The Friday Night Sphinx

Maya's phone buzzed with the fifth 'you coming?' text from Jake. She stared at her reflection, the **orange** hair dye still staining her sink where she'd attempted to give herself highlights last night. Rookie mistake. Now she looked like a traffic cone with social anxiety.

"I'm not going," she told her pet **goldfish**, Bubbles, who stared back with his usual dead-eyed judgment. "Parties aren't my vibe. Plus, I look like a pumpkin exploded on my head."

Her phone lit up again. Jake: 'Everyone's asking about you. Just come for an hour. Please.'

Maya groaned and threw on her favorite oversized hoodie. Fine. One hour. In and out like a ninja.

The party was already popping when she arrived. Kids from school she'd known since kindergarten were suddenly strangers in crop tops and excessive cologne. Maya grabbed a solo cup of something suspiciously blue and retreated to the corner.

Then she saw him. Leo, from her English class, standing by the patio doors like some kind of social **sphinx**—mysterious, quiet, impossible to read. He wasn't even pretending to have fun. Just watching everyone with this thoughtful expression that made her heart do weird gymnastics.

"Hey," he said, appearing beside her like magic. "I like your hair. It's... bold."

Maya snorted. "Bold? That's one word for it. I was going for mysterious mermaid vibes and ended up with construction worker energy."

Leo laughed, and it was the best sound she'd heard all night. "Nah, it's fire. You pull it off." He paused. "You want to get out of here? This party's giving me a headache anyway."

They ended up at the 24-hour diner, sharing a plate of curly fries and talking about everything and nothing. Leo admitted he'd been watching her in English class for months. Maya confessed she'd been doing the same, but was too nervous to say anything.

"Why were you standing by yourself all night?" she asked.

Leo shrugged. "Waiting for the right person to show up."

Her phone buzzed again. Jake: 'WHERE ARE YOU'

Maya smiled and turned it off. Some things were worth missing a party for.