Sphinx at the Party

Maya's palms were sweating. Literally sweating. She wiped them on her dress for the third time and gripped her iPhone tighter, checking her texts even though she'd checked them twenty seconds ago. Nothing new. Of course.

This was it. Her first real high school party. Her first chance to finally talk to him—Jayden from third period bio, who smiled at her yesterday when she dropped her pencil. Her best friend Kai had been prepping her all week. "Just be chill," Kai'd said. "You got this."

She did not got this.

The music thumped against the walls of Sarah's suburban house, vibrating through the floor. Someone's parents were definitely out of town. Maya stood near the snack table, awkwardly holding a red solo cup like it contained something illegal (it was just Sprite, she wasn't ready to risk it tonight).

Then she saw the girl everyone called Sphinx.

No one knew her real name. She'd shown up at school three months ago, transferred from somewhere mysterious, and spent her time in the library asking weird questions and refusing to give straight answers. Hence: Sphinx. She wore combat boots with everything and had hair dyed the color of black cherries.

"You look like you're waiting for something to happen," Sphinx said, suddenly beside Maya. "Or maybe someone."

Maya nearly dropped her iPhone. "What? No. I'm just..."

"Let me see your palm." Sphinx's grin was wicked.

"My what?"

"Your palm. Come on." Before Maya could protest, Sphinx grabbed her hand and studied it like she was reading an ancient text. "Interesting. You're overthinking everything. You think people are judging you more than they actually are. Also, you should probably text that boy over there before he leaves with someone else."

Maya's face burned hotter than Sarah's apparently broken radiator. "I—that's not real palm reading. You're just guessing—"

"Am I?" Sphinx raised an eyebrow. "Go. Before the opportunity becomes one of those 'what if' stories you obsess over at 2 AM when you can't sleep."

From the corner of the room, Sarah's orange tabby cat, Prometheus (yes, really), jumped onto the couch and stared at Maya like he knew something she didn't.

"Fine," Maya whispered. "Fine."

She walked over to Jayden. Her palms still sweated. Her iPhone burned in her pocket. But when she said "hey" and he actually smiled back, like really smiled back, she thought maybe Sphinx's real superpower wasn't reading palms at all.

Maybe she just knew when to push people toward the things they were already brave enough to do.

"So," Jayden said. "I was hoping you'd show up."

Maya grinned. Across the room, Sphinx winked.