Sphinx of the Boardwalk

The orange sunset bled into the Pacific as I sat on the edge of the boardwalk, clutching my phone like a lifeline. Three percent battery. Classic.

'You're not gonna make it,' a voice said.

I looked up. There she was — Maya, standing barefoot on the weathered wood, palm trees silhouetted behind her like they were posing for a magazine cover. She had this way of looking at you, like she knew something you didn't. The guys called her the Sphinx because she was gorgeous and completely uncrackable.

'What?' I managed, my palms suddenly sweating through my cargo shorts.

'Your phone.' She pointed at my dying screen. 'You need the charging cable from the food stand. But Devon's working tonight, and he's on a power trip.' She smirked. 'No pun intended.'

My stomach did that thing — the same thing it did when she'd walked into AP English on the first day of junior year wearing that vintage band tee and looking like she owned the world.

'I'll get it,' I said, standing up too fast.

'Good luck with that.' She tilted her head. 'Devon basically thinks he's the gatekeeper of all things electronic.'

I walked toward the stand, heart pounding, acutely aware that Maya was watching. Devon looked up from his phone, already annoyed.

'Need a cable?' Devon asked, not moving. 'Gotta buy something first, bro.'

The orange glow of the sunset caught Maya watching us, arms crossed, an amused smile playing on her lips. She'd given me a quest, and suddenly this wasn't about a phone anymore. It was about not looking like an idiot in front of the only girl who'd ever made me forget my own name.

'Gummy worms,' I said, pulling out crumpled cash. 'And the cable.'

Maya was still watching as I plugged in my phone and sat back down beside her. We watched the ocean in comfortable silence as my phone charged, orange light fading to purple to deep blue.

'You know,' she said finally, 'I've been trying to get Devon to give me that cable for weeks.'

I looked at her. 'Really?'

'Some people just make things complicated.' She smiled, and it wasn't mysterious anymore. It was real. 'You're not one of them.'