Riddles at the Pool

Maya's fingers hovered over her phone screen, the cracked glass reflecting the pool lights dancing across the water. Below, the summer bash was in full swing—kids from sophomore year flailing through cannonball contests, that group from track team who thought they owned everything, and somewhere in that chaos, Ethan.

Ethan, who'd smiled at her in third period yesterday like she was actually worth noticing.

"You gonna hide up here all night?" Zara said, dropping beside her on the lounge chair. "It's literally a POOL party, Maya. People socialize at pool parties."

Maya shrugged. "Socializing is overrated. Besides, I have to finish that Sphinx project for mythology. Did you know the original Sphinx ate people who couldn't solve her riddle? Iconic behavior, honestly."

Zara snorted. "You and your mythology obsession. You know Ethan's down there, right? Asking about you?"

Maya's stomach did that annoying fluttery thing. "He's probably just being nice. Or maybe he wants help with the mythology assignment."

"Or maybe he thinks you're cute," Zara said, shoving Maya's shoulder. "God, why are teenage boys so confusing? They're like literal riddles. We need a Sphinx situation up in here—just eat them if they can't explain themselves."

A crack of thunder rolled across the sky. The party noise dipped for a second, then roared back louder.

"Storm's coming," Maya said.

"Whatever. The CABLE company's supposed to be fixing our internet tomorrow, so at least I'll have Netflix again. Being without streaming is actual torture."

Another flash—this one closer. LIGHTNING splintered the sky, turning everything briefly blinding white.

Then: darkness.

The music cut. The pool lights vanished. Screams and laughter erupted from below as people scrambled in the sudden black.

Maya's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:

"hey it's ethan from mythology. you okay? everyone's freaking out lol"

She stared at the screen, heart hammering. Zara was right. Boys were riddles. But sometimes, you just had to guess the answer.

"yeah i'm good," she typed back. "this is kinda awesome tho. right?"

"totally," he replied. "wanna hang? away from the chaos?"

Maya stood up, phone in hand. The darkness felt different now—less like hiding, more like possibility.

"Be right back," she told Zara.

"Go get him, tiger," Zara called after her. "But seriously. If he turns out to be a jerk, I'm channeling Sphinx energy and eating him."

Maya laughed and headed down to meet her riddle halfway.