Running from the Sphinx

Maya's palms were sweating again. She wiped them on her running shorts, dreading the moment Coach Martinez would announce the relay team for regionals. Junior year was supposed to be HER year—captain of the track team, college scouts watching, finally stepping out of her perfect older sister's shadow.

Instead, she was hyperventilating behind the bleachers while the team gathered.

"You're not gonna make the lineup if you keep hiding back here."

Maya jumped. It was Leo—the transfer student with the buzz cut and the sphinx cat backpack that everyone made fun of. He was stretched against the chain-link fence like it was a hammock.

"I'm not hiding," Maya snapped. "I'm... mentally preparing."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your palms say otherwise."

Damn it. She'd been rubbing them on her shorts again.

"Whatever. What do you know?"

"I know you're the fastest runner on this team. I also know you've been ghosting every practice since last week's meet." He pulled a sphinx figurine out of his bag—some weird golden cat thing. "My grandma sent me this for good luck. Said it was supposed to help me face my riddles."

"Your riddles?"

"The stuff that keeps me up at night." Leo shrugged. "Like, why did I move across the country senior year? Why can't I tell my mom I hate engineering? Why do I care if you make the relay team?"

Maya's face heated up. "You—you don't—"

"I've been watching you run since February, Maya." Leo's voice softened. "You've got this fire. But you're so busy worrying about disappointing everyone else that you're disappointing yourself."

The bell rang. Coach Martinez's voice echoed across the field: "Relay team announcement! NOW!"

Maya's heart hammered. Her palms were slick with sweat.

Leo held out the golden sphinx. "For luck."

She took it, his fingers brushing hers. Something electric zipped through her chest.

They walked together toward the crowd. When Coach called her name as anchor, Maya didn't look at her sister's perfect times in the record book. She didn't look at the college scouts in the stands.

She looked at Leo, who was already watching her with this tiny, knowing smile.

And for the first time all season, Maya wasn't running away from anything.

She was running toward something.