Riddles in the Feed

Maya's thumb hovered over the screen, that familiar electric tension in her chest. She'd been doing it again—scrolling through Jax's stories at 11:47 PM, basically a certified digital stalker at this point. Her iPhone lit up her face in the dark room, illuminating the goldfish bowl on her desk. Barnaby swam in endless circles, living his best little fish life, while she was out here lowkey spying on her crush's social media like a total creep.

"I'm the worst," she muttered.

Barnaby blew a bubble. It felt judgmental.

Her phone buzzed. A notification from Jax. Maya's heart did that embarrassing thing where it forgot how to heartbeat properly.

*you up?*

Maya stared at the text. Three words. Eight letters. She screenshot it because if she didn't, would it even be real? Then deleted the screenshot because what was she, twelve?

*yeah*

*look outside*

Maya's window faced the old Miller property, where that weird stone sphinx had been gathering moss since like, the 1800s. The previous owners had been eccentric or something. The sphinx's wing had fallen off years ago, giving it a permanently awkward vibe.

Jax stood there, hood up, hands in pockets. Maya's breath hitched.

She crept downstairs in her socks, heart pounding, opened the front door.

"Hey," Jax said. The sphinx loomed behind them like a silent third wheel.

"Hey."

"I wanted to show you something." Jax pulled out their phone. "I found this old photo of the sphinx from 1923. The wing was still attached."

They sat on Maya's front steps, shoulders barely touching, scrolling through historical archives of her town's weirdest lawn ornament. Jax's knee kept bumping hers. Each time, Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgot what organs were supposed to do.

"My goldfish has better social skills than me," Maya said, then immediately wanted to die.

Jax laughed. It sounded like actual laughter. "Same, honestly."

They stayed there until 3 AM, talking about everything and nothing, while the broken sphinx watched over them like some ancient, wingless chaperone. Maya's iPhone died at 2:14, and honestly? She didn't even care.

Some things were better than followers. Some things were real.