The Sphinx Behind the Bleachers

Maya ducked behind the bleachers, heart pounding like a bass drop at homecoming. The cafeteria was a social minefield today, and her vitamin C deficiency panic attack earlier had definitely been witnessed by at least three varsity jackets and one ex-best friend.

She'd turned the color of a fluorescent orange highlighter during English thanks to her newest supplement obsession—her mom swore these "immunity boosters" were basically magic, but Maya's stomach disagreed. Loudly. During silent reading.

"Riddle me this," came a voice from the shadows.

Maya jumped. Leo, the quiet transfer student who sat behind her in AP Bio, emerged from behind the equipment shed. He was wearing that same orange beanie he never took off, even indoors.

"What?" she snapped, then remembered her social skills were currently MIA. "Sorry. Long day."

"You're hiding," Leo said, tilting his head like a curious cat. "Like a sphinx guarding secrets. What's yours?"

Maya blinked. "My what?"

"Your riddle." He sat on the grass, patting the spot beside him. "Everyone's got one. Mine's: why do we pretend to care about things that don't matter?"

"That's not really a riddle."

"Sure it is." Leo cracked a grin. "But you're avoiding the question."

Maya sank down beside him, her orange-tinted cheeks finally cooling. She told him everything—how she'd started taking weird vitamins because an Instagram influencer said they'd make her glow, how her friends had started ghosting her when she got too weird about it, how she was terrified of becoming invisible.

"So that's my sphinx riddle," she finished. "How do I stop being desperate without losing myself completely?"

Leo considered this, pulling an actual orange from his backpack. "You don't. You just find better things to be desperate about." He peeled it. "Like this orange. It's perfect. Never tried to be anything else."

"That's the worst advice I've ever heard."

"But it worked, didn't it?" He handed her a slice. "You're smiling now."

Maya looked at the orange wedge in her hand, juice catching the afternoon light. "You're weird, Leo."

"I know." He stood, brushing grass from his jeans. "See you in Bio tomorrow. Don't forget your vitamins."

Maya watched him go, then popped the orange slice into her mouth. Tart. Bright. Exactly what it was supposed to be.

Maybe that was the point.

Her phone buzzed—her group chat lighting up with weekend plans. This time, she didn't hesitate before typing back. The sphinx had spoken, and somehow, she'd passed the test.