The Sphinx at the Pool

Max hated summer swim practice. Mostly because it meant wearing a swimsuit in front of everyone, but also because his mom had decided this was the summer he'd get "healthy" which meant sandwiches with spinach that always got stuck in his teeth.

The community pool smelled like chlorine and teenage anxiety. Max's heart thumped as he spotted Maya Reyes across the deck—the senior everyone called "the Sphinx" because she was gorgeous, mysterious, and apparently didn't speak to anyone outside her elite friend group.

She caught him staring. Max immediately focused intensely on his sandwich, praying there wasn't spinach in his teeth. Why had he agreed to this? He was terrible at sports, awkward around girls, and now he was probably about to have spinach stuck in his teeth while ogling the most popular girl in school.

"You're Max, right?"

He froze. Maya was standing over him, dripping wet, her dark sleeked-back hair making her look even more intimidatingly perfect. Max's brain short-circuited.

"Uh. Yeah. That's me. Max. I'm Max."

Smooth. Real smooth.

"We need a fourth for the medley relay," she said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "You in?"

"Wait, what?"

"The relay. We're down a swimmer. You got butterfly?"

"I... I mean, I can try?"

Maya's lips curved into this tiny, genuine smile that made Max's stomach do something embarrassing. "Cool. Warm up, Sphinx. You're swimming anchor."

His heart nearly stopped. She'd nicknamed him. The Sphinx. Like her.

Twenty minutes later, Max touched the wall, chest heaving, legs burning, but he'd done it. He'd swum the final leg and they'd won.

Maya high-fived him, water droplets flying everywhere. "Nice work, Sphinx. Not bad for a rookie."

Then she leaned in close, like she was telling him a secret. "Also, you had spinach in your teeth the whole time."

Max's face burned.

"I'm kidding," she winked. "But next time your mom packs that healthy stuff, maybe check a mirror first?"

Max laughed, something loosening in his chest. Maybe summer wasn't going to be so terrible after all.