The Sphinx in the Corner

Maya stood against the wall at Jake's party, nursing her phone like it was a lifeline. She felt like a **zombie**—week of finals, three hours of sleep total, and now here she was, socially awkward and fully convinced everyone was judging her nonexistent outfit.

"You look like you're solving a riddle," someone said.

Maya looked up. It was Riley, the new girl with the messy hair and vintage jacket everyone was talking about. She was pointing at the giant foam **sphinx** prop in the corner—Jake's older brother was an Egyptology nerd, apparently.

"Ha, yeah," Maya managed. "Just wondering why there's a giant cat-lady-thing at a high school party."

Riley laughed, and something in Maya's chest did that stupid fluttery thing. "I'm Riley."

"Maya."

"You know," Riley said, leaning closer, "in the myth, the sphinx ate people who couldn't solve her riddle. But I think you'd survive. You seem like you've got answers."

Maya's face heated up. Was Riley flirting? No, definitely not. Maya was overthinking everything, like always.

"I'm mostly good at worrying if people are staring at me," Maya admitted.

Riley's grin turned sly, like a **fox** that had spotted something interesting. "Then stop staring at your phone and talk to me. Unless you'd rather contemplate sphinx philosophy all night?"

Maya actually laughed. And for the first time all night, she stopped feeling like an awkward zombie corpse and just... felt seen.

"Okay," Maya said, pocketing her phone. "But if this sphinx tries to eat me, you're taking the hit."

"Deal." Riley's smile was genuine now. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. We've already survived sophomore year, right?"

Maya grinned back. Yeah. They had. And suddenly, the party didn't feel so scary anymore.