Riddles in the Dark

Marcus felt like a **zombie** shuffling through the halls of Northwood High—sleep-deprived from midnight gaming sessions, invisible to the popular kids, and basically functioning on autopilot. His parents had cut the internet **cable** last week as punishment for his D in biology, forcing him to survive on nothing but 4G and desperation.

Now he sat in the library, staring at the ancient stone statue centerpiece that students called the Sphinx. It wasn't a real Egyptian artifact—just some weird art installation from the seventies that nobody understood. But legend said if you asked it your deepest question and really listened, you'd figure out your mess of a life.

Layla appeared behind him, smelling like vanilla and certainty. "You talking to the rock again, Marcus?"

His face burned. Layla Chen, who had Snapchat stories more interesting than his actual life. "It's not—I mean, whatever."

She sat beside him. "My parents took my phone. Gave me this flip phone that doesn't even have Instagram." She laughed bitterly. "I feel like I'm living in the zombie apocalypse but worse, because at least zombies don't have to see everyone else living their best lives on TikTok."

Marcus blinked. Layla Chen, the girl who seemed to have everything figured out, felt like that too?

"I keep asking myself," Layla continued, "if I stripped away the followers, the aesthetic, the constant performance—if I'd even know who I was underneath. It's like a sphinx riddle, you know? The answer's supposed to be profound, but mostly I'm just confused."

The bell rang, shattering the moment.

"Hey," Marcus said, surprising himself. "My friend has this gaming setup. Real internet, cable, the works. We're going after school if you wanna... I don't know, escape."

Layla's smile was real this time. "I'd like that."

Maybe Marcus wasn't so invisible after all. Maybe they were all just zombies trying to solve sphinx riddles, one connection at a time.