The Sphinx at the Deep End

The chlorine stung my nose before I even walked through the gate. Another weekend, another pool party where I'd spend two hours holding the same red plastic cup, pretending my phone was the most fascinating thing on earth.

I adjusted my bucket hat—my armor, my security blanket, my literal and metaphorical shield against the universe. Without it, I felt exposed. Like a turtle flipped on its back.

"Yo, Maya! You gonna stand there all day or actually get in?" Marcus called from the water, doing that thing where he splashed everyone in a ten-foot radius.

"Working up to it!" I lied. I wasn't working up to anything. I was working up to leaving early, actually.

And then I saw her.

Chloe sat on the diving board, legs dangling, wearing this vintage trucker hat that shouldn't have worked but absolutely did. Everyone called her "the Sphinx" behind her back because she was impossible to read—this gorgeous, mysterious puzzle that nobody could solve. She'd transferred to our school three months ago and immediately established herself as the person everyone wanted to be or be with.

Our eyes met. I swear my heart did that thing where it forgets how to heart.

She slid off the diving board and walked toward me, droplets of water catching the sunlight like diamonds on her skin. "Nice hat," she said, tapping the brim of mine.

My brain short-circuited. "Thanks! I mean, yours too! I mean—" Smooth, Maya. Award-winning social skills.

Chloe laughed. Not the mean laugh I'd expected. Actually genuine. "I was gonna ask where you got it, but I'm sensing you need like, five minutes to recover first."

"That would be ideal, yes."

"Cool." She dropped down beside me, crossing her legs. "I'll wait. This party's boring anyway. Marcus has been trying to teach everyone how to swan dive for an hour and nobody has succeeded yet."

And there it was—the Sphinx wasn't a riddle to solve. She was just a person who hated bad diving attempts as much as I did.

"I'm Maya," I said, finally finding my words.

"Chloe." She tilted her head. "You wanna get out of here? There's this boba place down the street."

I looked at my cup. At the pool. At Marcus failing another dive.

Then I took off my hat.

"Absolutely."