Riddles in the Dark

Maya's orange tabby, Potato, decided 2 AM was the perfect time to reenacting his inner **zombie** by yowling outside her bedroom door like the undead. Some bestie he was. She'd been up half the night prepping for the mythology presentation that could make or break her chances at Academic Decathlon nationals, and now Mr. Furry Pants was channeling his inner apocalypse.

"Dude, NOT the vibe," she whispered, cracking the door. Potato trotted in like he owned the place, immediately jumping onto her desk and sitting directly on her notes about the **sphinx**.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan. The Jordan who'd sat behind her in bio since August, whose laugh sounded like sunshine, who had somehow never noticed Maya existed until last week's partner project. The message read: up studying?

Maya's stomach did that embarrassing flutter thing. She typed back: lol yeah my cat is sabotaging me

same, Jordan sent back. my mom made me take these focus **vitamin** things and now I'm just vibrating

She smiled at her screen, the blue light painting her room in the quiet hours where everything felt possible and nothing felt real yet.

The next morning, Maya stood at the front of the classroom, her notes slightly rumpled with Potato-sized paw prints. Her voice shook at first—the way it always did when twenty pairs of eyes pinned her to the spot like specimens. But then she locked eyes with Jordan, who gave her a subtle thumbs-up from the third row.

Something shifted. She found herself riffing about how the sphinx's riddle wasn't really about walking on four legs or two legs—it was about how we're all just trying to figure out what kind of creature we're becoming at different times.

"Sometimes," she said, surprising herself, "we're all just people who haven't decided who we are yet. The riddle's answering itself."

When she finished, the class went quiet for a second before Jordan started clapping. Then everyone joined in.

After the bell, Jordan caught up to her at her locker. "That was actually sick, Maya."

"Thanks." She leaned against the metal door, heartbeat everywhere. "Your presentation was good too."

"Want to study for the next round together?" Jordan asked, casual-like. Like this was normal. Like this happened to Maya every day.

"Yeah," she said, grinning so hard it almost hurt. "I'd love that."

That night, Potato curled up on her bed like the traitor he was, purring like he'd been part of the plan all along. Maya fell asleep with her phone still glowing, the word maybe sitting in her chest like something opening.