The Party Sphinx Protocol

The sphinx stared at me from across the room—well, technically it was Tyler's grandma's ancient Egyptian statue collection, but that granite cat felt like it was judging my entire existence. I clutched my iPhone like a lifeline, thumb hovering over Maya's text: "u coming? everyone's here."

I wasn't ready. Not for the noise, not for Jake's laugh that still made my stomach do weird gymnastics, and definitely not for whatever green sludge Chloe was blending in the kitchen.

"It's basically a vitamin bomb!" she announced, holding up a glass filled with something that looked like radioactive spinach. "My mom's nutritionist swears by it."

I grabbed a cup because refusing would've been awkward, and I was already awkward enough for three people.

Then I saw him. Jake. My person. The one who'd left me on read for three days after I accidentally sent that voice note at 2 AM. He was wearing that bear hat—the ridiculous fuzzy one from winter formal—and my heart did that annoying fluttery thing.

"Hey, you came!" Maya materialized beside me. "Drink up."

I chugged the green sludge. Big mistake. The spinach hit my system like a truth serum, or maybe I was just done pretending. Something snapped inside me.

I marched up to Jake, who was mid-story about something nobody was actually listening to.

"So," I said, voice slightly shaky but getting louder, "about that voice note."

The room went quiet. Even the sphinx seemed interested.

"You left me on read for three days, Jake. Three. Days. And now you're wearing that bear hat like nothing happened? No. We're not doing this."

Jake's face turned the exact color of Chloe's spinach smoothie. "I—I was just—"

"Whatever." I turned to leave, phone in hand, ready to text Maya that I was out.

But then—hiccups. From the spinach. Or the vitamin bomb. Whatever. Right in the middle of my dramatic exit.

Everyone laughed. Not mean laughter, but real laughter. Even Jake cracked a smile.

"Well," I said, hiccupping again, "that happened."

And somehow, that was fine. The terrifying sphinx was just a statue. The bear was just a hat. The spinach was just spinach. And Jake? Just a guy in a fuzzy hat who didn't know how to use his iPhone properly.

I took another sip. "Fine. Whatever. But you're drinking this next."