(A/N: My goal for this fic is to post a new chapter as soon as I've finished a rough draft for the one that comes after it. Sometimes that might take three days, other times it might take three weeks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Depending on how busy I am, I'm hoping to have chapter 3 up within the next few days. As always, enjoy, and don't forget to fav, follow, and review!)

Annabeth Chase made it her policy to always do as was expected of her. She was a straight-A student and a star athlete. She was nice to adults and friendly with other teenagers. She shelved books at the library over the summer when the assistant librarian went on vacation. She was first chair trumpet in the school's honors band. She even showed up to church every Sunday, despite the fact that she was secretly agnostic and found the whole concept of a religion based on a 3,000 year old book a little silly. Annabeth Chase was what adults would call well rounded and kids would call boring.

It was a good life to lead, even if living up to society's expectations of a perfect American girl got a little tiresome sometimes. Whenever Annabeth had a decision to make, it came down to this: "What would society want me to do?".

Society knew a lot of stuff. It was smart like that.

Annabeth was pretty sure society would never tell her to start crushing on a girl. No matter how many TV shows added a token gay couple, no matter how many politicians proclaimed their support for same-sex marriage, society still found gayness to be a little bit squicky. Society was comfortable in its own heterosexuality, thank you very much. Gay couples were there to be the lovable butt-of-the-jokes on sitcoms. Once they stepped off the screen, once they became real people, society got a lot less comfortable. I don't have a problem with gays, I just don't want to see it in public. Think of the children.

Annabeth had always thought that was a load of bullshit. Who cared which gender somebody preferred to have sex with? Not Annabeth. Of course after expressing this thought to anyone else, and naturally in much more reserved terms, Annabeth was quick to assure them that she was "still straight, but a supporter of gay rights".

Now that she thought about it, it made her sound a lot like the obnoxious straight boys from school when they hugged each other. No homo, bro. Insisting she wasn't gay every time the topic of LGBT rights came up was basically just one big no homo. Annabeth was starting to wonder if she had been compensating for something. Maybe she was, in fact, just a little bit homo.

No. You're just being crazy now, she thought, I am straight. I'm probably the most heterosexualily straight person in the entire universe.

I have a boyfriend.

And I am absolutely, 100% heterosexual.

Maybe.

Annabeth stopped pacing for the first time in forty minutes and gripped the windowsill with two hands, locking her arms and letting her head droop down. "I'm going to drive myself insane," she muttered.

It is a well-known fact that the best cure for insanity is calling one's best friend.

So Annabeth dialed Thalia's number and flopped down on her bed, kicking her legs up towards the ceiling because she was feeling too jittery to sit still. It took three rings for Thalia to pick up.

"YOU HAVEN'T CALLED ME IN WEEKS, WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT?" Thalia shouted into the receiver, and Annabeth swore she nearly went deaf in her right ear. Thalia and Annabeth had been best friends growing up, before Thalia left for an all-girls' college in Pennsylvania when Annabeth was a sophomore in high school.

"I've been busy," Annabeth said, "But I need to talk to you."

Thalia sighed. "Shoot. And make it quick. I have Intro to Psych in fifteen minutes and the chick who sits next to me is almost as gay as she is hot." In addition to being Annabeth's best friend, Thalia happened to be very, very gay.

"I think I might be not-exactly-straight," Annabeth said, cringing at her shitty wording. Annabeth could do wonders on English essays, but not so much on phone calls.

Thalia made a noise that sounded like, "HALLELUJAH!" and some additional muffled screaming. Annabeth was pretty sure she heard Thalia's phone drop to the floor, too.

When she finally picked up her phone and stopped laughing maniacally, Thalia said with false seriousness, "You should know that I'm currently enamored with Intro to Psych girl, so if you're coming onto me you should just quit while you have the chance."

"I'm not coming onto you," Annabeth assured her, "I'm still going out with Percy."

"Well, somebody should alert him to your sudden change in sexuality," Thalia said, "But it's not my place to meddle. So who's the lucky girl?"

"No one. I'd never cheat on Percy. I still love him," Annabeth said.

"No shit. But there had to be somebody who finally made you realize you were gay as shit, or bisexual as shit as the case may be. Which, by the way, I totally knew long before you told me. My gaydar's been going off on your for years." Annabeth wasn't sure if Thalia was bluffing about the gaydar thing or now, but it made Annabeth's stomach drop for a moment. Had she really been that obvious?

Thalia continued, "I need all the details, and quick. Intro to Psych girl is waiting."

"It was nobody," Annabeth lied.

"It had to be somebody."

"Nope."

"Is it me?" Thalia said, with whispered urgency. Then she laughed.

