said. She really was one to talk.

She was dressed in all gold. The dress was a traditional Greek chiton that fell to her ankles where I could see her silver sandals. She had braided her hair back until it reached halfway on her head and she let it poof out. She had braided tiny strips gold ribbon in her own hair that caught the light with every move she made. Her makeup was perfect, too. It was hard to believe she had just turned 14.

She looked exactly like a daughter of all of Earth's riches. Her eyes were like pools of pure gold and they outshone every inch of gold on her.

Then, I heard a whistle behind me.

"You two look nice," Andy said. He was dressed in a tuxedo and looked rather nice himself, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"If you whistle again I'll rip your lips off." I said as I passed him on our way out of the makeup shop. Hazel paid out behind us.

"Now, where exactly do we find Mount Tam?" Andy said, rubbing his hands together, once we reached the street.

"I don't know, Andy, why don't you look at that big misty mountain over there and ask it if it's Mount Tam?" I said sarcastically.

And sure enough, there it was. Off in the murky distance, Mount Tam rose intimidatingly.

Instead of making another snide comment, Andy fell silent. He stopped walking.

"You fought there." he said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, Mount Othrys. The Titans were rebuilding Mount Othrys there and so we fought and destroyed them. But it's also where the Garden of the Hesperides is. I think that's where the ball will be."

"We have to walk all the way there?" Andy looked sick at the thought.

I was just about to tell him to suck it up when I heard a honk behind us.

I turned and saw a baby blue Volkswagen Beetle. Suddenly, Andy slugged me in the arm and shouted: "Punch buggy! No punch backs forever infinity!"

I was raising my arm to hit him back when the car pulled to the curb and the window rolled down.

Theo.

"Looks like you might need a ride, Reyna." he cracked a larger-than-life grin that made his blue eyes crinkle in a cute way.

"No way, Theodore. We'll never fit in there!" I said.

"Au contraire, my warrior princess friend, this car is technically a five-seater."

"For what? A family of ants? In your dreams, rock head."

"Rock head?" Theo raised his eyebrows as if he was offended, but a smile danced in his eyes.

"Oh just get in the car!" Hazel threw open the backseat door and climbed in. Andy followed suit, but it was a tight squeeze. She said to Theo as she was putting on her seatbelt: "We're going to Mount Tamalpais."

I had to walk in front of the car and almost into the road so I could get in the passenger seat.

I pulled on my seatbelt, and heard the satisfying 'click' that meant I could be stopped from flying out the windshield. I sat straighter and I didn't let my back touch the seat because I had that in-someone-else's-car-for-the-first-time feeling.

For a moment, no one in the Beetle said anything as Theo pulled away from the curb, but then a thought popped into my brain.

"And by the way, I am not your friend."