Riddles by the Pool

Maya's thumbs hovered over her iphone screen, the glow illuminating her face in the dim corner of Tyler's backyard. The pool party raged behind her—music thumping, bodies splashing, laughter echoing across the water—but she was frozen.

Notification: *Hey, you coming?*

She couldn't. Not with The Sphinx watching.

That's what everyone called Sasha—senior, track star, intimidatingly gorgeous. She sat alone on the pool's edge, legs dangling in the water, hair slicked back like something mythical. Every time Maya tried to step toward the pool, Sasha's gaze found hers. Paralyzing.

"You're not swimming," a voice said.

Maya jumped. Sasha was suddenly there, dripping wet, iphone tucked into a waterproof case.

"I..."

"I have a riddle for you." Sasha's lips curved into something playful. "What has to break before you can use it?"

Maya's mind raced. An egg? A glowstick? Her social anxiety?

"An... egg?"

Sasha laughed. "Wrong. Try again next week. Same pool, same riddle."

And just like that, Maya had been issued a challenge. Every Friday, she returned to Tyler's pool parties. Each time, Sasha posed a new riddle. Each time, Maya's answer was wrong—but her stuttering disappeared. Her iphone stayed in her pocket longer. She actually got in the pool.

Week six: "What can you catch but not throw?"

Maya paused, water dripping from her hair. She'd spent hours on these riddles, researching, thinking. But this one...

"A cold," she said.

Sasha grinned. "Finally."

They sat on the pool's edge until midnight, talking about everything and nothing. When Sasha's number appeared on Maya's phone later that night, the contact name read: *The Sphinx (Solved)*.

Some riddles, Maya learned, weren't about answers at all.