Riddles By The Pool

The chlorine smell hit me before I even stepped through the gate. Summer pool party at Jordan's house — mandatory social event of the season, apparently. I tugged at my frizzy **hair**, regretting the DIY bleach job that turned it more “straw yellow” than “beach blonde.” Three hours and a YouTube tutorial wasted.

“You made it!” Jordan called, doing some ridiculous cannonball off the diving board. Water everywhere. Classic Jordan.

I spotted Riley by the snack table, scrolling through her phone. Riley, my oldest **friend**, who'd been weirdly distant since school ended. Like, ghosting-me-in-the-group-chat distant.

“Hey,” I said, sitting next to her. “Watcha doing?”

“Just catching up on our show,” she mumbled, not looking up. “My parents finally upgraded from basic **cable** to streaming, so I'm binging everything.”

“Oh. Cool.” The awkward silence stretched like taffy.

Then Jordan swam over, dripping wet. “Did you guys finish that mythology project? You know, the riddle of the **sphinx**?”

Riley finally looked up. “Yeah. Oedipus solved it. The answer is 'man.' Four legs in the morning, two at noon, three in the evening. It's about aging.”

“Trippy,” Jordan said. “Anyway, who's doing chicken fights?”

I caught Riley's eye. For a second, it felt like old times.

“I'll be your partner,” I offered.

Riley hesitated, then smiled — really smiled. “Only if you promise not to splash me.”

We lost horribly to Jordan and her cousin, but something shifted. Maybe the riddle wasn't about aging after all. Maybe it was about how some things change (hair, friend groups, summer plans) while other things — like true friendship — stay constant.

Or maybe I was overthinking it. That summer chlorine feeling does weird things to your brain.