The Riddle of Freshman Year

Maya's hair had betrayed her. Sometime between third period and lunch, her perfectly straightened layers had morphed into a frizzy disaster that made her look like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket. Great. Just what she needed on the day of baseball tryouts.

"Nice hair, Medusa," called Tyler from the bottom of the social pyramid, where the band kids and debate team reigned supreme. Maya flipped him off, which was easier than explaining that yes, she knew it looked terrible, and no, she didn't have time to fix it because she was late for the most important tryouts of her life.

Her beagle mix, Barnaby, would never judge her hair. Or her batting average. Or the fact that she'd spent all morning memorizing facts about the Great Sphinx of Giza for her World History presentation instead of practicing her swing.

Coach Miller blew his whistle. "Batter up!"

Maya stepped to the plate, heart hammering like someone had replaced it with a bass drum. The sphinx riddle from history class echoed in her head: *What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?* Answer: Man.

But here was her riddle: What walks on two legs, strikes out looking like a poodle exploded on her head, and still makes varsity?

The pitch came—high and outside. Ball one.

"Just hit it, Sphinx-face," Tyler yelled.

Something snapped. Maya didn't think about her hair or the social pyramid or the fact that everyone was watching. She just swung.

*CRACK.*

The ball sailed over the left fielder's head and kept going. Maya dropped the bat and stared, but this time she was running toward her teammates instead of away from them.

"Nice hit, Medusa," Tyler said, but his grin was genuine.

"The name's Maya," she called back, "and I'm pretty sure Medusa would've struck out."

That night, Barnaby met her at the door, tail wagging like he'd never had a doubt. Maya buried her hands in his fur, her hair a wild mess again, her palms still stinging from the bat. Whatever riddles high school threw at her next, she'd figure them out. She always did.