Riddles at Midnight

Maya felt like a total zombie after third period AP Chem. Mr. Harrison's lectures had that special power to drain the life force right out of you. She slumped against her locker, desperately needing coffee before she face-planted into the hallway.

"Yo, Maya! You good?" Ty appeared, skateboard tucked under one arm, looking way too energetic for someone who'd been at that same rager last night. His hair was doing that adorable chaos thing that made half the sophomore girls swoon.

"Barely surviving," Maya groaned. "I think my brain left the building about twenty minutes ago."

"Perfect," Ty grinned. "Because you're still coming to the Sphinx tonight, right? The whole squad's gonna be there."

The Sphinx — this ancient stone statue behind the old library that the stoners had definitely vandalized with glow paint at some point — had become their spot. Their literal actual hangout where real talks happened, not the fake cafeteria conversations where everyone performed their best lives for their audience.

" obviously," Maya said, though her stomach did that nervous flip thing. "What time?"

"Midight. Don't ghost me, Maya Chen." He winked and skated off, leaving her with butterflies and zero ability to focus on pre-calc.

By 11:47 PM, Maya was sprinting through her neighborhood in the most manic panic run of her life. Her mom had decided to do an unscheduled room inspection (classic Asian parent move), so Maya had barely escaped with her phone and her dignity intact. Running past the perfectly manicured lawns of suburbia felt stupidly rebellious, like she was in some coming-of-age movie montage.

She arrived breathless, hair everywhere, definitely not serving the cool-girl aesthetic she'd planned. But Ty was already there, sitting on the Sphinx's base, scrolling through his phone like he hadn't a care in the world.

"You're late," he said without looking up. But he was smiling. He was definitely smiling.

"Drama," Maya panted, dropping beside him. "Like, actual suburban horror movie levels."

They sat there in comfortable silence for exactly 47 seconds before Ty said, "So, I've been thinking about us."

Maya's heart seized. This was it. The moment every rom com had prepared her for.

"And I was wondering," he continued, "if you'd be down to officially make this a thing? Like, you and me?"

Maya couldn't help it — she laughed. Not in a mean way, but in that way you do when something's so perfect it feels unreal.

"Obviously, Ty," she said, leaning into his shoulder. "Obviously."