Riddle by the Pool

The orange neon sign buzzed above the dive bar's entrance, casting everything in this sickly artificial glow. Maya pressed her back against the brick wall outside, clutching her plastic cup of lukewarm water like it was a lifeline. Her heart hammered against her ribs.

"You're not going in?" Jay appeared beside her, wearing that dumb backwards hat and smelling like coconut sunscreen and confidence. "It's just Cassie's birthday. Nobody's gonna judge you."

Maya's throat tightened. She'd been the quiet girl forever. The one who sat in the back, who overthought every text, who'd rather disappear than say something wrong. But tonight, she'd promised herself she'd be different. Bold. The kind of person who walked into rooms like she owned them.

"I'm working up to it," she muttered. Inside, muffled bass thumped against the windows. Someone shrieked with laughter.

Jay studied her face. "You know what Cassie dared me to do earlier? She said I had to wear this ridiculous bear mascot head all night if I lost at beer pong."

Maya cracked a smile. "Please tell me you still have it."

"Of course." He produced a crumpled bear head from behind his back. Its googly eyes were crooked, its fur matted from god knows how many parties. "Want to trade places? I'll be the anxious wallflower. You can be the party animal. Literally."

"Shut up," Maya laughed, but something unclenched in her chest.

Then Cassie stumbled out the door, dragging some guy toward the alley. She stopped when she saw them, her eyes suddenly sharp and predatory. Like a sphinx posing an impossible riddle.

"Oh my god, Maya!" Cassie's voice cut through the night. "I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you. You have to come inside right now."

Maya froze. Was this it? The moment she finally got pulled into Cassie's orbit? Or was she about to become the joke of the night?

"Why?" Jay stepped forward, bear head still tucked under his arm.

"Because," Cassie said, grabbing Maya's wrist with urgent fingers, "Zach is passed out in the bathroom and someone needs to help us move him before his parents find out, and you're the only one I trust not to make this worse."

Maya blinked. The sphinx's riddle had an answer after all.

"Okay," she said, and followed Cassie into the noise and the heat and the rest of her life.