Riddle of the Lunchroom Sphinx

Jordan's hair was doing that thing again—the frizzy halo effect that happened whenever the cafeteria got too humid. They'd spent twenty minutes trying to tame it that morning, but apparently the universe had other plans.

"You good?" asked Riley, sliding into the seat across from them. "You look like you just saw a ghost. Or maybe like you're contemplating the meaning of spinach."

Jordan looked down at their tray. Sure enough, a floret of spinach had escaped from their salad and was now wedged between the tines of their fork. Great. First the hair situation, now this.

"I'm fine," Jordan lied. "Just thinking about the assembly."

"The Sphinx thing?" Riley stole a grape from Jordan's tray. "Dude, you're gonna crush it. You've been practicing that riddle monologue for like, three weeks."

Jordan shrugged, but their stomach did a nervous flip. Their English teacher had somehow convinced them to audition for the school play—some experimental modern adaptation where the Sphinx was a TikTok-obsessed teenager asking riddles instead of, you know, eating people who failed to answer. It was either extremely genius or extremely cursed.

The real problem wasn't the lines. It was who was watching.

Across the cafeteria, Alex was laughing at something his friends had said. Alex with the perfect eyeliner and the smile that made Jordan's brain short-circuit. Alex who'd commented "sick hair" on Jordan's Instagram post last week, which Jordan had definitely not overanalyzed until 2 AM.

"You're staring again," Riley said.

"I am not."

"You so are. Just talk to them, jfc. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could embarrass myself permanently? I could say something weird? I could accidentally quote my own monologue?"

Riley snorted. "Okay, valid concern. But also, have you SEEN the way they look at you? My dog has more chill than you two."

Before Jordan could respond, someone's phone started blaring what sounded like a remix of a fox scream that had been auto-tuned into a beat drop. The entire lunchroom went silent for approximately three seconds before everyone lost it.

Even Alex was laughing, and their eyes caught Jordan's from across the room and—was that a smile? A real one, not just polite laughter?

Jordan's phone buzzed. A notification from Alex: *good luck at assembly btw you're gonna be amazing*

"Oh my GOD," Jordan whispered.

"What? What happened?" Riley practically climbed over the table to read the screen. "DUDE. They messaged you FIRST. This is it. This is the moment."

"The moment of what?"

"I don't know, Jordan, maybe the moment you stop being a little baby and finally make a move?" Riley grabbed their backpack. "Anyway, I gotta run to chem, but seriously—you got this. The riddle, the hair situation, the Alex situation. All of it."

Jordan watched them go, then looked back at the notification. Their heart was doing something genuinely concerning in their chest, but for the first time all day, the spinach-stuck fork and the humidity-frizzed hair didn't seem to matter that much.

Maybe the Sphinx's real riddle wasn't something you solved alone. Maybe the answer wasn't a question at all.

They picked up their phone and typed back: *thanks :) nervous but ready*

The reply came instantly: *i'll be front row*