Deep End Riddles

Maya's purple hair was supposed to be her armor. She'd spent three hours perfecting the violet waves that screamed 'I don't care what anyone thinks' — which, ironically, was all she cared about. Now, standing at the edge of Chloe's pool party, watching the chlorine-water reflect stars she couldn't see yet, Maya felt like she was drowning before even touching the water.

"Hey, Purple Hair," called Tyler, the kind of cute who made forgetting your own name feel like a personality trait. He was playing pool volleyball with his shirt off, because of course he was. "Wanna join?"

Maya's brain did that thing where it abandoned ship. "Uh, I'm good."

"Come on." Tyler swam to the edge, water streaming down his face. "I bet I can guess your middle name before you can guess mine. If I'm wrong, I'll do that embarrassing TikTok dance you posted last week."

"Rude." But Maya found herself smiling despite herself. "You don't even follow me."

"I've seen it around." He climbed out, dripping, which should have been gross but somehow wasn't. "So what's it gonna be, Purple? You in or are you gonna stand there looking like a sphinx guarding secrets all night?"

A sphinx. That's what he'd called her. Ancient, mysterious, untouchable. Maybe that wasn't terrible.

Maya kicked off her flip-flops. "Fine. But if you guess wrong, you're doing the dance twice."

"Deal." Tyler's eyes crinkled. "I'm guessing... Marie?"

Maya's jaw dropped. "How —"

"I have my sources." He winked. "Your turn."

She studied him, really looked at him for the first time. The way he stood like he was still waiting for someone to tell him he belonged. The careful messiness of his hair, like he'd spent hours making it look like he'd just woken up.

"James," she said finally.

Tyler stared. "What?"

"Your middle name is James."

"That's..." He shook his head, laughing. "That's actually terrifying. How'd you know?"

"Sphinx secrets." Maya dove into the pool, purple hair swirling around her like ink in water. For once, she wasn't drowning at all.