Poolside Sphinx

Maya pulled her phone from her pocket, checking the time again. 3:47 PM. Jake was officially seventeen minutes late to their supposed study session at the community pool. Again.

"He's probably just gaming," she muttered, dipping her legs into the cool water. The pool was mostly empty except for some younger kids having a splash fight in the shallow end. Maya leaned back against the deck chair, closing her eyes against the bright afternoon sun.

That's when she noticed her — a girl sitting on the pool edge two chairs over, wearing an oversized black hoodie despite the ninety-degree heat. Every time Maya glanced over, the girl would suddenly become fascinated with her phone, like the world's worst spy.

Seriously? What was this, some cringey teen drama where the mysterious new girl secretly observes the protagonist from afar? Maya almost laughed out loud.

But then the hoodie girl did something weird. She pulled out this small, sphinx-shaped statue from her bag — like, an actual miniature sphinx with gold-painted wings and everything — and set it on the deck table between them. She kept glancing between the sphinx and Maya, like she was waiting for something to happen.

Maya's curiosity won. "Nice sphinx," she called out, trying to sound casual. "Vintage Egyptian aesthetic?"

The girl jumped, then grinned sheepishly. "Actually, it's from this escape room I did last week. I was supposed to give it to... someone." She hesitated. "Are you Maya?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Jake sent me. Well, not sent me, but he told me to meet you here because he couldn't make it, and he said you'd recognize the sphinx because you guys did that Egypt project together in sixth grade and somehow got an A+ despite both being terrible at history?"

Maya stared at her. "Wait, who are you?"

"I'm Chloe," the girl said, finally taking off her hoodie to reveal a neon green swimsuit. "Jake's cousin. I just moved here from Chicago. He was supposed to introduce us today but got dragged into some family emergency, so now I'm awkwardly staring at strangers by the pool like a total weirdo."

Maya started laughing. She couldn't help it. "You looked like you were on a secret mission or something. I thought you were, like, my personal spy or tracking my movements."

"Oh my god, no," Chloe groaned. "I was just trying to figure out which person was my cousin's best friend so I wouldn't accidentally introduce myself to some random stranger."

"Well," Maya said, sliding into the water, "mission accomplished. Welcome to the friend group, I guess. Want to play pool volleyball? Jake sucks at it, so you're already starting with an advantage."

Chloe grinned, jumping in beside her with a splash. "Only if you promise never to mention the hoodie again."

"Deal," Maya said. "But the sphinx stays. It's iconic."