Sphinx in the Cafeteria

Maya's hair was doing that thing again—the frizz that defied physics, humidity, and three different hair products she'd begged her mom to buy. Senior photos were in two hours, and her hair looked like it had been styled by an electrocuted poodle.

"You look fine," her best friend Chloe said, though Maya caught her wincing. "Just... maybe wear the beanie?"

Maya groaned. "It's ninety degrees, Chloe. I'll melt."

The cafeteria was serving lunch, and despite her nerves, Maya's stomach growled. She grabbed the first thing she saw—spinach and feta stuffed chicken breast, her favorite. One bite in, she felt the familiar dread: something green and leafy was definitely stuck in her braces.

"You've got—" Chloe started.

"I know, I know." Maya made a beeline for the bathroom.

But fate wasn't done messing with her. The new guy, Adrian, who'd transferred in three weeks ago and had everyone swooning with his mysterious vibe and leather jacket, stepped right into her path. He was reading a book on ancient mythology, of all things.

"Hey," he said, looking up from his book. "You're Maya, right? From AP Lit?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. Here was this gorgeous guy talking to her, and she probably had spinach in her teeth AND her hair looked like a natural disaster.

"Uh, yeah. Hi. You're Adrian."

He smiled, and Maya noticed he had really nice teeth. Not fair. "I was wondering if you'd help me with something. I'm doing this project on riddles—you know, like the sphinx's riddle from Oedipus? And you're like, really good at that analytical stuff in class."

The sphinx. The mythical creature that asked impossible riddles and ate people who got them wrong. Maya felt like she was facing one right now, except the riddle was how to survive this conversation without embarrassing herself further.

"Sure," she heard herself say. "What's the riddle?"

Adrian's eyes dropped to her mouth, and Maya's heart stopped. He was definitely seeing the spinach.

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?" he quoted.

"Man," Maya answered automatically. "A human. Baby, adult, old person with a cane."

Adrian blinked. "Wow. You really are good at this stuff."

"Yeah, well." Maya gestured vaguely at her face. "I've got a lot of practice solving problems."

He laughed, and Maya realized—finally—that she had spinach in her teeth, wild hair, and somehow this gorgeous guy was laughing with her, not at her. Maybe that was its own kind of riddle solved.

"So," Adrian said. "You want to help me study more after school? I could use a sphinx expert."

Maya's hair might still be a disaster, but her luck had definitely turned around.