The Enigma of the Deep End

Maya stood at the edge of the **pool**, clutching her towel like a shield. The senior graduation party raged around her—bodies splashing, laughter echoing, some idiots already attempting a human **pyramid** that had collapsed three times. Maya, a junior, felt completely out of place.

"Hey, you gonna stand there all night?" The voice came from a guy lounging on the pool deck—Ethan, the senior she'd been crushing on forever. He wore swim trunks and an unreadable expression. Around school, they called him the **Sphinx** because he never seemed to show emotion or give anything away.

Maya's heart did that annoying flutter thing. "I'm, uh, thinking about it."

"Think faster. Senior year's almost over." Something flickered in his eyes—amusement? Challenge? With Ethan, she could never tell.

She stepped forward, then froze. A reflection in the sliding glass door caught her eye—right between her front teeth, a massive piece of **spinach** from the veggie wrap she'd crushed earlier. Mortification washed over her like a tidal wave. No wonder no one had approached her all night. She'd been walking around with spinach in her teeth for two hours.

Maya turned to flee, but Ethan splashed water at her—just a little flick of his wrist.

"You've got something," he said, actually smiling. A real smile. "Everyone's been waiting for you to notice."

"You KNEW?" she demanded, laughing despite herself.

"We've had a betting pool." He stood up, water dripping from his arms. "I had money on you catching it in the bathroom mirror."

"You're the worst," she said, but she was already stepping into the water.

"I'm honest." He swam over. "Plus, I was hoping you wouldn't notice until I got to tell you myself."

"Why?"

"Because," Ethan said, treading water beside her, "then you'd have to actually talk to me instead of watching from the edge all year."

Maya's breath caught. The Sphinx had just solved his own riddle—he wasn't mysterious. He was waiting for her to jump in.