Riddles in the hallway

Maya stood in front of her bedroom mirror, smoothing her dress for the third time. Her pet goldfish, Bubbles, swam lazy circles in his bowl behind her.

"You got this," she told herself. "It's just Homecoming. Not a sphinx riddle that determines your fate or whatever."

Her phone buzzed. Group chat exploding.

are u going tonight??

plz say yes

Jake's gonna be there ;)

Maya's stomach did that thing it always did—half butterflies, half "I'm gonna barf." She'd been crushing on Jake since seventh grade, when he'd let her borrow his pen during math and said "nice handwriting" without making fun of her.

Tonight was the night. Either she'd talk to him like a normal human being, or she'd spend the next month overanalyzing every awkward moment while doom-scrolling through TikTok at 2 AM.

Her cat, Sphinx—named because she'd been obsessed with Egyptian mythology in eighth grade—jumped onto her dresser and knocked over her perfume.

"Seriously?" Maya sighed.

Her mom appeared in the doorway. "You look beautiful. You sure you don't want a ride?"

"I'm good, Mom. I'm meeting Kayla."

"Have fun. Text if—"

"Yes, I'll text if I need to bail. I know the drill."

The gym was already packed when Maya arrived. Someone had rigged actual fog machines, and the DJ was playing something that shook the floor. Kayla found her immediately, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the dance floor.

"Live a little, Miller! You're not gonna explode!"

Maya laughed, letting herself get pulled into the crowd. For a while, she actually forgot about being nervous. Forgot about Jake. Forgot about how she'd spent the whole week psyching herself up.

Then she saw him.

Jake was standing near the punch bowl, talking to some sophomore Maya didn't recognize. He looked different without his glasses—older, somehow. Her heart did this stupid flip thing.

"Go talk to him," Kayla hissed in her ear. "What's the worst that happens? He says no, and you spend three days crying while binge-watching Netflix? You've done that before. You'll survive."

"Wow. That's genuinely terrible advice."

"It's called tough love, babe. Now go."

Maya took a breath. Walked over. Her palms were literally sweating.

"Hey Jake."

He turned, smiling. "Maya! Hey!"

"So, this is weirdly terrifying?" she blurted.

He laughed. And not the fake laugh everyone did when trying to be polite. Actually laughed.

"Same," he said. "I've been standing here pretending to be interested in punch for twenty minutes because I'm too scared to dance."

"You're scared to dance?"

"Have you SEEN me dance? It's like a dying bull trying to do the cha-cha."

Maya snorted. "Now I have to witness this."

They ended up dancing for three songs straight. Maya didn't care that she looked like a dying bull too. Jake kept making her laugh, and she forgot about being nervous, forgot about everything except this moment, right here, right now.

Later, they sat on the bleachers, away from the noise. Jake's phone buzzed—his ride was leaving.

"I should go," he said, but he didn't move. "But, like, I had a really good time."

"Me too," Maya said, and it came out softer than she meant.

"Can I—" He started. "Would you want to maybe study together sometime? Biology's literally killing me."

"Yes," she said immediately. "Like, I'm failing so hard."

They exchanged numbers. Jake walked her to her mom's car, and she felt light, like she might float away.

When she got home, Sphinx was asleep on her bed. Bubbles was still doing laps in his bowl, completely unaware that Maya's entire life had just changed in three hours.

She flopped onto her bed and texted Kayla: I think I just had a moment. Like, a BIG moment.

The response came instantly: TOLD YOU. Now go to sleep, you've got big things tomorrow.

Maya smiled at her ceiling. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring. But for the first time in forever, she couldn't wait to find out.