"No! God, no," Annabeth said, then added, "You wouldn't know her." It was a mistake.

"All the more reason you should tell me," Thalia said.

"It doesn't matter."

"Was it Piper?"

"No! Jesus."

"Hazel?"

"Of course not."

"Was Percy just so bad in bed you decided to turn to girls?"

"Fuck off."

Thalia went silent for a moment. Then, she said, "Answer me this: is she straight?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I don't know," Annabeth said. Reyna had been a lesbian since anyone could remember. She'd never had to come out, simply because she'd never pretended to be anything else. Annabeth had never really cared, up until recently.

"Then quite frankly, I don't see what the problem is," Thalia said.

"There are a lot of problems."

"Well, when you figure out what they are, let me know. In the meantime, I have class. Talk to you later," Thalia said, and hung up. Annabeth could tell she was pissed. They usually told each other everything.

For the first time in Annabeth's life, talking to Thalia just made her more confused.

In the mornings, Annabeth ran. This meant that she had to get up at four thirty in the morning in order to have time to shower before school, which in turn meant that, more often than not, she just decided not to go. But the morning after the phone call with Thalia, she needed it.

Running helped her clear her head.

Running also made her think about Reyna, which was an unfortunate consequence but ultimately unavoidable no matter what Annabeth did.

Annabeth laced up her running sneakers and crept out into the half-light of the morning. The clouds hung low, and the crisp smell of dew hung heavy in the air. It was humid and cold, the omen of rain to come. Part of Annabeth hoped that meant practice would be canceled, and part of her would have died if that were the case.

Once Annabeth got out onto the sidewalk, she plugged in her headphones. Listening to music while running may not have been the safest move, but there was no one out on the road this time of morning anyway. She shuffled her music, and almost didn't notice the first song that came up until one particular lyric caught her ear.

All you think of lately is getting underneath me

All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me

Of course. Of course the first song that came up would be a song about sex by a pair of lesbians.

Annabeth was just lucky like that.

She tore the earbuds out and decided to just run without music. She would listen instead to the noises of nature, if you considered suburbia in the morning "nature". It was peaceful, in the way that boredom tends to be.

"Chase! Wait up!" The voice echoed through the empty streets, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of a pair of running shoes against the concrete.

It was the last person Annabeth needed to see, and yet the only person she wanted to. Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.

Annabeth pretended she hadn't heard and kept running like a coward. It was too early to deal with this. Annabeth didn't trust herself not to say something stupid this soon after rolling out of bed. She was always at her most reckless in the mornings, and Annabeth didn't like feeling reckless.

The sound of Reyna's footfalls drew nearer, and Annabeth knew that if she sped up now, Reyna would know something was up. So she resigned to letting Reyna join her.

"Slow much?" Reyna said, pulling ahead and turning 180 degrees so that she faced Annabeth. They paused to catch their breath. Annabeth tried not to pay attention to the way Reyna's breaths were coming in short, quick bursts, and how unbelievably cute it was.

"I'm just warming up," Annabeth lied.

"Sure." Reyna was far more put-together than Annabeth, with her sunglasses and brand-name workout clothes. Annabeth had just thrown a sports bra underneath the shirt she slept in and put on a pair of shorts she bought on clearance at Walmart. Suddenly, she felt quite underdressed.

Annabeth noticed that Reyna had one earbud in, with the other in her hand. "Running while listening to music isn't safe, you know," she said, because she still wasn't quite sure how to talk to Reyna without being a bitch about it.

"I like to live dangerously. Also, I can see your earbuds sticking out of your pocket."

"Yeah, but I'm not listening to anything," Annabeth said, then cringed inwardly.

Reyna smirked. "Your comebacks are getting weak, Chase," she said.

"I can still insult better than you, Arellano," Annabeth said.

"It's Avila Ramirez-Arellano," Reyna corrected.

"If only anyone had the time to say the whole thing," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"At least I have a real name. Yours was just made up. It's like somebody smashed together 'Anne' and 'Elizabeth'."

"All names were made up at some point or another."

"Touche." With that, Reyna picked up the pace again, heading on her way. Annabeth watched her go, and was about to turn back towards home, when Reyna looked over her shoulder and slowed down. "You coming or not?" Reyna said.

Annabeth blinked back shock. "Um, no thanks. I have to go back and shower before school," she said, panicking so quickly she forgot to say something sarcastic. She'd only been out of the house for five minutes, and could have stayed out for another fifteen. Going home was the exact opposite of what Annabeth wanted to do, but she didn't have a choice. The more time she spent with Reyna, the harder she fell, and Annabeth was fond of staying on her feet as much as possible.

Reyna shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said. She turned onto the next street and was gone.

Annabeth cursed herself silently for the rest of the day.