Riddle by the Pool

Maya's hair was doing that thing again—half-afro, half-frizz explosion, like a chemistry experiment gone wrong. She tucked a strand behind her ear and adjusted her poolside towel, trying to look casual while basically spying on Tyler from behind the giant cement sphinx decoration.

Who even put an Egyptian statue at a swimming pool? The sphinx had seen better days. Its chipped paint gave it a derpy expression, like it was judging everyone's bikini choices. Maya kind of loved it.

"Hey," someone said.

Maya practically jumped out of her skin. Tyler was standing there, dripping wet, dark hair plastered to his forehead. He'd actually been swimming—of course he had, because he was comfortable in his body and everything was easy for him.

"Cool sphinx," he added.

"It's majestic," Maya said, deadpan. Tyler laughed.

"You gonna swim?" he asked. "Or just hide back here all day?"

Maya's stomach did that thing where it simultaneously dropped and rose. Her hair. She hadn't brought a swim cap. Her curls would become a magnificent disaster.

"I'm good," she said. Tyler raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Because I've been watching you watch me for twenty minutes, and I figured you'd eventually come say hi."

Maya's face burned. She'd been caught. Literally exposed.

"I wasn't—"

"You were," he grinned. "It's okay. I was waiting."

He held out a hand. Maya looked at it, then at her towel, then at the pool water glittering under the sun like diamonds. Her hair would be a disaster. She'd look ridiculous.

She took his hand.

"My hair is going to look crazy," she warned as they walked toward the water.

"It always looks crazy," Tyler said, then bumped her shoulder when she shot him a glare. "I mean that in the best way. It's got personality. Like the sphinx back there."

"High praise," Maya said, but she was smiling now.

They reached the pool's edge. Tyler squeezed her hand, then jumped in, pulling her after him. The water swallowed them—cool and shocking and perfect. When Maya surfaced, slicking her hair back, Tyler was already there grinning.

"See?" he said. "Not so bad."

Maya's curls were plastered to her head in weird directions. She probably looked like a drowned poodle. But Tyler was still smiling at her like she was something worth noticing.

"Yeah," she said, treading water beside him. "Not so bad."

Behind them, the chipped sphinx watched. Maya felt like it had just solved its own riddle.