Sphinx of the Summer Party

Maya wiped her sweaty **palm** on her denim shorts for the third time. The backyard pool party was in full swing—kids cannonballing, Spotify playlist bumping, and somewhere, the neighbor's **cat** was yowling from over the fence. But Maya couldn't focus on any of that. Because there he was. Lucas, sitting on the edge of the pool, wet hair dripping, that stupid perfect smile that made her stomach do backflips.

"You good?" her best friend Riya asked, sliding over with two sodas. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," Maya lied, accepting the drink. "My mom just made me take this **vitamin** D supplement before I left. Said I'm always inside gaming and gonna get deficient. Whatever."

Riya snorted. "Only you would stress about vitamin deficiencies at a party."

Before Maya could defend herself, Lucas swam over and hoisted himself out of the pool, water streaming down his torso. Maya's face burned hotter than the summer sun.

"Hey," he said, shaking water from his hair like a dog. "You gonna join us or just supervise?"

"I... um..."

"You look deep in thought." He tilted his head, studying her with those annoyingly perceptive hazel eyes. "Like you're solving some ancient **sphinx** riddle or something."

The whole sphinx comment was so random it broke through her panic. "Wait, what?"

"You know—sphinx. Guarding secrets, asking impossible questions." He splashed her lightly. "So what's the big mystery, Maya?"

Riya was practically vibrating with suppressed laughter beside her.

The pool party chatter faded. Maya looked at Lucas—really looked at him. The way his eyebrow quirked when he was teasing. The freckles across his nose. The fact that he'd noticed she was thinking deep thoughts, even if he was making fun of her for it.

"The mystery," she heard herself say, "is why you're over here talking to me when half the cheer squad is waiting for you to play chicken fights."

Lucas blinked. Then smiled—genuinely, not the fake one he gave everyone. "Maybe I'd rather figure out the sphinx's riddle."

Somewhere beyond the fence, the cat yowled again. Maya didn't wipe her palm on her shorts this time. For the first time all afternoon, she wasn't nervous anymore.

"Well then," she said, sliding off her sandals. "Better get in the pool. I don't give away my secrets for free."