Riddles at the Deep End

The chlorine stung Marcus's eyes as he surfaced, gasping. Summer pool party at Jessica's house — ultimate social danger zone, and he was treading water in the deep end like a confused golden retriever.

"You gonna jump or what, Carter?" Jake called from the diving board, spinning a **baseball** on his finger like he owned the place. Of course Jake would be shirtless, confident, probably able to solve world hunger between cannonballs.

Marcus ducked under the **water**, letting the silence wrap around him. Down here, nobody could see him overthinking every interaction, analyzing every joke that landed flat. His English teacher's voice echoed in his head: "The **sphinx** teaches us that the right question matters more than the answer."

Great. Now he was comparing himself to a mythological creature that ate people who failed riddles. Accurate, honestly.

"Marcus!" It was Maya, floating near the edge with those oversized sunglasses she always wore. "English project. You doing the sphinx poster or what?"

He surfaced, spluttering. "Yeah. Already started."

"Cool." She tilted her head. "You know, you're like, actually good at **swimming**. Just saying."

His heart did something genuinely embarrassing. "Thanks. I guess?"

"I mean it." Maya pushed off the wall, gliding backward with this effortless grace. "Jake's been trying to impress everyone with his diving, but you're just... comfortable. Like you belong here more than he does."

Marcus blinked. Chlorine definitely in his eyes now, nothing else.

"Anyway," Maya said, "hit me up about the project. We should work on it together. Unless you're planning to riddle me to death first."

She laughed — actual genuine sound — and swam toward the shallow end where Jessica's mom was bringing out snacks.

Marcus floated there, heart pounding, water lapping against his chest. The sphinx's riddle wasn't about what walked on four legs, then two, then three. It was about realizing you'd been walking on your own two legs the whole time and just hadn't noticed.

He wasn't Jake. He never would be. And that was finally starting to feel like enough.

"Marcus!" Maya called from the shallow end. "Pizza's here! You coming?"

"Yeah," he said, pushing off the wall. "Yeah, I'm coming."