Poolside Riddles

The chlorine stung my eyes, but I kept them open anyway. Across the pool, Jade laughed at something Tyler said, throwing her head back like she didn't have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I was sitting on the edge in my oversized t-shirt, clutching a bottle of water like it was a lifeline.

"Yo, Maya, you gonna swim or just supervise?" Jason called out, doing a cannonball that sent waves crashing against the tiles.

I swallowed my vitamin supplement that I'd forgotten to take earlier—well, mentally swallowed it, since the actual pill was still sitting on my bathroom counter at home. Mom swore it would help with my "low energy," whatever that meant. Honestly, my energy was fine. My anxiety? That was another story.

Liam's dad's backyard was basically a museum. There were statues everywhere—Greek gods, weird abstract shapes, and this giant stone sphinx by the diving board that looked like it was judging everyone's dive form. It had this smug expression, like it knew secrets about all of us.

My friends had been begging me to come to this party for weeks. "It'll be chill," they'd said. "Just floating and vibes," they'd said. Meanwhile, I'd spent forty-five minutes picking out an outfit and another twenty staring at myself in the mirror, analyzing every insecurity like the sphinx analyzed poor Oedipus.

What even was the riddle of the Maya? What walks on two legs, overthinks every text message, and is currently sitting at a pool party with dry hair?

"You good?" Liam asked, dropping down beside me. Of course he would notice. That was the problem with actually liking someone—they became impossible to ignore.

"Yeah, just... thinking."

"About?" He splashed water at me, catching me off guard.

"Hey!" I laughed despite myself. "I'm trying to maintain my mysterious aura here."

"Is that what we're calling it?" He grinned. "You know, the sphinx over there probably thinks you're being dramatic."

I looked at the stone statue. "You know what? I think she's right."

So I took a deep breath, stood up, and cannonballed into the deep end. Water rushed over me, silencing everything for one perfect moment. When I broke the surface, sputtering and laughing, Jade was cheering and Tyler was giving me a thumbs-up and Liam—well, Liam was looking at me like I'd just solved the riddle.

Some days you just have to jump in.