The Sphinx by the Pool

The party was already mid when Maya showed up, fashionably late and regretting everything. Some random senior's house—she didn't even know whose, just that everyone was going to be there. She'd spent forty-five minutes picking her outfit, only to realize she'd forgotten her phone in her dad's car.

The backyard was chaos. People cannonballing into the pool, music bumping from somewhere, laughter cutting through the humidity. Maya stood there feeling extra awkward, clutching her solo cup like it was a lifeline.

That's when she saw it—the sphinx statue. Weirdly placed by the pool edge, half-hidden behind a cluster of party-goers. Some decorative thing, probably expensive. She'd been reading about the Great Sphinx in history class all week, something about riddles and ancient secrets, and here it was glowing softly under the string lights.

"Yo, you gonna stare at it all night or what?"

Maya jumped. A guy with the most ridiculous bucket hat she'd ever seen was standing there, grinning like he knew something she didn't.

"It's just... interesting," she managed, feeling her face heat up. Why was she like this?

"That's Mr. Henderson's prized possession," Bucket Hat said, dropping his voice dramatically. "Rumor has it, if you make a wish at midnight, it actually comes true."

Maya rolled her eyes but she was smiling now. "Yeah, right. What did you wish for?"

"Can't tell you or it won't come true." He winked. "I'm Leo, by the way."

"Maya."

They talked for what felt like five minutes but was probably thirty. About school, about how weird it was being juniors, about how neither of them really fit into any particular crowd. Maya found herself actually laughing, not fake-laughing, and it caught her off guard. When was the last time she'd felt this comfortable with someone she'd just met?

Then it happened—lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating everything in this weird purple flash. Everyone screamed.

"Party's over!" someone yelled, and suddenly everyone was scrambling for their stuff.

Maya's phone was still in her dad's car. She hadn't even gotten Leo's number or anything.

"Wait!" Leo grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "The sphinx! Make a wish!"

"You seriously believe that stuff?" But she closed her eyes anyway, wished something she'd never admit out loud.

When she opened her eyes, Leo was gone. Just... vanished.

She found him later, though. He was by the front gate, trying to wrangle his cat—some calico that had apparently escaped his house and followed him to the party. The cat was NOT having it.

"That's your cat?" Maya couldn't help it, she was full-on laughing now.

"Her name's Sphinx," Leo said miserably, trying to scoop her up while getting clawed. "And yes, I'm that person who brings their cat to parties. No, I didn't mean to. She's an escape artist."

Maya helped him catch the cat, their hands brushing, and it was cheesy and predictable and her heart did this thing she'd only read about in books. She got his number this time. The sphinx statue by the pool sat there like it knew something they didn't.

Sometimes the best wishes are the ones you don't even know you're making.