The Sphinx in the Basement

Maya stood outside Jordan's house, clutching her phone like a lifeline. Her palms were sweating, and she was seriously considering texting that she'd come down with a sudden case of mono. This was IT – her first actual high school party. The kind everyone would be talking about on Monday.

"You got this," she whispered, popping a gummy vitamin from her pocket. Her older sister swore they helped with "social anxiety vibes" – honestly, it was probably placebo, but Maya needed all the help she could get.

The bass thumped through the door as she stepped inside. Immediately overwhelmed, she ducked into the nearest empty room – which turned out to be the basement. That's when she saw it.

A cat. But not like any cat she'd ever seen. Hairless, wrinkly, with enormous ears – it looked like something from another planet.

"That's Captain Smooth," a voice said behind her. She jumped. It was Jordan's weirdly quiet friend, River, holding a red Solo cup. "He's a sphynx."

"A sphynx? Like... the riddle thing?"

"No, that's Sphinx." River sat cross-legged on the floor, and the cat immediately crawled into their lap. "Sphynx cat. Different spelling."

Maya hesitated, then sat too. The basement was actually kind of peaceful compared to upstairs. They talked about nothing and everything – River's obsession with cryptids, Maya's secret dream to be a voice actor, how they both felt like they were constantly faking being normal.

"The ancient Sphinx had that riddle, right?" River said suddenly. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, three in the evening..."

"Man," Maya completed.

"Exactly. We're all just figuring out how to walk on whatever number of legs." River passed them a bag of chips. "Hey, do you wanna stay down here? I was honestly about to hide for the rest of the night."

Maya's phone buzzed – her friends asking where she was. She looked at Captain Smooth, currently making biscuits on River's sweatshirt, then at River, who was somehow cooler than anyone upstairs simply by NOT trying.

"Actually," Maya said, a genuine smile spreading across her face, "I think I'm good here."