Summer of the Sphinx

Maya's phone buzzed for the third time in five minutes. Another Instagram story from Kai—the guy she'd been lowkey spying on all summer. His posts were like puzzles she couldn't solve, pieces of a life she desperately wanted to be part of.

"You good?" Chloe asked, plopping beside her at the pool edge. "You've been staring at that sphinx riddle in your bio for like, twenty minutes."

Maya laughed, shoving her phone under her towel. The sphinx emoji had seemed deep at midnight. Now it just felt pretentious. "Just... you know. Overthinking."

"About what? Kai?" Chloe splashed water at her. "Girl, he posted that picture of you swimming last week. He's obviously interested."

Maybe. But Maya was still the girl who carried vitamin gummies in her purse like security blankets, who practiced conversations in her bathroom mirror, who felt like everyone else had gotten the manual to high school social dynamics and she was still reading the appendix.

"Whatever," Maya muttered, sliding into the pool. The cool water washed away the sticky summer heat, but not the knot in her stomach.

That's when she saw it—the giant inflatable bear Kai was wrestling with in the deep end. It was ridiculous and perfect. He caught her watching and waved, grinning like an idiot.

"Maya!" he called. "Help me defeat this beast!"

Her heart did that annoying flutter thing. She swam over, suddenly grateful for years of competitive swim practice that made her glide through the water while everyone else floundered.

Together they wrestled the giant bear until it tipped, sending both of them underwater. When they surfaced, gasping and laughing, Maya realized something: she wasn't spying on Kai's life anymore. She was in it.

"Want to get smoothies after?" Kai asked, hair plastered to his forehead.

Maya smiled, genuinely, for the first time all summer. "Only if you promise not to make me solve any riddles."

"Deal." He winked. "But I can't promise the sphinx won't make an appearance."

She didn't need the sphinx emoji anymore. She had the real thing—and she didn't need any vitamin supplements to feel alive anymore.