Poolside Riddle

Maya's hair hadn't cooperated all summer. The humidity turned it into a frizzy halo she couldn't tame, and right before freshman year too. She smoothed it down for the hundredth time, clutching her iphone like a lifeline as she approached the community pool where the popular kids gathered.

"Hey! Maya!" called Chloe, the rising queen of tenth grade. "We're doing the backwards swim challenge. You in?"

The what now? Maya's stomach did that familiar flippy thing it always did around the cool crowd. But then she saw Jake—the guy she'd been crushing on since May—standing near the pool's edge, grinning.

"Yeah, I'm in," she heard herself say.

The challenge turned out to be swimming laps while someone quizzed you. Random facts, pop culture, impossible riddles. When it was her turn, Jake climbed onto the diving platform.

"Okay Maya," he called down. "What has a goldfish's memory and a teenager's attention span?"

She treaded water, brain suddenly blank. The chlorine stung her eyes. Everyone was watching.

"My GPA?" someone joked.

Maya dove under and pushed off the wall, letting the water's silence clear her head. When she surfaced, gasping, it hit her.

"A sphinx!" she shouted. "Because it forgets its own riddle!"

The pool went silent. Then Jake burst out laughing.

"That's not even close," he said, "but it's way better."

Later, dripping and wrapped in a towel, Maya's phone buzzed. Jake had sent her a friend request. Her hair was still a mess, she'd embarrassed herself in front of everyone, and she'd gotten the answer completely wrong. But somehow, staring at that notification, Maya felt like she was finally swimming in the right direction.