Sphinx on the Bathroom Mirror

Maya stared at her reflection, hoping the acne on her chin would magically vanish overnight. Spoiler: it didn't. The girl in the mirror looked back like some ancient sphinx, posing the same riddle she'd been avoiding for weeks: how was she supposed to survive freshman year when she could barely survive a conversation with her crush without saying something incredibly awkward?

"Maya! Your vitamin gummies are literally going to expire if you don't take them!" her little sister Zara yelled from downstairs.

"Coming!" Maya called back, grabbing the bottle. Her mom had bought these expensive hair-skin-nails vitamins that were supposed to fix everything, which was obviously a scam but she took them anyway because hope is a powerful thing.

Today was the day. The day she'd finally talk to Jordan at lunch without making it weird. Her friends had been hyping her up all morning.

"You got this," Skylar had said. "Just be chill. Don't overthink it."

Easy for Skylar to say, who radiated main character energy and could talk to anyone without turning into a human disaster. Maya felt like she had to bear the weight of the entire universe's awkwardness on her shoulders.

In the cafeteria, she spotted Jordan at their usual table. Maya's heart did that thing where it forgot how to heart properly. She walked over, intending to say something cool and mysterious like the sphinx, but instead she heard herself say:

"So, I like your shoes. They're very... shoe-like."

Jordan looked up from their phone, confused for a second, then laughed. "Thanks? I guess?"

Maya wanted to disappear. The floor could open up and swallow her whole. That would be fine.

"Wait, are those the limited edition ones?" Skylar jumped in, saving her life. "I've been looking everywhere for those!"

And suddenly they were having a normal conversation. Jordan was actually... nice? They asked Maya about her art, which she'd posted on finsta but never mentioned at school. They talked about the new Marvel show and how gym class should be illegal.

Later, as Maya replayed the conversation in her head like a psychopath, she realized something. She'd been treating high school like some riddle she had to solve perfectly, when really it was just a bunch of people trying to figure stuff out. The sphinx in the mirror didn't have all the answers. Neither did the expensive vitamins.

She texted Skylar: "I didn't fully embarrass myself today. Progress?"

Skylar replied instantly: "Queen behavior 👑"

Maya smiled. Maybe freshman year wouldn't be so bad after all.