The Sphinx by the Deep End

Leo sat on the edge of the pool, legs dangling in the water while everyone else splashed and screamed. It was Tyler's birthday rager, and somehow Leo—quiet, invisible Leo—had scored an invite. Probably because his older sister was dating Tyler's cousin.

Across the pool, Chloe Reynolds lay posed like a sphinx on a lounge chair, elbow bent, chin resting on her palm, watching everything with those calculating eyes that made everyone nervous. Someone had nicknamed her "the Sphinx" last year because she knew everyone's secrets but never spoke. Until she chose to.

"Hey, Sphinx," Leo muttered under his breath. He'd always hated that word. Sounded like something you'd find in a museum, not a high school.

Suddenly, commotion by the fence. A golden retriever burst through the bushes, barking wildly, and lept straight into the pool with a magnificent splash.

"BARNABY!" Leo yelled, scrambling up. His family's dog. His dad must have left the gate open again.

The dog paddled happily toward the shrieking group of sophomores, who were climbing onto each other's shoulders like terrified extras in a monster movie. Barnaby thought this was the best game ever.

Chloe sat up, sphinx pose abandoned, watching with something like amusement.

Leo waded into the water, grabbed Barnaby's collar, and hauled him toward the edge. "Sorry, sorry," he mumbled to the crowd. His face burned hotter than the July sun.

"That's your dog?" Chloe called from her lounge chair.

Leo nodded, water dripping from his hair. "Yeah. He's... escape artist."

She laughed. Not mean. Real. "He's got better social skills than half the people here."

Their eyes met across the rippling water. And for the first time, the Sphinx didn't look mysterious. She looked like a girl who was tired of pretending to be something she wasn't.

"Wanna help me dry him off?" Leo asked, surprising himself.

Chloe slid off the lounge chair. "Sure."

As they towel-dried a very pleased Barnaby under the oak tree, Leo realized something: the Sphinx had a riddle after all. And maybe, just maybe, he was part of the answer.