The Sphinx in the Hat
Leo's vintage fedora sat on his desk like a dead animal. His mom had bought it from a thrift store, convinced it would give him "confidence" for freshman year at Ridgeview High. It...
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Leo's vintage fedora sat on his desk like a dead animal. His mom had bought it from a thrift store, convinced it would give him "confidence" for freshman year at Ridgeview High. It...
Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her red solo cup like it was a life raft. The water glittered temptingly, but jumping in meant exposing her thighs—the ones she'd been...
The humidity in Leo's bedroom could've killed a houseplant, but he barely noticed. His best friend since third grade, Maya, sat cross-legged on his floor, absently braiding friends...
Maya's phone buzzed with texts from the group chat. *Party at Jake's tonight. You coming?* She stared at the screen, thumb hovering over the keyboard. Parties weren't really her th...
Maya stood at the plate, the orange sunset blinding her as the pitcher wound up. Strike three. Again. "You good, bestie?" Jordan asked from the dugout, using that word that felt t...
Marcus adjusted the beat-up fedora on his head—his grandpa's old hat, the one he'd started wearing for confidence ever since freshman year turned his social life into a pyramid sch...
Maya pulled the brim of her dad's old baseball hat down lower over her eyes. It was her shield—a literal and metaphorical barrier between her and the absolute catastrophe that was ...
Maya stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her normally curly hair straightened to perfection after two hours of work. This was it — the party at Jake's house, where he'...
I never signed up to be the designated spy for my friend group, but here I was, crouched behind a cluster of potted plants at Jordan's pool party, clipboard in hand, watching every...
The pool party was basically a social minefield, and I was walking through it without a metal detector. Maya's backyard shimmered with that perfect Instagram-filter lighting, the *...
Jake's dad's old straw hat sat crooked on his head, smelling of dust and cedar and every summer he'd ever spent at his grandparents' ranch in the middle-of-nowhere Texas. He was se...
The orange neon sign of the 7-Eleven buzzed behind me as I adjusted my baseball cap—pulled low, my version of armor against the world. Tryouts were tomorrow, and my stomach was doi...