The Sphinx at Sarah's Pool Party

The invitation had been sitting on my nightstand for three days. Sarah Chen's pool party. The Sarah Chen, whose Instagram stories looked like a filtered dream life. I'd been practicing my cool in the mirror, but all I saw was the same awkward Leo with braces that caught the light like a disco ball.

"Just take your vitamin and go," Mom had said that morning, handing me the orange bottle. She meant my actual multivitamin, but I think she also meant whatever confidence supplement existed in the universe.

The party was already in full swing when I arrived. Kids I'd known since middle school were everywhere, looking somehow older and more confident in bathing suits that cost more than my entire wardrobe. I hovered near the snack table, clutching a soda like it was a life preserver.

Then I saw it.

Behind the diving board, between the perfectly landscaped bushes, stood a stone sphinx. Like, an actual Egyptian sphinx statue, maybe five feet tall, its lion body and human head watching over the pool with an expression of eternal judgment. Someone had draped a neon pink lei around its neck.

"Weird, right?"

I jumped. Maya Rodriguez stood next to me, holding a plate of watermelon. We'd been in AP Bio together since September, but we'd never actually spoken.

"Sarah's dad went through his Egyptian phase last summer," Maya said, grinning. "He bought it on eBay. Her mom hates it."

"It's... definitely a choice."

"My mom said if I don't get a B on this next bio test, she's buying me one for my room. Academic motivation through ancient monuments." She popped a piece of watermelon in her mouth. "You're Leo, right? You sit behind me in bio."

"Yeah. You're Maya. You always get the right answers."

"Only because I study way too much." She glanced around the party. "I hate these things. Everyone pretending to be having the time of their lives. Meanwhile, I'm counting down the minutes until I can go home and study."

"Same," I admitted, feeling something in my chest loosen. "I've been hiding by the chips for twenty minutes."

Maya laughed. "Wanna go look at the sphinx? I feel like it's judging everyone's cannonball form."

We spent the rest of the party by the sphinx, making up stories about which partygoers it would curse first. When Sarah's dog peed on its paw, we both laughed until our sides hurt.

As I left, Maya texted me: 'bio study session this week? sphinx not required but appreciated'

I walked home grinning like an idiot. The sphinx had been right about one thing: sometimes the best riddles answer themselves.