Riddles and Goldfish Prizes

Maya's curls had officially declared war on her. The bathroom mirror showed a halo of frizz that definitely did NOT say "effortlessly cool." It said "I tried way too hard and still failed." Meanwhile, her phone kept buzzing with texts from the group chat.

"u coming????" "Jax is gonna be there" "hair emergency???"

Ugh. The spring carnival. The ultimate social minefield.

Her little brother's voice drifted through the door. "Maya! Mr. Gluberton's floating weird again!"

Mr. Gluberton, their goldfish, was currently listing sideways in his bowl, giving her a judgmental look that perfectly matched her own anxiety. Great. Even the fish was judging her life choices.

"He's fine, Leo! Just feed him the flakes!"

Five minutes later, Maya arrived at the carnival wearing her favorite ripped jeans and a black hoodie that said "emotional damage" in tiny letters. Her hair was in a messy bun because surrender was easier than fighting the curls.

She spotted him immediately. Jax. Standing by that stupid Sphinx game booth—the one where you had to answer riddles to win prizes. Of course he'd be there. He was in her English Lit class, always reading actual books for fun while everyone else skimmed the summaries. Total nerd energy, but somehow he made it look good.

"Hey Maya," he said, grinning. "Want to try? I won this weird stuffed cat thing that I think is supposed to be ironic."

"The Sphinx? Seriously?" She laughed. "What's the riddle?"

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon—"

"Man, obviously. You're so basic, Jax."

His eyes got all twinkly. "Okay, Miss Know-It-All. Your turn. What has an eye but cannot see?"

Maya froze. Why was her brain suddenly empty? Why was everyone watching them?

"Um... a needle?"

"Correct. And for your prize..." He reached behind the booth counter and pulled out—oh no. A plastic bag containing a tiny goldfish in a plastic cup. "The carnival worker felt bad that I kept winning. Want him?"

"Is this a joke?"

"No. I literally don't know what to do with a fish. My mom will kill me."

Maya stared at the tiny goldfish, then at Jax's genuinely panicked expression. And for the first time all night, she wasn't thinking about her hair, or whether she looked cool, or any of the stuff that usually consumed her brain.

She laughed. A real laugh. "Okay, fine. But we're naming him Sphinx."

"Deal."

Walking home with a goldfish in one hand and Jax's number in her phone, Maya thought maybe the carnival wasn't so bad after all. Her curls were still a mess, but somehow, that didn't seem to matter anymore.