Poolside Sphinx

Maya's hair frizzed like an electrocuted poodle the second she stepped out of the locker room. Great. Just great. The first swim meet of sophomore year, and she looked like she'd stuck her finger in a light socket.

"You good, Maya?" asked Chloe, sliding in beside her. Chloe, whose sleek black bob always looked perfect even after three hours of swimming. Chloe, who was basically the Sphinx of the swim team—mysterious, unreadable, and seemingly impossible to impress.

"Yeah. Just nervous." Maya adjusted her cap. "My zombie mode hasn't fully worn off from morning practice."

Chloe laughed. "Same. Coach basically murdered us today."

This was new. They'd been on the same team for three years, but Chloe had never really talked to her before. Maybe this was Maya's chance to actually make a friend on the team.

The whistle blew. Event: 100-meter freestyle. Maya's stomach did Olympic gymnastics.

She hit the water and everything went automatic. Stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe. The chlorine smell, the splash of competitors, the muffled cheers from above the surface. She was halfway through when her brain supplied the memory: the spinach stuck in her braces earlier at lunch. Had she gotten it all out? What if it was still there, waving at everyone like a tiny green flag?

She almost choked on pool water.

Maya touched the wall, gasping, and looked up at the scoreboard. Third place. Not terrible, but not amazing either.

"Nice race," said a voice behind her.

Maya spun around to find Chloe, toweling off her hair. She'd placed first. Obviously.

"Thanks," Maya said. "You crushed it."

"Eh." Chloe shrugged. "Hey, you wanna grab something after this? I'm starving."

Maya's brain short-circuited. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah." Chloe smiled. "You're cool. Plus, you looked like you were fighting a demon in that last lap. I respect that energy."

Maya laughed, feeling something unclench in her chest. The spinach didn't matter. The frizzy hair didn't matter. She'd just gotten invited to hang out with the Sphinx herself.

"I'd love to," Maya said. "But I should probably check a mirror first. Just to be safe."

Chloe's grin widened. "Probably wise. You never know what survived the apocalypse."

As they walked to the locker room together, Maya realized something: sometimes the scariest moments weren't the ones spent swimming alone against the clock. They were the ones where you actually had to talk to people.

But maybe, just maybe, they were also the ones worth taking.