Pool Night Sphinx

Maya felt like a literal zombie. July humidity had turned her brain to mush, and the only thing keeping her upright was the promise of Jordan's pool party. Which she was currently hiding behind a potted plant to avoid.

"You good?" Jordan asked, appearing with two sodas. "You've been standing there for ten minutes."

"I'm good," Maya lied, taking the soda. "Just... observing."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "You mean staring at Alex like they're the Great Sphinx of Giza and you're trying to solve their riddle?"

Maya's face burned. "No."

"You so are." Jordan laughed. "They're not even being sphinx-like. They're just sitting on the pool edge, legs in the water, looking depressed."

Which was true. Alex sat perched on the concrete like a tragic statue, occasionally dipping feet into the turquoise water. They'd been Maya's crush since seventh period English, when they'd written the most gorgeous analysis of Frankenstein and Maya had been secretly entranced ever since.

Suddenly, a streak of orange fur bolted past Maya's legs.

"What the—" Jordan jumped.

A cat. An actual cat, soaking wet and clearly not thrilled about it, scrambled up onto a lounge chair and shook itself vigorously, spraying water everywhere.

"That's Mr. Whiskers!" someone yelled. "How did he get in here?"

The cat sat with maximum dignity, considering his drenched state, and began licking his paw like this was all according to plan.

Alex, who'd been sphinxing it up the whole time, finally laughed. And oh god, it was the best sound Maya had ever heard.

"I think he wants to go swimming," Alex called, and for the first time all evening, their eyes met Maya's. "You coming in?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. "Uh."

"Water's perfect. Not too zombie-like out here, you know?" Alex splashed water at the cat (who was NOT amused). "Come on."

So Maya did. She kicked off her flip-flops, slid into the pool, and for the first time all night, stopped overthinking. The water was cool and perfect, Alex grinned at her like she'd just performed magic, and somewhere on the sidelines, Mr. Whiskers the cat sat in judgment.

Maya still felt awkward. Her heart still did stupid little flips. But as she floated beside Alex, watching the sunset turn the pool water gold and pink, she thought maybe—just maybe—being a brave, not-dead zombie was exactly where she needed to be.