The Sphinx at Sunset Cove

The pool party at Maya's house was supposed to be lit, but I was stuck in the corner nursing a warm soda, convinced everyone could see the pool floatie wrapped around my waist—a giant, inflatable sphinx I'd grabbed as a joke but now couldn't escape without looking like a total loser.

Maya's cousin Liam was by the edge of the water, laughing with his friends, while my bestie Jenna kept texting me from across the pool: "JUST TALK TO HIM ALREADY" followed by about 47 fox emojis because apparently that was her way of calling him hot without saying it.

I adjusted my sphinx-shaped companion—which was honestly giving me the weirdest thigh huggies—and considered my life choices. This was supposed to be the summer where I finally came out of my shell, but so far I'd mostly just floated inside various pieces of inflatable plastic.

"Nice sphinx," someone said.

I jumped, and the sphinx bobbed. It was Liam. Standing right there. Up close, his eyes were the color of the deep end, and I suddenly understood the appeal of the whole swimming thing because I was definitely drowning.

"Oh, yeah," I managed. "It's... conversational?"

He laughed, and somehow we ended up talking about everything and nothing—his weird obsession with Egyptian mythology, my fear of basically all social interaction, the way he kept calling me "clever" like it was a compliment instead of something I got bullied for in sixth grade.

"My uncle has a real sphinx in his garden," he said. "Well, a replica. But he makes everyone solve a riddle before they can come in."

I perked up. "What kind of riddle?"

But then Jenna cannonballed into the pool, splashing water everywhere, and Liam got pulled away by his friends. I never did find out about the riddle.

Later, as I wrangled the deflating sphinx into Maya's garage, my phone buzzed.

From unknown number: "This is Liam. Maya gave me your number. The riddle is: What's the one thing that can make you feel like you're drowning even when you're perfectly safe on dry land?"

I stared at my screen. The answer hit me so hard it almost knocked me over.

"A crush?"

He sent back a fox emoji. "Close. Nerves. But same thing, honestly."

I lay back on the garage floor, my heart doing something that felt suspiciously like swimming laps without water. Maybe this summer wasn't going to be so terrible after all.