The Riddle Between Us

I've been **running** circles around the truth for three weeks.

"Dude, you good?" Marcus asked, spinning his phone between his fingers. We sat outside the escape room place, waiting for his birthday squad to show up. "You've been weird since homecoming."

I shrugged, staring at my scuffed Vans. "Just stressed. grades and stuff."

"Riiight." Marcus didn't buy it. He never bought anything.

The problem wasn't grades. The problem was that at homecoming, after three Mountain Dews and a questionable decision, I'd almost hooked up with his crush. And the worse part? I wanted to finish what I started.

So I'd been **running**. From him, from the truth, from myself.

The squad arrived — five people deep with fake IDs and boosted confidence. We chose the Egyptian room because according to reviews, it was "impossible but vibey."

The room was insane: hieroglyphics that glowed under blacklight, sand covering everything, and this massive statue of a **sphinx** guarding the final door. Its stone eyes seemed to follow me.

"Group split up," Tasha suggested, always the leader. "Me and Jay handle the wall puzzles. Marcus, you and Sam take the sphinx riddle."

My stomach dropped. Just me and Marcus. Alone.

The sphinx held a scroll. "I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"

"An echo," I said immediately. "Classic."

"Nah, too easy." Marcus frowned. "These places never do obvious. Think, Sam."

We sat cross-legged in the sand while the others worked across the room. My phone buzzed — a text from an unknown number. Probably something dumb. I ignored it.

"What if it's about silence?" Marcus suggested. "Like, the absence of sound is still kinda... there?"

"That's deep coming from the guy who thinks 'mac and cheese' counts as a personality trait."

He laughed, but something about it felt forced. "Sam, for real. You good?"

"I'm fine."

"Bro, you haven't been fine for weeks. You're my best **friend**, but you're acting like I'm some random from fourth period."

The sphinx stared at us, stone lips frozen in an eternal secret. My phone buzzed again.

I looked at the screen. It wasn't a random number. It was Marcus's crush, asking if I wanted to hang out this weekend. Just us.

Marcus noticed. Of course he noticed.

"Who's that?" he asked, voice tight.

My heart raced. I'd been **running** from this conversation, but now it had cornered me in a room with no exits, watched by a stone monster.

"It's Maya," I said quietly. "She... she texted me."

Marcus didn't speak. The silence was louder than anything.

"Did you know about homecoming?" I asked, not answering the real question.

He thought about it. "Yeah. I saw you guys disappear together."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me." He looked at the sphinx. "The answer's 'a rumor,' by the way. Speaks without mouths, travels like wind, ruins everything."

I stared at him. "How'd you know?"

"Because that's literally us right now." He stood up, dusting sand from his jeans. "Sam, rumors and secrets and half-truths — they ruin everything. Just tell me the truth."

The truth was that I liked her. The truth was that I felt guilty. The truth was that I valued our friendship more than any crush.

"She texted me," I admitted. "I didn't reply. I didn't want to. Because you're more important."

Marcus studied my face for a long moment. Then he fist-bumped me.

"You're still an idiot for not telling me, though."

"Fair."

We solved the riddle. The sphinx's mouth opened, revealing the key. But the real lock had already opened back there in the sand.

Some riddles aren't meant to be solved alone. And sometimes, the best way to stop **running** is to finally stand still and let someone catch up to you.