The Sphinx at Midnight Pool

Finals week had turned us all into zombies — honestly, I was running on three hours of sleep and approximately seven iced coffees. When Maya texted 'escape mission tonight?' at 11 PM, I obviously said yes. Anything was better than staring at my AP Euro flashcard anymore.

Our destination? The abandoned Crestview Pool. Supposedly haunted, definitely trespassing, and exactly what we needed.

The chain-link fence was already cut when we arrived. ' Someone else had the same idea,' Liam whispered, kicking it open with his Vans.

The pool was bone dry, leaves swirling in the bottom like a miniature autumn. The guard tower rose above it like a forgotten watchtower. And there, half-buried in debris near the diving board, was this weird stone statue thing — a sphinx, weathered and chipped, staring blankly at nothing.

'Okay, that's creepy,' said Jace, who'd been silent since we left his house. His parents were going through *that* kind of divorce, and he'd checked out weeks ago.

We sat at the pool's edge, legs dangling. Maya passed around a soda she'd swiped from her garage fridge. This was our thing now — these little midnight rebellions. Middle school felt like a lifetime ago, when our biggest problem was whether Tyler would invite us to his birthday pool party. Now Tyler was dealing weed and we were sneaking into abandoned pools just to feel something.

Then we saw the fox.

It appeared at the far end of the pool, sleek and rust-red, moving like liquid moonlight. It stopped near the sphinx statue, ears perked, watching us with eyes that held zero fear.

'Holy crap,' Liam breathed. We all froze. The fox tilted its head, almost curiously, before padding silently into the shadows beyond the fence.

For a minute, nobody spoke. The moment felt sacred somehow.

'You think it lives here?' Jace asked, and his voice sounded different — less checked-out, more present.

'Maybe,' I said. 'Maybe it's guarding the sphinx.'

Maya snorted. 'You're such a nerd.' But she was smiling.

We stayed another hour, talking about everything and nothing. Jace finally opened up about the divorce. We all complained about college applications. For the first time in weeks, I didn't feel like a zombie anymore.

The flashlight beam of a security guard sent us running — scrambling over the fence, breathless and laughing, sprinting through the suburban streets until our lungs burned.

Back in my room at 2 AM, I finally looked at my phone. A group text from Maya: 'same time next week?'

I fell asleep smiling. The sphinx and the fox could stay at the pool. We'd be back.