Poolside Sphinx

Maya gripped her Solo cup like a lifeline, the condensation slick against her palm. It was Tyler's summer bash, and somehow she'd spent forty minutes hovering near the snack table while everyone else splashed in the **water** like they'd been born in it.

"You're overthinking again," Chloe whispered, appearing beside her with that annoying psychic accuracy. "Just go talk to him. You're literally standing two feet away."

Maya's heart did that thing where it forgot how to rhythm. "I can't just—what would I even say? 'Hey, nice floaties?'"

"You're not this awkward usually," Chloe pointed out. "Stop charging in like a **bull** in a china shop and just be normal. He's reading by the deep end. Go say hi."

The problem wasn't Maya's crush on Tyler—well, okay, that was part of it. The real problem was that Tyler was sitting poolside with that sphinx-like stillness, reading some thick book while chaos erupted around him. He was like a **sphinx** perched on a limestone ledge, mysterious and untouchable, and Maya felt about as graceful as a baby giraffe on ice.

What if she said something weird? What if she slipped and face-planted? What if her brain short-circuited and she accidentally blurted out how she'd spent three nights straight thinking about his smile?

"I'm gonna do it," Maya said, mostly to convince herself. "I'm going over there."

"Thank GOD," Chloe cheered quietly. "I believe in you. Also if you don't go now, I'm gonna push you."

Maya took a breath, smoothed her swimsuit (why did it always ride up at the worst moments?), and marched toward the deep end. Her palms were sweating. Her thoughts were racing. But she was doing it—she was actually doing it.

Tyler looked up as she approached, and his expression shifted from absorbed to interested. "Hey, Maya. Want to sit?"

She froze. Her brain blue-screened. But then somehow, miraculously, her mouth formed words: "Depends. Are you gonna judge me if I ask what you're reading?"

Tyler's smile was even better up close. "Only if you don't give me a chance to explain the cool parts first."

And just like that, the sphinx had spoken, the bull had found its grace, and the water between them didn't seem so scary after all.