Riddles at the End of the World

Maya hadn't slept in thirty hours. Junior year finals week will do that to you. She was running on caffeine fumes and desperation, basically a **zombie** shuffling through the school hallway toward her locker. Her brain felt like it had been replaced with cotton candy.

"You look terrible," said Ben, falling into step beside her. Ben, who had somehow maintained his perfect GPA while also being varsity captain and still having time to look annoyingly good in that beat-up denim jacket.

"Thanks, Benjamin. Really appreciate the confidence boost." Maya adjusted the ridiculous **hat** her aunt had sent from her travels in Egypt — a gold-trimmed thing with a little sphinx patch on the front. It was hideous. She loved it.

"You know," Ben said, "there's this myth about the **sphinx** outside Thebes. She asked travelers a riddle, and if they couldn't answer, she"—he made an eating motion with his hands—"you know. But if you solved it, you could pass."

"Is this your way of telling me I need to solve a riddle to survive finals week? Because I literally cannot."

Ben laughed, and Maya felt that stupid flutter in her chest she'd been trying to ignore all semester. "No. I'm saying you're already past it. You're answering the riddle every day just by showing up."

They'd reached her locker. Maya leaned her forehead against the cool metal. "That's so cheesy, oh my god."

"I'm serious." His voice softened. "You think you're walking through this half-dead, but I see you. You're the most awake person I know."

Maya turned to look at him. The hallway noise faded to a hum.

"What goes on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?" she quoted softly.

"Man," said Ben. "The answer is man." He smiled. "You're going to be okay, Maya."

For the first time all week, the zombie fog lifted. Maybe exhaustion made everything feel more real, or maybe she was just ready to hear it. Either way, as Ben walked away to his next class, Maya straightened her ridiculous sphinx hat and actually smiled.

She'd survive this. And maybe, just maybe, she'd even figure out the riddle of what happened next.