Sphinx Girl at the Pool Party

Maya's cat Luna gave her that look. The one that said, *You're really doing this?* as if the elderly tabby understood that Maya was about to walk into the literal seventh circle of social hell.

The pool party. At Jake's house. Jake, who'd smiled at her in AP Chem last Tuesday and now lived rent-free in her head.

"You got this," she told Luna, who promptly turned her back and started grooming her tail. Rude.

Maya's phone buzzed. Group chat blowing up with people asking *where u at* and *did u hear what jake said*. She adjusted her swimsuit under her cover-up and felt like she was wearing a costume. Some Sphinx poser, riddle-free and tragic.

Water. That was the whole thing. She'd nearly drowned at summer camp when she was twelve, and now pools were basically her personal anxiety vortex. But her therapist said exposure therapy, and her friends said *just come we miss you*, and Jake was going to be there, so here she was.

The backyard was already loud. Music, laughter, that distinctive smell of chlorine and sunscreen that hit like a physical force. Bodies in motion, splashing, shouting. Maya stood by the fence feeling like she'd teleported onto an alien planet where everyone spoke fluent Social Butterfly and she was still on Duolingo lesson one.

"Maya!" It was Chloe, bouncing over in a neon bikini. "You made it!" She grabbed Maya's arm like they were best friends, which Maya guessed they technically were, but sometimes she forgot. "Jake's in the deep end. He keeps asking about you."

Maya's stomach did that thing. The thing where it tried to exit her body.

"I'm just... gonna get settled," she managed, and Chloe shrugged and bounded off toward a group of guys near the diving board.

Found a spot on a lounge chair far from the action. Pulled out her phone. Luna would be judging her so hard right now.

Then someone was standing over her, dripping wet, and she looked up into Jake's actual face in 3D.

"Hey," he said. "You're not swimming?"

She opened her mouth and nothing came out. The Sphinx strikes again.

But then Jake sat beside her, still damp from the pool, and said, "I hate pools too. Nearly drowned at camp when I was eleven. I'm only here because my mom made me come."

Maya stared. "Wait. Really?"

"Scout's honor." He held up three fingers. "I've been pretending I'm just chillin' but I'm actually lowkey freaking out."

Something in her chest unlocked.

"Me too," she admitted. "Like, a lot."

Jake's grin was genuine. "Wanna be anxious together? Away from the water?"

"Absolutely."

Later, Maya would send Luna a photo of Jake and her sitting poolside, fully clothed, making silly faces. Luna would ignore it completely. Some cats were just like that.

But for the first time in forever, Maya didn't feel like posing riddles she couldn't solve. She just felt... seen.