Riddles by the Pool

Maya's **iphone** buzzed in her hand, another notification sliding by. Pool party at Jared's. 7 PM. His parents' estate was basically a museum — complete with actual Greek statues scattered across the lawn like wealthy decorations.

She stood by the edge of the **pool**, clutching her phone like a shield. The water reflected fairy lights strung between palm trees, turning the surface into something magical and terrifying. Everyone else was already in, laughing and splashing like they hadn't spent the entire school year carefully avoiding each other in hallways.

"Yo, Maya!" Jared called from the deep end. "Get in here!"

She hesitated. Earlier, Connor — Jared's older brother and the biggest **bull** shitter she'd ever met — had been spinning wild stories about college parties and fake IDs, trying way too hard to impress the incoming freshmen. The way his eyes kept darting around said everything.

Then she saw it.

Behind the cabana, half-hidden by bougainvillea, stood a stone **sphinx**. Its face was worn smooth, riddle-less and patient, watching the chaos unfold with ancient judgment. Maya found herself drifting toward it, phone still clutched in her hand, away from the performative laughter and splashing.

"Heavy, right?"

She jumped. Connor stood there, phone in his own hand, looking at the sphinx instead of her. For once, he wasn't performing.

"Your parents buy this?" she asked, surprising herself.

"Nah. Jared found it at some estate sale. Thought it made us look cultured." He shrugged, actually deflating. "It's just heavy, you know? Pretending all the time."

Maya glanced at her phone, then at the pool where her friends were starting a chicken fight without her. For the first time all night, the screen stayed dark.

"Yeah," she said. "I do know."

Connor nodded, then unexpectedly grinned. "Wanna just vibe here for a bit? I promise not to tell anyone my fake ID got rejected three times."

Maya laughed, actually laughed, and put her phone in her pocket. Sometimes the riddles weren't about monsters or ancient stone. Sometimes they were just figuring out who you could be real with.