Riddles by the Pool

The summer air smelled like chlorine and coconut sunscreen as Marcus stood at the edge of Jensen's pool, gripping his towel until his palms were sweating. This was it—the party that would make or break his social standing before sophomore year.

"Yo, Marcus! You gonna stand there like a statue or jump in?" Tyler yelled, doing a cannonball that sprayed half the party. Tyler, who'd somehow grown six inches over summer break, now towering over everyone like a golden retriever who didn't know his own strength.

"He's probably still taking those vitamin D supplements," Chloe snickered from her lounge chair. "My brother says he's obsessed with them now. Like, chill, you're not gonna die from deficiency."

Marcus forced a laugh. Yeah, he'd been taking vitamins. And yeah, he'd spent the summer reading instead of developing abs or learning to skateboard. But he'd also discovered something cooler than Chloe would ever understand—actual mystery.

"Whatever." He dropped his towel and slipped into the pool, letting the cool water wash away the awkwardness. That's when he saw it.

Jensen's dad had installed a new fountain in the deep end—a marble sphinx, water trickling from its stone lips. Most people would've called it pretentious. Marcus called it perfect.

"Hey," he said, swimming over to where Skylar was floating nearby. She was new this year, transferred from some private school up north, with hair that caught the sunlight like honey. "Bet you can't solve the riddle."

"What riddle?" she asked, treading water.

"The sphinx." Marcus pointed. "In the myth, she asks travelers a question. If they can't answer, she eats them. But if they can, she lets them pass."

Skylar's eyes lit up. She swam closer, and for the first time all summer, Marcus's heart did something other than anxiously flutter. "Okay. Ask me."

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

Skylar didn't even hesitate. "A human. Baby crawling, adult walking, elderly with a cane." She grinned. "My dad used to tell me those stories."

"No way," Tyler shouted from the other end of the pool. "You actually knew that? That's actually sick."

"Yeah," Chloe said, sitting up. "That's... kinda cool, actually."

As the sun set behind the palm trees, Marcus realized something: being himself wasn't the worst strategy after all. Sometimes the riddles weren't about proving something to everyone else—they were about finding the people who spoke your language.