The Sphinx in the Cafeteria

Lena's iPhone screen glowed with the notification that changed everything: *You've been challenged by Sphinx._X99.*

"Who's Sphinx_X99?" Maya asked, leaning across the cafeteria table. Her ketchup-smeared tray slid precariously.

"The mystery player," Lena whispered, dramatically. "They've been challenging people to riddles all week. If you win, you get crowned. If you lose, your social life is basically over."

Maya rolled her eyes. "That's stupid."

"Says the girl who's been staring at Caleb from Honors English for three months." Lena wiggled her eyebrows. "This is your chance. Sphinx_X99 just challenged you. Accept it, win, and everyone's talking about you. Including Caleb."

The notification blinked: *What has four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?*

"That's the classic sphinx riddle," Maya said. "Man. Baby to adult to old person with a cane."

She typed the answer. Her heart pounded for no logical reason.

*Correct,* came the reply. *Round two: What breaks when you say it?*

"Silence," Maya typed.

*Correct. Final round: What can you catch but not throw?*

Maya hesitated. A cold?

Then she remembered her dog, Buster, waiting at home, probably sleeping on her homework again. He'd been her constant through the divorce, through the move to this new school where she still felt like an outsider.

She typed: *A cold.*

*Wrong,* Sphinx_X99 replied. *The answer is 'your breath.' But... I'll give you partial credit because colds are technically airborne. You're the first person to make it to round three. Want to meet?*

Maya's stomach did that thing it did when something huge was about to happen. She looked across the cafeteria at Caleb, who was laughing with his friends at the popular table. Why was she doing this again?

Then she remembered Buster waiting at home, loyal and uncomplicated. Why did she need some dramatic game to prove she was worth noticing?

"Actually," Lena said, reading over her shoulder, "Sphinx_X99's profile pic kinda looks like..."

Maya clicked on the profile. The avatar was a dog. A French bulldog.

"No way," Maya said.

"That's Caleb's dog," Lena whispered. "He posts about her constantly."

Maya stared at the screen. The boy she'd been crushing on for months had been challenging people to riddles online. For fun. Just for the weird joy of it.

She typed: *Your dog's name is Pickles, isn't it?*

Across the cafeteria, Caleb's phone buzzed. He looked up, spotted her, and smiled.

Lena squealed. "You're welcome."

Maya's charging cable dangled from her backpack, forgotten. She didn't need it to feel connected anymore.