Pool Party Sphinx

Maya's palms were already sweating as she stood outside Chloe's house, the bass from inside vibrating through the soles of her Converse. This was it — the first party of freshman year, and she'd spent forty-five minutes picking an outfit that said "chill but not trying too hard."

Then Buster, her family's elderly golden retriever, yanked the leash free and bolted toward the backyard gate.

"Buster, no!" Maya hissed, running after him. She crashed through the gate into pure chaos — a dozen people in the pool, someone throwing up in the bushes, and smack in the middle of everything, an inflatable sphinx the size of a minivan floating lazily in the water. Some sophomore had ordered it online as a joke.

Buster, being Buster, launched himself straight at the sphinx. His claws punctured the golden plastic, and air hissed out dramatically as the mythical creature's head lolled to the side like a defeated party balloon.

The yard went silent. Maya froze.

Then someone started laughing.

"Bro, the sphinx took more Ls than my GPA," a guy yelled, and suddenly everyone was cracking up. Maya stood there, mortified, until Chloe herself floated over, still holding her red solo cup.

"Your dog just killed the vibe and honestly? It's an improvement," Chloe said, grinning. "I'm Chloe. You're the new girl from English, right?"

"Maya," she managed, still breathing hard from running after Buster. "And I am so sorry about your sphinx."

"Don't worry about it." Chloe splashed some water at her. "Hop in. Trust me, after you kill a giant inflatable Egyptian god, you're basically family."

As Maya waded into the pool, still dodging apology-after-apology in her head, she caught Chloe's eye. Chloe winked. Maybe freshman year wouldn't be total trash after all.