Riddles in the Rain

The homecoming dance was supposed to be the night everything changed. Maya had spent three weeks convincing herself she'd finally talk to Ryan—the guy with the orange Converse who sat behind her in AP Bio, always doodling sphinxes in the margins of his notes while Mr. Henderson droned on about mitochondria.

Now she was hiding in the gym bathroom while DJ Boomer played terrible remixes, clutching her phone like it owed her money. Her best friend Kai had already texted four times: "r u okay?" "ryan literally just asked where u went" "maya??" "pls don't make me dance alone with jessica's cousin from jersey"

Maya stared at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was still perfect—she'd spent two hours on the winged eyeliner alone—but her chest felt like it was collapsing in slow motion. This was it. This was who she was: the girl who mastered conversation in her head but couldn't speak in real life. The girl who overthought every interaction into oblivion.

A crash of thunder shook the building. The lights flickered.

"Perfect," she muttered. "Literal dramatic irony."

The bathroom door swung open. Kai burst in, wearing a suit that was somehow both too big and simultaneously too small. "There you are! Ryan's literally about to leave, and Jessica's cousin from jersey keeps trying to teach me the cupid shuffle and I CAN'T—"

"I can't do it," Maya interrupted. "I can't just walk up to him and be normal. What do I even say? 'Hey, nice sphinx drawings? Wanna dance to this terrible music?'" She laughed bitterly. "He's gonna think I'm weird."

Kai leaned against the row of sinks. "Okay, first of all, you ARE weird. Have we met? Second, he drew a sphinx wearing headphones yesterday. A SPHINX. Nobody normal does that." Kai straightened their tie. "Also, he asked about you. Like, specifically asked. While I was busy being kidnapped by Jessica's cousin."

Maya's stomach did that thing. The lightning thing.

"He asked about me?"

"He asked if you were coming back. Said he wanted to ask you something." Kai's eyes widened significantly. "Maya. I don't think you need to say anything. I think you just need to exist near him."

Another flash of lightning illuminated the bathroom. The power went out.

"Well, that's not ominous at all," Maya said.

Emergency lights flickered on, casting everything in an eerie orange glow from the exit signs. Kai's phone buzzed—Ryan had posted on his story: a photo of the dark gym, captioned: "if the lights don't come back on, i'm officially starting a cult"

Maya laughed. She couldn't help it.

"See?" Kai said. "You're not the only weird one. Now come on. Before I have to learn another tik tok dance from jersey."

They walked out together. The gym was glowing with phone flashlights, everyone huddled in groups, laughing and taking selfies. Ryan stood near the bleachers, illuminated by his own phone light, still doodling in a little notebook.

He looked up. Their eyes met.

Maya took a breath. "Hey."

"Hey." He held up his notebook. "I was working on something. Want to see?"

It was a drawing of her. As a sphinx. With really good eyeliner.

"I wanted to ask," he said, "if maybe you wanted to help me with the bio homework? And also, I don't know, get food somewhere that's not here?"

Outside, the storm broke. Rain pounded the roof. Maya smiled—actually smiled, not the fake one she'd practiced in the mirror.

"Yeah," she said. "I'd like that."