Riddles in the Dark

Maya felt like a zombie. Three consecutive nights of AP Bio studying would do that to a person. Her phone battery had died hours ago, and she'd forgotten her charging cable at home—classic Maya move.

"You good?" Liam asked, flopping onto the cafeteria bench beside her. He was wearing that hideous orange hoodie she'd secretly grown fond of.

"I'm in survival mode," Maya groaned, resting her head on her arms. "Junior year is actually trying to kill me."

Liam laughed. "Tell me about it. It's like this massive pyramid of stress, and we're just the slaves building it brick by miserable brick."

Maya snorted. "Great analogy. Very inspiring."

Then she saw Chloe—the Sphinx of sophomore year—gliding past their table. Chloe, with her perfect curls and unreadable expression, who'd been giving Maya mixed signals since homecoming. Was she interested? Was she just being nice? It was like some elaborate riddle Maya couldn't solve.

Chloe's eyes locked onto hers. For three seconds, time stopped.

Then Chloe walked over.

"Hey Maya," she said, voice soft. "I heard you're good at riddles."

Maya's brain short-circuited. "I—what?"

"The escape room party at Jordan's this Friday," Chloe continued, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "My group needs one more person. Everyone said you're, like, secretly genius at puzzles."

Liam was grinning like an idiot. Maya felt her face heat up.

"I'm okay at puzzles," she managed, trying to sound casual and failing spectacularly. "I'm in."

Chloe's smile was genuine. "Perfect. Text me—oh wait, your phone's dead." She winked. "I'll find you."

As Chloe walked away, Maya pressed her hands to her cheeks. They were burning.

"Did that just happen?" she whispered.

"Yup," Liam said, popping his knuckles. "You're welcome for the wingman setup."

Maya actually laughed for the first time in days. Maybe she wasn't such a zombie after all.