The Sphinx of Saturday Night

Maya stood against the kitchen island, clutching her red Solo cup like it was a lifeline. Jordan's house party raged around her — bass thumping through the walls, people she'd known since middle school now transformed into unfamiliar creatures with too much eyeliner and not enough sense.

She'd spent three hours getting ready, only to feel like the world's most awkward **sphinx** — silent, enigmatic, mostly because she couldn't think of a single cool thing to say. Across the room, Chelsea and her squad performed their weekly ritual of dissecting someone's outfit. Maya checked her phone for the twentieth time. Nothing from Kai.

"Maya!" Chelsea's voice cut through the bass. "Didn't think you'd come."

Maya forced a smile. "Surprise."

Chelsea's eyes dropped to Maya's wrist. "What's that band-aid from?"

"Nothing."

"Looks deep."

Chelsea's friends giggled. Maya felt her face burn.

"Maya!"

Kai burst through the back door, trailed by Mrs. Gable's overweight orange tabby. The **cat** trotted in like he owned the place, tail held high.

"Oh my GOD," Chelsea shrieked. "Is that—"

"Barnaby escaped," Kai said breathlessly. "Maya, I need your help. Like, actually."

"With what?"

"He got into Mrs. Gable's bathroom. Ate her entire bottle of prenatal **vitamin** supplements." Kai gestured wildly. "He's puking everywhere. She's losing her mind. I can't handle barf. You're good with animals."

Chelsea's mouth hung open.

"Go," Maya told her, already moving toward the door.

Chelsea hesitated, then disappeared into the crowd.

They found Mrs. Gable in the hallway, clutching her robe. Barnaby was indeed hacking up orange foam on her welcome mat. Behind her door, Maya could hear frantic barking.

"Is that—" Maya started.

"Pepper," Mrs. Gable said miserably. "My **dog**. She's terrified."

Maya dropped to her knees beside Barnaby, cooing soft nonsense while Kai wrestled the cat into a towel. Mrs. Gable's panic faded into relief.

"You kids," she said, watching them work. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Twenty minutes later, Barnaby was home, Pepper was calm, and Maya and Kai sat on Mrs. Gable's front steps, sharing a container of cold fries.

"So," Kai said around a mouthful of food. "You still want to go to that party?"

Maya checked her phone. Chelsea had posted three stories about her rescue mission. #BestFriendGoals.

"Actually," Maya said, "I think I'm good."

"Same." Kai grinned. "Wanna walk to the park instead?"

"Yes. Please."

They left together under streetlights, leaving behind the bass and the Solo cups and the sphinx-like silence that had trapped her all night. Tomorrow, Chelsea would pretend this never happened. But right now, Maya's hands smelled like cat and her clothes smelled like fries, and for the first time all night, she didn't feel like watching everyone else live. She felt like living too.