Riddles in the Bathroom Mirror

Maya stared at the bathroom mirror like it was some ancient **sphinx** demanding answers she didn't have. The riddle wasn't about Oedipus or Greek mythology—it was about whether to straighten her curls or let them spring wild for tonight's party.

"You need more biotin," her mom had said that morning, handing her a neon-colored **vitamin** gummy. "For your **hair**. It's been looking kinda... frizzy lately."

Thanks, Mom. Maya had swallowed the gummy along with her irritation. Because obviously the solution to her entire existential crisis was chewable vitamins.

Her phone buzzed. Ethan.

u still coming tonight? his text read. everyone's gonna be there

Maya's stomach did that thing it did whenever she thought about Ethan—which was basically all the time lately. She'd been crushing on him since seventh grade, back when she still wore Limited Too and thought "awkward" was just something you grew out of by high school. (Spoiler: you don't.)

yeah! she typed, then deleted it. Too eager.

probly idk yet

Lame. She deleted that too.

maybe, she finally sent. followed by three fire emojis that felt painfully uncool even as she added them.

Her laptop sat on the counter, streaming Jordan's livestream through a tangle of HDMI **cable**. Jordan was Maya's former friend turned popular girl, currently broadcasting her pre-party routine to three hundred followers.

"Guys, I'm literally so nervous," Jordan said into the camera, her perfectly straightened hair cascading like she'd personally invented physics. "It's gonna be so lit though."

Maya felt that familiar knot in her chest—the one that lived somewhere between jealousy and missing how things used to be. Before everyone got pretty and popular and complicated.

The **sphinx** in the mirror waited. Straight hair or curls? Be Jordan or be Maya? Or maybe figure out who Maya actually was, separate from who she thought she was supposed to be?

Her phone buzzed again. Ethan.

ur hair looks better natural btw

Maya stared at the message. Was he being nice? Was he flirting? Or was he just stating a fact because boys were literally incapable of subtlety?

She thought about the **vitamin** gummy. About her mom's well-meaning criticism. About Jordan's perfect livestream. About Ethan's text that made her heart do gymnastics.

Then she picked up her phone and sent back:

thx

And added: c u tonight

The sphinx didn't have answers. But Maya had curls, and she had a party to get to. She turned off the straightener and let her hair spring wild, like maybe, just maybe, she was starting to figure out the riddle after all.