The Boy Who Was Riddle-Proof

Maya dragged herself out of the pool at 6 AM, **water** streaming down her face like she'd been crying for hours. Two weeks of swim camp and she already felt like a **zombie** — arms heavy, brain foggy, surviving on caffeine and spite.

"You look dead," whispered Chloe, her best friend since sixth grade, as they collapsed on the deck chairs. "Like, actually deceased."

"Thanks, bestie," Maya muttered, squinting against the sunrise. "You really know how to make a girl feel seen."

That's when she saw him.

The new guy stood near the diving boards, silent and still as a statue, watching everything with eyes that seemed to know way too much. Lean and dark-haired with this intense vibe that made everyone nervous.

"That's Leo," Chloe said, following Maya's gaze. "He's been here three days and hasn't said more than ten words. Everyone calls him 'the **sphinx**' because he's all mysterious and won't talk to anyone."

A sphinx. Maya snorted. "Great. A riddle I don't have the energy to solve."

But something about him pulled at her — the way he moved through the crowded pool area like he was invisible, how his eyes caught hers for just a second too long before sliding away.

Later that afternoon, Maya found him alone at the far end of the pool, sketching something in a worn notebook. Her heart did this stupid flutter thing she definitely didn't sign up for.

"Hey," she said, sliding into the **water** beside him. "You're the sphinx, right?"

Leo looked up, and for the first time, his expression cracked — just barely. A hint of amusement. "That's what they're calling me?"

"You've got the mysterious loner thing down perfectly," Maya said, treading **water**. "It's a whole vibe."

"I'm just..." He paused, like he was choosing his words carefully. "Thinking too much about stuff. About how nobody really knows anybody, you know? We're all just moving through each other's lives like **zombies**, pretending we understand things we don't."

Maya stared at him. That. That was exactly what she'd been feeling all summer — like she was sleepwalking through something that was supposed to feel real.

"Okay, sphinx," she said softly. "What's the riddle?"

Leo smiled then, and it transformed his whole face. "The riddle is how we find each other in all this noise."

Something shifted between them, electric and undeniable. Maybe camp wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"I'm Maya," she said.

"Leo," he replied. "Want to help me figure it out?"

The **water** rippled around them as she nodded, already knowing this summer was about to change everything.