Reyna's Skinny Jeans

Reyna's skinny jeans stayed hidden away in the back of her closet, never worn.

Whether she was born with it or had earned it through hard work, Reyna's body was more amazing than she would like to admit. It wasn't too muscled like some of the Mar's daughters. It wasn't too dainty like the daughters of Venus.

Yes, her body had undergone sleep deprivation, weeks where she was too busy to eat, and scars to relive her battles over and over again. But, despite all of that, she still looked pretty good.

Not that anyone knew.

She kept herself wrapped up in her Praetor uniform or jeans and comfortable but ill-fitting shirts.

But, as she stood there that morning, things felt different.

Instead of reaching for her trusty army green tee shirt that fit her well and cargo pants, she suddenly found herself staring at the pair of dark wash skinny jeans in the back of the closet. She thought back to the way she had looked in those jeans, and she stared at them a little longer.

Reyna reprimanded herself for being such a daughter of Venus, but she reached for the jeans anyway.

As she zipped up the tight jeans and weeded through her shirts in her large closet, she felt herself running over Jason's words from the night before.

"Actually, I can't. I need to get to town, but maybe we could watch that tomorrow?" Jason had told her as they finished with work, and she nodded. She tried to believe him, but he had first said that six tomorrows ago and had said it every day since. Her mind stayed glued to what he needed to get to in town…

Suzie.

Of all people, why did it have to be Suzie?

Reyna wasn't happy about him dating, though she couldn't figure out why, but she certainly wasn't happy about it being Suzie.

For years, everyone had known that they would be together. Whether it was forever or just a fling, they would be together in some way. It was just natural. They were that couple you see in the magazines. They're gorgeous, they're sweet, and they're happy.

Yes, Suzie was conniving, and, yes, Jason was a warrior.

But they were still perfect for each other.

But things seemed to change when he became Praetor.

Suddenly, he forgot about the girl Suzie he had vaguely known. In fact, he wasn't a big fan of her now that he worked with her, and it had never even crossed his mind to date her. Well, it hadn't crossed his mind until Reyna went away for the weekend.

Reyna cursed at herself for doing that.

How could she have known?

How could she have known Jason would want to surprise her with hot chocolate? How would she know Suzie would be there? How could she have known that they would start talking? And how would she have known that she would give him her number and that he would call?

And how could she ever have known how all of this would make her feel?

Reyna wasn't sure why she felt this way, she just knew that she didn't want to.

She had tried every excuse to make a logical explanation for all of this, but none of it had worked. It always trailed back to one thing.

Reyna liked him…

But she didn't!

Or, at least, she thought she didn't.

She wasn't sure anymore…

This wasn't anything she had dealt with before. Usually, any problem, no matter how horrible, could be solved by throwing herself into her work or training, but it just didn't work. Not even because Jason was with her through every aspect of work and training, but work almost became impossible.

And that killed Reyna most.

She couldn't think straight enough to plan battles or anything for that matter, and it was making her frustration grow.

Reyna felt like she might throw something as she pulled on a shirt, and she picked up her bag for the morning as she began the walk to the dining hall.

The camp was never silent, and the morning definitely wasn't. But, this morning, it the cold air felt bitter, and she felt the absence of his voice in the chatter. Those adorable couples being lovey-dovey were more annoying than usual, and Reyna walked so fast she was almost running.

As she got into the mess hall, she suddenly wondered why on earth she had rushed here.

Jason and Suzie were relaxing on one of the couches in the middle of the room, everyone staring as they smiled together.

Reyna's frustration turned to annoyance, and she rolled her eyes as she got her food.

"Really, natural grown food are the best," Suzie told the rest of the group at their table, taking a bite of her organic berry salad, "These strawberries are grown by some little company in New York. It is sooo adorable."

Jason tried his hardest not to roll his eyes, and he was biting into a piece of toast when Bobby started choking on his orange juice.

"Are you okay-?"

Then he saw her, too.

