Riddles in the Basement

The party at Tyler's house was already wall-to-wall packed when Maya walked in, her palms sweating against her phone case. I spotted my crush Jake across the crowded room, surrounded by his loud crowd of lacrosse teammates. Maya had been crushing on him for what felt like forever, but she'd barely said two words to him all semester.

"What's up, loser," her ex-friend Brianna sneered, flipping her hair as she passed. Being iced out by her former squad still stung, especially since Brianna had somehow decided to make Maya's life miserable since the incident at homecoming.

The air hung thick with cheap cologne and nervous energy. I knew I needed to shoot my shot tonight or forever hold my peace. But talking to Jake felt like facing down the mythical **sphinx** - an impossible riddle I couldn't solve, half-lion half-human mystery that had me completely stuck.

Jake looked up then, catching my eye. My heart hammered against my ribs.

Then his massive **bull** of a friend Chad shoulder-checked me, spilling his red solo cup all over my new white Converse.

"Watch it, nerd," Chad laughed, high-fiving his friends. I felt my face burn hot.

I was about to bail when I felt a wet nose nudge my hand. Tyler's old golden retriever, Buster, had wedged himself through the crowd's legs like he was on a mission. The **dog** looked up at me with those dopey eyes, then immediately flopped onto his back, demanding belly rubs like he hadn't a care in the world.

That's when Jake pushed through the crowd.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, actual concern in his voice. "Chad's being a dick."

I froze. This was it - the moment I'd been overthinking all semester.

"Yeah," I managed, trying to play it cool. "Just breaking in these ruined shoes, you know?"

Jake actually laughed. And then he did something unexpected - he sat down on the floor next to me and started petting Buster too.

"I hate these things too," he admitted. "Only came because Tyler said you might be here."

My stomach did flips. "Wait, really?"

"Duh," he said, like it was obvious. "You're the only person in English who actually laughs at my terrible jokes."

Buster chose that moment to roll over and lick Jake's face, making us both crack up. The sphinx's riddle had solved itself - sometimes the person you think is impossible to figure out is just waiting for you to stop overthinking and actually talk to them.

"Want to get out of here?" Jake asked, wiping dog drool from his cheek. "There's this spot by the reservoir that's actually chill."

I grinned, feeling lighter than I had all semester. "Absolutely."

As we slipped out the back door, Brianna glared from across the room. But for the first time, I didn't care what she thought.

Some riddles solve themselves when you stop trying so hard.