The Riddle of Midnight Skating

Maya crouched behind the dumpster behind the roller rink, her breath ghosting in the October chill. Being a spy wasn't exactly how she'd planned to spend her Friday night, but when your best friend texts you "EMERGENCY. 911. BRING SNACKS," you show up.

Her cat, Barnaby, wound around her ankles like he was trying to convince her that life was better inside with takeout and Netflix. "Not tonight, bud," she whispered, scratching behind his ears. Barnaby was technically her emotional support animal, though she'd mostly filled out the paperwork because her mom thought it would "help with the anxiety" — which was rich, considering the anxiety mostly came from her mom.

Through the rink's back door, she caught flashes of neon and the muffled bass of a song everyone at school was obsessed with. Maya had done her time as social media spy, lurking on Instagram stories and overanalyzing who liked what. But tonight she was here in 4K resolution.

She spotted them immediately: Skylar and the new guy, Liam, sitting on a bench by the snack bar. Skylar's laugh carried across the rink — that genuine one she only used when she was nervous. Maya had known Skylar since second grade, back when they'd dressed up as sphinxes for Halloween because they both loved riddles and thought they looked "mysterious and ancient." Now Skylar was out here acting like meeting a boy was the riddle she couldn't solve.

"Should I go talk to him?" Skylar was saying, her voice weirdly loud over the music. "What if he thinks I'm weird?"

"Bro, you literally made us study Egyptian mythology for three weeks straight last month," Liam said. "If you're weird, I'm weird too."

Maya almost dropped the chips she'd brought. That smooth? From the new guy? Actually? She watched as Skylar's shoulders dropped, like she'd been carrying something heavy and finally set it down.

"You like ancient stuff too?" Skylar asked.

"My uncle's an archaeologist. I grew up on stories about tombs and curses and that one statue with the human head and lion body —"

"The Sphinx!" Skylar practically shouted, and then they were both laughing, their knees touching, and Maya realized she'd been forgiven for not knowing everything about college applications and GPAs and whatever else had made her feel like a fraud at lunch yesterday.

Barnaby meowed, like, *can we go now?*

Yeah, they could go. Maya slipped back into the night, grinning so hard her face hurt. Some sphinx-type mystery had been solved tonight, even if she wasn't exactly sure what it was. But tomorrow? Tomorrow she'd ask Skylar everything. And maybe — just maybe — she'd finally tell Skylar about the poetry she'd been writing, the stuff that felt like trying to solve a riddle without knowing the question.

The world was full of mysteries. But at least she had snacks, a cat who tolerated her spy missions, and friends who made even the weirdest Friday nights feel like exactly where she was supposed to be.