The Riddle in the Orange Grove

Maya stood in the middle of the Orange Grove, the one place behind school where nobody went unless they were skipping fourth period or hiding from something. She'd done both. The citrus scent hung thick in the September air, and her newly dyed orange hair — a chaotic impulse decision after her first real heartbreak — caught the golden hour light filtering through the leaves.

"You look like a traffic cone that's questioning its life choices," said someone behind her.

Maya turned to see Leo, who'd sat behind her in English since freshman year. The one who always drew sphinxes in the margins of his notebook and never spoke to anyone except his dog, a terrifyingly chihuahua named Zeus he brought everywhere on a leash.

"Thanks," Maya said. "That's exactly what I was going for."

"That riddle thing," Leo said suddenly, leaning against an orange tree. "The sphinx's riddle. What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, three in the evening."

"Man," Maya said. "Everyone knows that one."

"Yeah but like," Leo gestured vaguely, "maybe it's not about stages of life. Maybe it's about how we're all different people at different times of day. Morning-me is a whole different person than 3am-meltdown-me."

Maya blinked. "Huh."

"I'm just saying," Leo shrugged, "maybe the sphinx wasn't asking 'what are you.' Maybe she was asking 'who are you right now.'"

Zeus barked, like he understood everything.

Maya looked at her orange reflection in Leo's phone screen when he pulled it out. Last week she'd been someone who'd never even considered dyeing her hair. Last month she'd been someone who thought she'd be with Jordan forever.

"Who am I right now?" she whispered.

"Someone brave enough to sit in the Orange Grove during fourth period," Leo said. "Someone who let me talk about sphinxes for five minutes without looking at me like I'm weird."

"You are weird," Maya grinned, "but like, in a good way."

"I'll take it."

The bell rang. They didn't move immediately.

"Hey," Maya said, "wanna skip fifth too? I have Cheetos in my bag."

"Always," Leo said, and somehow everything felt different — not solved, exactly, but like they were both becoming someone new, together.