Riddles in the Rain

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her towel like a lifeline. Across the water, Skylar held court on the diving board—tan legs dangling, sunglasses reflecting the July sun, smile mysterious as a sphinx. Everyone called her that behind her back. The Sphinx. Because she'd look you up and down, pose some impossible question, and wait for you to crash and burn.

"Hey, new girl," Skylar called out, flipping her sunglasses onto her head. "Riddle time. What gets wetter the more it dries?"

Maya's stomach did that awful clenchy thing. She'd moved to town three weeks ago, and Skylar had made it her personal mission to expose Maya as an uncool loser with every social encounter.

"A towel," Maya muttered.

Skylar's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, she's not completely hopeless." She winked at Kai, the lifeguard, who was pretending not to stare at Skylar while pretending to check pool chemicals. Maya had caught Kai watching her during yesterday's swimming laps, though. But that was probably just because she'd been doing a terrible job at butterfly.

"Next riddle," Skylar announced. "What can you catch but not throw?"

"A cold," someone shouted.

"Boring." Skylar stood, balancing perfectly on the diving board's edge. "I dare you to race me. One lap. Winner gets to ask Kai whatever they want."

Maya's face burned. The whole pool went quiet. This was it—the sphinx's final test.

"You're on."

They lined up at the shallow end. Maya's heart hammered against her ribs. She'd been swimming competitively back home, but nobody here knew that. Skylar had underestimated her.

"GO!"

Maya dove, sharp and clean. Water rushed past her ears, muffled the cheers. Her arms sliced through the water, pull and glide, pull and glide. She was winning—she could feel it.

Then lightning cracked the sky white.

Thunder followed, shaking the ground. The pool erupted in screams. Maya surfaced, gasping, as the first massive drops of rain hit the water like pearls thrown from above. Everyone scrambled for the locker rooms.

Everyone except Kai, who was still at his stand, laughing as he got absolutely soaked.

"Guess the storm wins," he called, gesturing for everyone to get inside.

Maya dragged herself poolside, breathless. Skylar surfaced beside her, hair plastered to her face, mascara running. For once, she wasn't posing. She looked real.

"You're fast," Skylar said, genuinely impressed.

Maya grabbed her towel, grinning despite herself. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Rematch tomorrow?"

"Bring it, Sphinx."

Skylar laughed—a real laugh, not her practiced cool-girl one. As they ran for cover, Maya realized something. Sometimes sphinxes weren't trying to destroy you. Sometimes they just wanted to see if you could keep up.

And she definitely could.