The Sphinx at Sunset

Leo's thrift store fedora sat perched on his head like a nervous animal. Three bucks well spent, or so he'd told himself. Tonight, it was his armor against the terrifying reality of Maya's end-of-summer party.

His palms were already sweating. He wiped them on his jeans—again.

"You good, bro?" Jay appeared beside him, holding two sodas. "You look like you're about to face a firing squad."

"I'm good," Leo lied. "Just vibing."

"Right." Jay handed him a soda. "Maya's been asking about you. Just so you know."

Leo's heart did something complicated. Maya. The one with the smile that made his brain turn to static. The one he'd been low-key obsessed with since freshman orientation.

The party was in Maya's backyard, strung with fairy lights that turned everything golden and dreamlike. Someone had set up a weird photo booth area with an Egyptian theme—prop pyramids, a papier-mâché sphinx that looked oddly wise despite its googly eyes.

Leo found himself near it, nursing his drink, when Maya appeared. She was wearing this vintage dress that made her look like she'd stepped out of a different decade.

"Nice hat," she said.

"Thanks." His voice cracked. Smooth. "It's my signature look."

Maya laughed, and it was better than he'd imagined. "So, Leo, truth or truth?"

"Truth?"

"The sphinx demands answers." She gestured at the prop. "Ancient Egyptian tradition. Very real. Look it up."

He laughed. "Okay. Truth."

"What's the deal with the hat? You've been wearing it since school started."

Leo considered lying. But Maya was looking at him with these eyes that seemed to see straight through everything. So he took it off.

"Honestly? It makes me feel brave. Which is pathetic."

"It's not pathetic." She stepped closer. "I have something too."

She held out her hand. "Read my palm."

"What?"

"My grandma taught me. She was super into all that mystical stuff." She smiled, almost shy. "I'm supposed to be able to tell things about people. But I mostly make it up."

Leo took her hand. His palm stopped sweating. The world narrowed to this: Maya's hand in his, the crickets starting up in the darkness, the sphinx watching them with its googly eyes.

"Hmm," he said, tracing the lines on her palm like he knew what he was doing. "I see... you're going to meet someone really great tonight."

Maya grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Someone who might finally take off his stupid hat."

She leaned in and kissed him, and somewhere in the darkness, the sphinx approved.