The Sphinx of Junior Year

Maya pulled her beanie **hat** lower, hoping it would somehow make her invisible. It didn't. The junior party raged around her, bodies moving to bass-heavy music that vibrated in her chest. She clutched her **iPhone** like a lifeline, scrolling through absolutely nothing just to look busy.

"Maya! You actually came!" Jenna appeared, flanked by the varsity crowd. "You're not gonna hide in the corner all night, right?"

"Just... taking it in," Maya lied. Her phone buzzed—her mom asking if she'd eaten. She'd promised to try the **spinach** artichoke dip earlier, a weird peace offering after their fight about Maya "never leaving her room."

Then she saw him. Lucas. The guy she'd been lowkey obsessed with since September, standing by the snack table like he'd rather be literally anywhere else. He wore this ridiculous party store **sphinx** mask—like, the full Egyptian thing with the weird human-animal hybrid face.

"What are you supposed to be?" someone asked.

"A sphinx," Lucas said, deadpan. "I riddle people who try to get dip."

Maya snorted. She couldn't help it.

Lucas turned. The sphinx face locked eyes with her. "What?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just... you're like a cryptic grocery store attendant."

He cracked a smile behind the mask. "Want a riddle?"

"Sure."

"What's green and gross but everyone pretends to like it?"

"Spinach," Maya guessed.

"Spinach artichoke dip," he corrected. "It's basically melted spinach with extra steps."

They stood there talking for twenty minutes. About how they both felt like **zombie**s most of the time, just going through motions at school. About how masks were easier than faces. About how Maya's hat was her security blanket and Lucas's sphinx thing was supposed to be ironic but now he couldn't take it off because it would be weird.

"Hey," Lucas said, "you want to get out of here? There's this 24-hour diner that has actual good food."

Maya looked at her phone. Twelve texts from friends asking where she was. Two from her mom. And suddenly none of it mattered.

"Yeah," she said, pulling off her hat. "Yeah, I do."

The sphinx and the girl without her hat walked out into the night air, leaving the party behind. For the first time all year, Maya didn't feel like pretending anymore.