Sphinx of the Stairwell

Maya's palms were sweating. Again. She wiped them on her jeans, leaving dark streaks on the denim, which was honestly such a loser move. The house party at Tyler's place was supposed to be her moment—her chance to finally talk to Devon, the cute junior who'd been in her bio lab all semester. But instead of making smooth conversation, she was currently hiding in the stairwell, having a full-on existential crisis.

Through the cracked door, she could hear everyone downstairs laughing at something she didn't understand. FOMO hit her hard. She wasn't just missing out; she was missing everything.

Then she saw it—sitting on the step above her like it owned the place. A sphinx moth, huge and cryptic, its wings painted with eyes that seemed to know exactly how pathetic she was being. It stared at her like it was waiting for an answer to some riddle she hadn't even heard yet.

"Great," Maya whispered. "Now I'm being judged by an insect."

Her phone buzzed. Group chat: WHERE R U?? Devon's asking about u!

Maya stared at the screen. Devon was asking about her? This was either the best or worst thing that had ever happened. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, totally frozen, when she noticed something weird about the cable running along the baseboard. It wasn't just a cable—someone had spliced into it, creating a weird little junction that glowed faintly in the dim light.

Without thinking, she followed the cable with her eyes, tracing it up the wall to... wait. Was that a camera? A tiny lens, barely visible, pointed right at the front door where people were arriving.

No freaking way.

Someone was spying on the party. Recording who came with who, who arrived alone, who left together. Maya's brain started racing. This wasn't just some perv thing—this was intelligence. Social ammunition. Who knew what about whom, who was lying about their plans, whose "studying" excuse was actually cover for something else.

The sphinx moth fluttered its wings, and suddenly Maya understood the riddle. The thing about high school wasn't about being cool—it was about knowing the truth that nobody else knew yet.

She texted back: On my way. Found something crazy upstairs. You gotta see this.

Her palms were dry now. She had something better than a smooth conversation. She had a mystery, and she was about to drag Devon right into it with her.