Riddles Under the Bleachers

The old cat hissed at me from the bleachers, judging my lack of chill as I paced behind the baseball field. My phone buzzed again—more texts from the friend group that was slowly un-inviting me from everything. Maya, my ride-or-die since seventh grade, had posted a pic at Jake's party without me. Again. The sting hit different than getting ghosted by randoms. This was my people. Or they used to be.

The baseball game blared through the tinny speakers—nobody was actually watching, but everybody was there because that's where you went when you wanted to be seen. I started running, sneakers slapping the pavement, burning off the everything that had been building up since freshman year went sideways. My lungs burned in that weirdly good way, like I was finally feeling something real.

The cat followed me, darting between the abandoned equipment shed and the back of the arts building. That's when I saw it—someone had spray-painted a sphinx on the wall, wings spread like it was mid-launch. Below it, someone had written in sharpie: 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, three at evening?'

I stared at it. Classic riddle, ancient vibes, but the art was fresh. The sphinx's eyes stared back, knowing something I didn't.

Maya found me there, breathless from running, cat winding between my legs. She'd left the party early. 'You okay?' she asked, actually asking for once.

'I don't know,' I said, which was the most honest thing I'd said in months.

She sat beside me, and we both looked at the sphinx. 'Remember when we thought high school would be like, actual epic adventures?' she said. 'Not just standing around watching baseball and pretending to care who's dating who.'

The cat jumped onto my lap like she'd been waiting for permission.

'We could start,' I said. 'Like, actually start. New thing. Tomorrow.' Something loosened in my chest, something that had been knotted tight since the social hierarchy reset in September.

Maya grinned. 'Deal. But you're running with me this time. No more doing life solo.'

The sphinx kept its secrets, but whatever—that was okay. We'd figure out our own riddles.