Locked In

Maya's headphone cable snagged on the doorframe as she stepped into Escape the Room HQ, broadcasting her anxiety to everyone already inside. She'd spent forty-five minutes on her hair, only to throw on a beanie at the last second because nerves had made her palms sweaty and she couldn't stop touching it.

"Perfect timing!" shouted Chloe, whose birthday party this was. Chloe moved through corridors like she owned them. "We're doing the Pharaoh's Curse room. It's supposed to be impossible."

Impossible. Great. Maya smoothed her shirt, hyper-aware that she was the only sophomore among juniors. The only reason she'd scored an invite was that her lab partner Jordan—currently across the room in that backwards snapback he always wore—had mentioned her name when Chloe was looking for "more brains."

"You have forty-five minutes," the game master announced. "Solve the riddle of the Sphinx to escape."

"The Sphinx?" Derek scoffed. "That's bull. Isn't that just a lion with a human head? How hard can it be?"

But when they emerged into the tomb-themed room, everything went sideways. Derek immediately started yanking on the sphinx statue's wings like he could force the answer out of it.

"Dude, stop," Maya heard herself saying before she could overthink it. "You're gonna break it."

Derek turned, irritation flickering across his face. "I'm just trying to—"

"It's a pressure puzzle," she said, voice gaining ground. "Look at the hieroglyphics. The sequence matches the riddle. Morning, noon, night."

The room went quiet. Jordan actually looked up from his phone.

"Wait, you read hieroglyphics?" Chloe asked, half skeptical, half impressed.

"I took that Egyptology elective," Maya said with a shrug. "Plus I'm really good at puzzles."

She pressed three symbols in sequence: scarab, hawk, setting sun. A hidden panel slid open with a satisfying click.

"No way," Derek said, actually impressed. "That was actually cool."

For the next thirty minutes, Maya took the lead. Her cable became useful when they needed something thin to fish a key from a narrow slot. Jordan's hat ended up on her head during a ridiculous moment where they had to "match the pharaoh's crown"—a joke that had everyone laughing, including her.

When they escaped with three minutes to spare, Chloe high-fived her. "You're actually coming to my next party. For real."

Jordan caught her eye as they left. "Nice work, puzzle queen."

Maya pulled her beanie back on, walking into sunlight feeling lighter somehow. She'd solved way more than an ancient riddle today.