Riddles in the Dark

Maya's hair had betrayed her. The platinum blonde she'd dyed it sophomore year—her armor against the world—was fading to brassy yellow, just like everything else in her life felt like it was fraying at the edges. Standing in the corner of the haunted heritage museum her crush dragged her to, she tugged self-consciously at her split ends.

"This place is built like a sphinx," Leo said, gesturing at the weird Egyptian exhibit everyone at school had been talking about. "Riddles upon riddles, and nobody knows the answers."

Maya's stomach did that annoying fluttery thing. Leo with his messy perfect hair and his vintage band tees and his tendency to find poetry in everything. She'd been crushing on him since seventh grade, back when papaya-colored braces had made her too embarrassed to smile, let alone speak.

"What kind of riddles?" she managed, trying to sound casual but probably just sounding quiet.

"The kind that matter." Leo turned from the statue to face her, serious now. "Like, why do we pretend everything's fine when it's not? Why do we hide what we're actually feeling behind—"

"Behind a sphinx's riddles?" she finished, surprising herself.

"Exactly." His eyes searched hers. "What are you hiding, Maya?"

Everything, she thought. The way her dad was drinking again. The way her best friend had found a new group. The way she felt like she was disappearing, piece by piece, under the weight of everyone's expectations.

"I can't bear it sometimes," she whispered before she could stop herself. "Keeping it all inside."

Leo nodded, like she'd said something profound instead of pathetic. "Yeah. Me neither."

They stood there in the dim museum light, the plaster sphinx witnessing something real. And for the first time in months, Maya's hair didn't feel like her only problem. It was just hair. She was just a girl, standing in the dark with someone who might actually see her.

"Want to get papaya smoothies after this?" Leo asked suddenly, like he hadn't just changed everything. "I know a place."

Maya smiled, and this time she didn't hide behind her hand. "I'd love that."