The Sphinx By The Lockers

The orange hallway lights flickered, casting everything in this weird, sickly glow that made Thursday afternoons feel like the end of the world. I was practically speed-walking to my locker, head down, hoodie up, doing my standard please-don't-notice-me shuffle, when I literally almost crashed into her.

She was sitting on the floor next to the janitor's closet, legs crossed, wearing this insane papier-mâché sphinx head that someone had probably spent three weeks making for drama club. The thing had these exaggerated eyelashes painted in gold and this terrifyingly knowing smile.

"You're late," the sphinx said.

I froze. "Uh, what?"

"The bell rang six minutes ago. Everyone else is already at practice or whatever." The sphinx shifted, and I realized it was Maya, from my English class. The one who always sat in the back and wrote in a leather notebook. The one I'd been low-key wanting to talk to since September but never had the guts to actually approach.

"Yeah, well," I managed, leaning against the lockers because suddenly my legs weren't working properly. "I take the long way. Avoid thecafeteria chaos. You know how it gets."

Maya's face appeared from behind the sphinx as she lifted the headpiece. She had this tiny, secretive smile that made my stomach do actual gymnastics. "I know how it gets. That's why I'm out here. In costume. Because apparently this is what I do with my Thursday afternoons now."

She held out an orange. "Want a segment? It's really good. I stole it from the cafeteria fruit bowl before the lunch lady could judge me."

I took it. Our fingers brushed for like half a second, and I felt this electric jolt that was absolutely pathetic but also very real.

"So," Maya said, tilting her head. "What's your answer?"

"To what?"

"The riddle." She gestured to the sphinx head. "I'm literally a sphinx right now. I have to ask you something. It's, like, mandatory. Sphinx rules."

I laughed, and it came out weird and strangled but she didn't seem to mind. "Okay. Hit me with your worst."

She studied me for this long moment, like she was actually considering something important. Then: "What's something everyone says they want, but almost nobody actually knows what to do with once they have it?"

I thought about it. Really thought. The orange segment was tart and perfect in my mouth. The hallway was empty and quiet in this way it never was during school hours, like we'd stepped outside of time for a minute.

"Freedom," I said finally. "Or maybe... a friend who actually gets it."

Maya's smile got bigger. "Correct. Both work. You're surprisingly good at this."

"I'm surprisingly full of surprises," I said, and immediately wanted to die because what even was that sentence.

But Maya just laughed, this genuine sound that echoed off the lockers. "Good. Because I was thinking, next Thursday, maybe you could be late again. On purpose. And I could bring another orange."

"I think," I said, "that could definitely be arranged."

The sphinx head went back on. The hallway lights flickered again. But suddenly Thursday didn't feel like the end of the world anymore. It felt like the start of something I hadn't even known I was waiting for.