The Sphinx at Sunset

Leo's palms were sweating through his pockets, gross and obvious, as he leaned against the garage at Tyler's graduation kickoff party. Somewhere nearby, someone's golden retriever—Buster, maybe—was barking at nothing, because dogs are just built different like that.

Across the yard, Shayla was laughing with the varsity crew, her fox-red hair catching the sunset like she was glowing on purpose. Leo adjusted his baseball cap, trying to look casual instead of like he'd been staring at her for twenty minutes straight.

"You're being weird," said Maya, appearing with two Solo cups. "Again."

"I'm not being weird," Leo said, accepting the offered soda. "I'm being... contemplative."

"You're being a creep," Maya corrected, but gently. "Just talk to her. She broke up with Jake two weeks ago. She's literally free real estate."

"That is not a thing people say anymore," Leo protested. "Also, Jake is literally built like a Greek god and I am built like a guy who plays too much Elden Ring."

As if on cue, a sphinx moth the size of Leo's face descended from the oak tree, hovering drunkenly near the porch light. Shayla noticed it first, pointing with genuine excitement, and suddenly Leo wasn't staring at her from across the yard—he was standing beside her, watching this magnificent, weird creature bump against the bulb.

"It's a sphinx moth," Leo heard himself say. "They're supposed to be omens. Like, transformation and stuff."

Shayla turned to him, her eyes bright with something that might have been interest. "You know random bug facts?"

"My dad's an entomologist," Leo said. "I have no choice but to know random bug facts. It's a burden."

She laughed, and it was better than the laugh she'd given the varsity crew. "Show me more bug facts sometime?"

"Yeah," Leo said, and his palms stopped sweating. "Yeah, I can do that."

The dog barked again, approvingly. The sphinx moth disappeared into the night. Leo texted Maya from his pocket: *ur not gonna believe this*.