Poolside Riddles

The pool party at Jenna's house was supposed to be chill, but my anxiety was doing laps inside my chest. I'd been crushing on Maya since seventh grade, and tonight felt like the moment to finally shoot my shot or move on.

Maya sat on the pool edge, legs in the water, that fox-grin of hers making my stomach do backflips. Everyone called her Fox behind her back — not because she was sly, but because she was clever as hell and always landed on her feet.

"Hey," I said, sliding in beside her. The water felt perfect against the July heat.

"Sup," she said, eyes glinting. "Wanna play a game?"

"Sure?"

"Okay, sphinx mode." She leaned in, voice dropping to that playful low register that made my brain short-circuit. "I'm the sphinx from Greek mythology. You want to pass to the next level? Answer my riddle."

"You're so random," I laughed, but my heart was hammering.

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

"Seriously? That's the most basic riddle ever. It's a human — crawling as a baby, walking as an adult, using a cane when you're old."

She studied me, quiet. Water lapped at the pool edges.

"Most people google that," she said softly.

"I mean, I'm in Mythology Club for a reason."

"Right," she smiled. "I remember. You sat behind me freshman year and corrected Mr. Henderson about Achilles."

"You remember that?"

"Fox never forgets." She splashed water at me, but she was blushing.

"Your turn," she said. "Ask me something. Anything."

So I asked her about her art, her favorite music, what she actually thought about this party. We talked for two hours while everyone else did cannonballs and played truth or dare.

When Jenna's mom announced pizza, Maya didn't move.

"Hey," she said, not meeting my eyes. "This was actually... really nice. Like, you're not just some guy in my English class anymore."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She stood up, water dripping from her legs. "You want to hang out this weekend? Just us?"

I'd never been more grateful for a random sphinx reference in my life. "Absolutely."