Riddle at Reynolds Pool

Maya stood at the edge of Reynolds Pool, clutching her phone like a lifeline. The invitation had said pool party, but nobody mentioned that the Reynolds family backyard looked like an archaeological dig site gone wrong.

In the center of the pool, on a raised platform, stood a concrete sphinx statue. Its paint was chipping, and its weirdly human eyes seemed to follow everyone. Maya's little brother Tyrone had been obsessed with ancient Egypt last year, so she knew the deal with sphinxes and riddles. But this was just… a lot.

She adjusted her bucket hat, pulling it lower. The hat was her armor—she'd bought it online after watching seventeen TikToks about how bucket hats were making a comeback. If she couldn't be confident, at least she could be trending.

"Maya!" Chase waved from the pool steps. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead, and he was grinning like this was exactly where he belonged. "Get in here! The water's perfect!"

Water. Her nemesis since sixth-grade swim class when she'd done a belly flop off the diving board in front of everyone. The memory still made her cringe herself awake at night sometimes.

She slipped off her slides and dipped a toe in. "Coming."

"Wait!" Chase swam over to the sphinx. "Legend says if you touch the sphinx's nose and answer its riddle, you'll have good luck all year."

"That's the cringiest thing I've ever heard," Maya said, but she was already wading toward him. The water wasn't that bad, actually. Cool and glittering in the afternoon sun.

Chase tapped the sphinx's nose dramatically. "Okay, here's the riddle: What has to be broken before you can use it?"

Maya considered, water lapping at her waist. She thought about the hat on her head—how she'd spent so much time building this version of herself, piece by piece, trying to get it right. Some things had to break first. Eggshells. Glow sticks. Silence.

"An egg," she said.

"Correct." Chase splashed her. "You're officially blessed by the pool sphinx."

Maya wiped water from her face, hat completely soaked now. She laughed, and for the first time all day, she didn't feel like she was faking it. Maybe the confidence wasn't in the hat after all.