@welshfirefighter
Juliette reached behind her head to adjust her ponytail only to have her rainbow striped ball cap jarred out of position as her elbow was bumped into by someone in the crowd of strangers that filled the sidewalks on both sides of the street along the parade route. She turned her head to see who, reseating her cap as she did, but whoever it was either hadn’t felt their accidental connection or had and didn’t care enough to stop on their way to wherever they were headed.
Eyebrows arched briefly as Juliette turned back to the street, leaning out over the curb to look up and down the avenue. The Parade wasn’t set to start for another half hour but Juliette, being the short five foot two she was, had decided to grab a spot early and now she was just waiting for her friends to arrive and join her.
She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jean shorts to check if she’d missed any messages. She hadn’t.
She glanced to either side then took a selfie that earned a shake of her head when she reviewed the picture. The second--with a bigger grin and her head turned a little more to the side enough to get a better look at the rainbow flag Juliette had painted on her cheek--passed inspection and Juliette texted it to her mother, brother, and her sisters (minus Frannie--she really needed to figure out what to do about that one) with the caption ‘Yay Pride!’ before then texting it to her still absent friends with the caption ‘Where all y’all at?’
A minute later she got a reply--her friends were trying to make their way through the crowd and would be there in ten minutes, give or take--and Juliette tucked back into her pocket, then reached into the bag hanging from her shoulder to dig out a piece of the fried chicken she’d brought along for her share of the snacks. It wasn’t as good as her Momma’s cooking, despite it being the same recipe, but it was close enough and soon Juliette was gently bouncing in place as she ate.
