Riddles by the Pool

The water in the Hendersons' pool sparkled like someone had dumped actual glitter into it, which knowing Mrs. Henderson, she probably had. I stood near the fence, baseball cap pulled low, scrolling through my iPhone like my life depended on it.

"You gonna get in or what?"

I jumped. It was Jordan, looking ridiculous in oversized sunglasses and a shirt that said 'Dad Vibes.' They held out a red plastic cup. "It's not poison, I swear."

"I'm good," I mumbled, because social anxiety apparently came with my subscription.

Jordan rolled their eyes so hard I thought they might stick. "You've been standing here for twenty minutes acting like you're guarding the pool from evil spirits. Come on."

They dragged me toward the deep end where everyone gathered around something floating in the water. An inflatable sphinx. Because of course the Hendersons had an inflatable sphinx.

"It's a riddle game," Jordan explained. "Someone sits on the sphinx and everyone asks them stuff. If you can't answer, you do a dare."

Great. My nightmare.

But before I could object, Jordan shoved me forward. "Alex's turn!"

I ended up perched on this ridiculous inflatable, surrounded by people I'd been going to school with for years but barely knew. My palms were sweating. My heart raced. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

Then I saw her. Riley. She was sitting cross-legged on the pool deck, water droplets glistening on her arms like stars. She wasn't even watching me—she was watching the way the pool lights reflected on the water, like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.

Something shifted.

"Okay, riddle," someone shouted. "What disappears the moment you say its name?"

The answer hit me. "Silence."

Everyone groaned. "Too easy!"

But Riley looked up and caught my eye. And for the first time all summer, I didn't look away.