His jaw dropped, and Suzie's eyes widened while her jaw tightened. Gwen almost clapped.

"Is he alright?" Reyna asked as Bobby stared at her, making sure she sat farthest away from him.

Jason was too shocked to respond.

Reyna was pretty in that Intimidating-and-Unapproachable way. He had seen her when she was at her lowest, her face red with crying and wearing knee socks with tee shirts four sizes too big for her. He had seen her at her best, wearing that tight red dress at Christmas with a pair of break-your-neck heels. And now here she was…

No forcing her to put on make-up. No guilt trips to get her to into those tight jeans, and no struggles of her stubbornness wanting to hold strong.

It was like the Twilight Zone.

Jason couldn't decide if he was more shocked that she was wearing make-up or if that she wasn't hiding it by pulling on a hoodie.

The only thing he could decide on was that she looked amazing…

Suzie almost turned the shade of her organic strawberries out of anger.

Today was supposed to be her day. She had just gotten her highlights touched up to be perfect honey blonde, and she had just gotten her hair professionally curled. This was the first time she wore her brand new ted jeans, and her shoes had cost her the rest of this month's spending money.

And people were staring at Reyna!

You can distract my boyfriend, and you can eat bacon, Suzie narrowed her eyes at Reyna, But you will not steal my attention.

"What are you eating?" Suzie's eyes narrowed in on the pile of bacon on Reyna's plate, "Is that animal fat?"

"Pig animal fat, actually," Reyna smirked as she bit into a slice of bacon, and Suzie crinkled her nose.

"That is disgusting."

"And that isn't disgusting," Reyna nodded sarcastically to a wheat germ smoothie.

Gwen stifled a smile and tried to distract them.

"Where did you get that coat? I love it."

Suzie happily flipped her hair, and she began to tell her about the store she found in San Francisco. Gwen did everything not to yawn or fall asleep, and Reyna took a long sip of apple juice as she looked, expecting to see Jason enthralled.

Instead, he let out a shrug and raised his eyebrows, silently warning her not to be mean to his girlfriend.

She tried, and, to get through the rest of breakfast, she just stopped speaking for a while and focused on eating the "pig animal fat."

When she had finished her plate and had listened to three shopping stories from Suzie, Reyna was relieved to finally be able to leave.

"I have to get to work," Reyna stood, and Gwen was quick to stand up with her. Bobby would have joined, but he felt so bad for his friend that he couldn't leave.

Gwen and Reyna made their way through the mess hall, and Suzie was opening her mouth again when her cell phone buzzed.

She looked down to her hot pink i-phone, and her green eyes scanned through the message from her sister, the morning update on the gossip between the descendants of Venus. Suzie apologetically smiled at her boyfriend.

"I have to go, Baby," Suzie gave him a kiss on the cheek, leaving a pink imprint from her lipstick, and she told Bobby goodbye.

"Bye, Suz."

As she left, Bobby let out a sigh of relief.

"Gods, does she ever shut up?"

"She's not that bad," Jason rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee.

"She asked if Reyna was eating animal fat!"

"So she's a little health conscious."

"Health obsessed."

"Shut up, Bobby."

Bobby put his hands up in surrender, and he leaned back in his chair, pursing his lips as he looked to the door.

"So… Reyna."

"What about Reyna?" Jason carefully watched his best friend, worried what would come out next.

"Reyna looked pretty hot," Bobby smiled, and Jason rolled his eyes.

Bobby leaned into the table.

"And she doesn't insult bacon. I vote that you ditch the blond and date Reyna."

Jason rolled his eyes.

He had been hearing this from him since Christmas.

"Why don't you date her, Bobby?"

"Because I'm not the one she got dressed up for."

Jason stared, not understanding what he meant.

"You and I both know Reyna, you more than me. And we know that Gwen had been trying to get her to wear those jeans and look like that for weeks, and you think it is a coincidence that the day we are having breakfast is the day she does it."

Bobby picked up his backpack and grabbed a piece of toast from Jason's plate.

"See you in training."