Chlorine and Riddles

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her vitamin D supplement like it was some kind of magical talisman. Her mom had sworn it would help with her "energy levels" before the history presentation on Monday, but right now, the only thing Maya needed energy for was not jumping into the deep end of her social anxiety.

The water shimmered with that artificial blue that only existed in suburban backyard pools. Jordan and the others were already in, splashing and laughing like they didn't notice Maya standing there in her too-new swimsuit, feeling like the world's most awkward human statue.

"Maya!" Jordan called, waving. "Get in here! The water's actually not terrible!"

Right. Not terrible. The same way getting braces was "not terrible" or having to memorize twenty facts about the Great Sphinx of Giza for her history presentation was "not terrible." At least the Sphinx didn't have to worry about its thighs looking too big in a bikini. That ancient statue had been dealing with body image issues for like four thousand years and nobody said a WORD.

She swallowed the vitamin dry. It tasted like chalk and desperation.

"Maya, you good?" Jordan had swum over, water dripping from perfect hair that somehow looked better wet. "You've been standing there forever."

"Just warming up," Maya lied. Because that's what you did when you were fifteen and terrified that your best friend was slowly drifting away to people who played volleyball and had actual social skills.

The Sphinx had riddles. Maya had Jordan's new friends and the sudden realization that maybe she was the one who'd changed. That maybe growing up meant realizing that friendship wasn't about staying exactly the same forever.

Whatever. She'd learned all about the Sphinx's missing nose—how it had been shot off by Napoleon's troops, or maybe religious extremists, or maybe it just fell off from centuries of existing. Either way, it was still standing. Still mysterious. Still worth talking about, even if it wasn't perfect anymore.

Maya jumped.

The water hit her like cold reality, shocking and weirdly refreshing. She surfaced, sputtering, to find Jordan laughing.

"There she is," Jordan said. "Finally."

And maybe that was the riddle all along. You didn't have to be perfect. You just had to jump in.