The Sphinx at Home Plate

Leo stared at the bathroom mirror, clippers buzzing in his trembling hand. Three inches of hair fell to the tiled floor—dark curls that had defined him since middle school. Goodbye, Leo-the-quiet-kid. Hello, Leo-who-actually-exists.

His mom would flip. But that was tomorrow's problem.

"DUDE," Marcus mouthed when Leo met them at the baseball field the next afternoon. His teammates gathered around like they'd witnessed a car crash. "You look like... honestly? Kind of sick."

Leo exhaled. The varsity baseball team circled him, somebody's hand ruffling his newly-buzzed head. It felt weirdly good, like being seen for the first time.

"Your hair, man," said Carlos, shaking his head. "You went full main character energy."

The game dragged on—bottom of the ninth, sweat running down Leo's back, Coach yelling something about focus. Then he saw her.

The new girl. Skipped school twice this week already. Perched on the bleachers behind home plate, something strange curled in her lap.

A cat. But not like—normal. Hairless, wrinkled, ancient-looking.

Leo's gaze kept drifting to her during his at-bats. Strike one. Strike two. Then he connected, the ball soaring past the infield.

"ROOKIE OF THE YEAR," someone screamed as he rounded third.

After the game, he found himself drifting toward the bleachers where she sat. The cat regarded him with undisguised judgment.

"That's a sphinx," she said, following his gaze. "Her name's Riddle."

"I'm Leo."

"I know," she said, scratching behind the cat's massive ears. "You're the guy who shaved his head and then hit a double. Everyone's talking about it."

Leo felt his face heat up. "It's just hair."

"Maybe." She tilted her head, considering him. "Or maybe you're done being nobody."

Riddle the sphinx cat blinked slowly, as if granting her approval.

"Want to get food?" Leo heard himself ask. "There's this place—"

"Only if you're buying," she said, standing up with the cat draped like a stole around her shoulders. "Riddle's expensive."

As they walked away from the baseball field under the stadium lights, Leo thought about how three days ago, his life had been perfectly normal. How sometimes you have to cut away everything you thought you were supposed to be, to figure out who you actually are.

The sphinx cat purred against his neck, and for the first time in forever, Leo felt like himself.