Sphinx of the Chlorine Kingdom

Maya stood at the edge of the pool clutching her **Vitamin**water like it was some kind of shield against everything that could go wrong. Which was everything.

"You coming in or what?" Tyler called from the water, flicking droplets at her with that grin that made half the sophomore class want to implode. The other half wanted him to implode them.

"In a minute," Maya lied. She wasn't going in. She wasn't doing much of anything except trying to look like she belonged here, at Jennifer's birthday bash, when she'd only been invited because Jennifer's mom made her invite the whole swim team.

Maya's brain was running full **bull** detector mode. Like how Tyler was suddenly interested in her existence when he'd barely looked at her all semester. Or how the popular girls kept giggling every time she walked past, probably at her one-piece against their string bikinis. Whatever.

She spotted Jennifer's golden retriever, Max, cowering under a lawn chair. Poor **dog** looked about as comfortable as Maya felt. She crouched down, scratching his ears, and his tail thumped against the patio. At least someone here wasn't playing some complicated social game she didn't know the rules to.

"Hey."

Maya jumped. It was Chloe, the transfer student who sat behind her in bio. The one who never spoke but made perfect grades and drew weird anime creatures in her notebook margins. Chloe slid down to sit beside her, pulling her knees to her chest.

"That pool," Chloe said, nodding toward the turquoise water where Tyler and his crew were splashing and shouting, "it's like total **sphinx** energy, right? Like, you're supposed to solve some riddle before you're allowed in?"

Maya blinked, then laughed. It just spilled out, surprising both of them. "Yeah. Something like that."

"I can't swim," Chloe admitted quietly.

"I can," Maya said. "But I feel like I'm drowning anyway."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Same. Everyone's playing 4D chess and I'm over here trying to figure out if my ponytail looks stupid."

"It doesn't," Maya said automatically, then realized it was true. "Your hair looks fine. Better than mine, probably. I feel like I have zero rizz today."

"Please," Chloe scoffed. "You're literally glowing. Meanwhile I've been sweating through this shirt since I got here."

They sat there for twenty minutes while the party raged without them. They talked about bio class, about how neither of them understood why everyone was so obsessed with being popular, about the absolute absurdity of high school in general.

Tyler splashed out of the pool, shaking his wet hair like a dog. "Maya! You missed the cannonball contest!"

"Yeah," she said, standing up and brushing off her legs. "Guess I did."

"Whatever." He moved on to someone else.

Maya looked at Chloe. "Wanna get out of here?"

Chloe's face lit up. "Please."

They slipped out the side gate, Max the golden retriever trotting after them like he'd been waiting for his escape all along. They walked to the 7-Eleven in silence, and Maya bought Chloe a slushie because why not.

"Next party," Chloe said, sipping the blue slushie, "we're staying home and watching Netflix."

"Deal." Maya clinked her Vitaminwater against Chloe's cup. "No riddles required."