Poolside Riddle

The chlorine stung my eyes, but honestly, that was better than looking at Kai across the pool. My supposed best friend since fourth grade, now wearing those stupid oversized sunglasses that cost more than my entire wardrobe, laughing at something Tyler said.

I took a swig from my water bottle, the condensation dripping onto my palm. Kai and I had plans for today. Plans that apparently got cancelled the second Tyler's invitation to his birthday pool party dropped into Kai's DMs.

"You're literally doing it again," Maya said, dropping onto the lounge chair next to me. Maya, with her gap-toothed smile and hair that refused to stay in a bun, was the only person here who actually talked to me.

"Doing what?"

"The thing where you look like a sad, wet kitten abandoned at a PetSmart parking lot." She cracked her gum. "Just go talk to him. Or don't. But stop acting like he's some ancient sphinx guarding a sacred riddle you'll never solve."

I snorted. "Did you just compare Kai to a sphinx?"

"You know what I mean." Maya gestured at the party, at the way everyone seemed to move in these impossible social orbits I couldn't navigate. "You treat him like he's this mystical creature holding all the answers, but he's just a guy who's been your friend forever and is now, unfortunately, discovering that Tyler has a hot tub and really good snacks."

She wasn't wrong. That was the worst part.

"Also," Maya added, "your swim straps are twisted."

I fixed them, watching Kai laugh so hard he nearly fell into the water. The thing about friendship is that sometimes it changes shape. Sometimes you grow together, and sometimes you grow apart, and sometimes you just sit by a pool watching the person who knows everything about you become someone who knows someone else more.

"Hey," Maya said, softer this time. "Let's go see if they have those little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. And maybe we can accidentally splash Tyler."

I laughed, and for the first time all afternoon, I didn't immediately look at Kai to see if he heard.

"Deal."

The water sparkled behind us, and I realized I'd spent the whole day waiting for something to go back to how it was, when maybe the real riddle was figuring out how to let things change. Some sphinxes don't have answers — just new questions, and maybe that's okay.