Riddle of the Lunchtable Sphinx

The cafeteria was a minefield, and Maya was currently stepping on one. Her so-called friend group had rotated without her, leaving her standing alone with her tray like a total loser. The situation was a literal bear — heavy, uncomfortable, and something she desperately wanted to avoid.

"Mind if I crash here?" A girl with bright orange hair slid onto the bench across from her. Chelsea. The skater girl who sat in the back of English, perpetually eating baby spinach from a Tupperware like it was regular chips.

Maya shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Go for it."

"You're sitting at the Sphinx's table," Chelsea said, nodding toward the mural painted on the wall behind them — a faded sphinx from when the school apparently thought Greek mythology was peak aesthetic.

"The sphinx asks riddles," Maya said, immediately cringing. Nerd alert.

Chelsea grinned, popping another spinach leaf. "Exactly. And if you don't answer, she eats you. Or in our case, you have to eat the cafeteria's mystery meat."

They sat in silence for exactly twelve seconds before Chelsea pulled a bottle from her bag. "Vitamin D supplements. My mom says I'm deficient because I never go outside except to skate to school. Want one?"

"I'm good," Maya said, though she was genuinely touched by the offer.

"You know why people avoid this table?" Chelsea asked suddenly. "Because last year, Sarah sat here and got rejected by Jordan right after lunch. Like, he literally said no and walked away while she was still mid-sentence. Brutal."

"And now it's cursed?" Maya couldn't help but smile.

"Totally cursed. But honestly?" Chelsea leaned in. "Sometimes the cursed table is better than pretending to fit in somewhere you don't."

Maya looked at her old friends, laughing at something on someone's phone, completely unaware she'd been displaced. They'd rotated, and she'd been left behind. But here she was, sitting with the skater girl who ate spinach like candy and somehow made vitamin deficiencies sound interesting.

"You know what sphinxes actually represent?" Chelsea asked.

Maya shook her head.

"Wisdom that's guarded. Like, you have to earn the answer. You can't just scroll past it on your feed."

"That's... actually kinda deep," Maya admitted.

"Right?" Chelsea popped another spinach leaf. "So, what's your riddle?"

"What?"

"Your sphinx moment. What are you trying to figure out?"

Maya thought about it. Her friends, her spot in the cafeteria, the way everything kept shifting under her feet.

"I'm trying to figure out who I'm supposed to be when everyone keeps moving the goalposts," she said finally.

Chelsea nodded slowly. "Same. But honestly? Maybe the riddle's the point. Maybe you're not supposed to solve it. You're just supposed to keep trying."