The Riddle in the Mirror

Maya pulled her beanie **hat** down to her eyebrows, hoping it would hide the mess she'd made of her **hair**. The box dye was supposed to be "midnight blue," not "disaster purple." Her best friend since forever, Jordan, was gonna roast her into next century.

"Dude, you look like a smurf exploded on your head," Jordan said from where they sat on Maya's bed, scrolling through TikTok. Maya's golden retriever, Barnaby the **dog**, thumped his tail against the floorboard, either in agreement or just happy to be included.

"Thanks, J. Really feeling the love today." Maya flopped onto her bed beside her friend. "Everything's changing anyway. What's one more disaster?"

Jordan set down their phone. "Your parents getting divorced isn't a disaster, Maya. It's just... different. And the **sphinx** statue in your mom's new apartment isn't that creepy."

"It keeps staring at me," Maya complained. "And every time I sleep over there, I have this dream where it asks me riddles about who I am. Like, deep stuff. Who am I without this house? Without you guys living next door?"

Jordan turned to face her, dead serious for once. "You're Maya. The girl who once convinced our entire 7th grade class that the moon landing was faked using a PowerPoint you made in 20 minutes. The girl who taught Barnaby to high-five. The girl who's gonna rock purple hair because you're brave enough to try stuff."

Maya felt something loosen in her chest. "You think?"

"I know. Also, I'm moving too."

"WHAT?"

"My dad got transferred. We're leaving in July." Jordan shrugged. "That's why I've been weird lately. I didn't know how to tell you."

They stared at each other, then Maya started laughing. It wasn't funny, but it kind of was. This whole year had been one giant sphinx riddle, and the answer kept changing.

"Okay," Maya said, wiping her eyes. "New rule. We're not doing the sad goodbye thing. We're doing epic summer things. Bucket list. And we're FaceTiming every single day until college."

"Deal," Jordan said. "First item: you wear that purple hair to school tomorrow like it's couture."

Maya pulled off her hat and shook out her hair. "Challenge accepted."

Barnaby barked like he approved, and somewhere in the distance, Maya swore she could hear the sphinx whispering: sometimes the scariest changes lead to the truest answers.