Riddles at the Museum

Maya's neon orange hoodie felt like a flashing beacon at the Egyptian exhibit. She tugged the self-conscious fabric tighter around herself, wishing she'd picked literally anything else to wear for her first hangout with Caleb.

"So," Caleb said, leaning against the glass case containing the sphinx statue. "What do you think old sphinxy here would ask us?"

Maya's brain did that thing where it simultaneously froze and spun out of control. The sphinx had asked riddles, right? She'd barely paid attention in World History. Something about... walking on four legs, then two, then three? That didn't sound right.

"Um," Maya started, then her phone buzzed in her pocket. Her iPhone. Of course. Right when she was trying to make a good impression, the universe reminded her that her social battery was at 3%. "Probably something deep. Like, what walks on four legs in the morning—"

"Two at noon, three at evening," Caleb finished, grinning. "Man versus himself. Classic."

Maya felt herself relax. Maybe he wasn't cool-cool. Maybe he was just... nice.

They wandered deeper into the exhibit, past a miniature pyramid that Maya accidentally bumped with her backpack. The display case wobbled.

"Whoa," Caleb said, catching it before it tipped. "Close call. I would've literally died."

"Same," Maya said, then realized how dumb that sounded. "I mean, not died, but—"

"No, I get it." Caleb laughed. "Social death is real."

They ended up at the museum café, and that's when Maya noticed it: her charging cable was hopelessly tangled in her bag, like a snake that had given up on life. She tried to yank it free, but instead managed to knock her orange soda onto the table. It didn't spill, thank god, but the can did that embarrassing wobble thing.

Caleb didn't laugh. He just reached over and steadied the can.

"You good?"

"Yeah," Maya said, cheeks burning. "Just. Clumsy things happen."

"Tell me about it." Caleb pulled out his own cable, equally frayed at the ends. "Battle scars. This thing has saved me through like, three family gatherings."

Something about the way he said it—so genuine, so unbothered by her awkwardness—made Maya feel like maybe this wasn't a disaster after all.

"Hey," she said, surprising herself. "You want to come over this weekend? We could... I don't know, study riddles?"

Caleb's smile was genuine. "Only if there's orange soda involved."