The Sphinx of Homeroom

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she could practically wring them out like a wet sponge. It was only the first Friday of sophomore year, and somehow she'd already managed to become That Girl who tripped in front of everyone during lunch. Her hair had frizzed into something resembling a confused poodle, and she'd literally face-planted while trying to recover.

Now she stood outside the haunted house attraction at the Fall Festival, watching Carlos from AP Bio joke around with his friends. She'd been crushing on him since last year's science fair, when he'd helped her rescue her project from a ceiling fan catastrophe.

"Hey, Maya!" Carlos called, waving her over. His curls were perfect, naturally. "You coming in?"

She wiped her palms on her jeans and nodded. "Yeah, totally. I live for terror."

Inside the dark maze, someone grabbed her arm. She nearly screamed before realizing it was just Carlos, guiding her through a fog of dry ice and purple strobe lights. They reached the final room—a chamber decorated like Egyptian ruins, complete with a papier-mâché sphinx that looked weirdly like their geometry teacher, Mrs. Chen.

"Your heart's racing," Carlos said quietly. Close like this, she could see the constellation of freckles across his nose.

"Nerves," she admitted, suddenly breathless. "I'm not exactly smooth."

The sphinx's eyes lit up red, and a recorded voice boomed: "ANSWER MY RIDDLE OR BE FOREVER DOOMED TO AWKWARDNESS."

They both cracked up, shoulders bumping in the darkness. But then Carlos turned to her, half-smiling. "Okay, here's a real riddle: What's scarier than a haunted house?"

Maya thought about her sweaty palms, her tragic hair, the way she'd been overthinking everything since eighth grade. "Honestly? Being real with someone."

Carlos's smile softened. "Yeah. That's the one." He took her hand, and her heart did something genuinely terrified and genuinely thrilled. "Wanna get nachos? I promise no more riddles."

"Deal." She squeezed his hand back. "But I'm warning you—my salsa-eating skills are also a disaster."

He laughed as they walked into the light. "Good thing I'm patient."