The Sphinx's Last Riddle

Maya's orange hair was practically glowing under the gymnasium lights, or maybe that was just her anxiety radiating outward. She'd bleached it herself last week because the YouTube tutorial made it look easy. It was not easy. Now she looked like a traffic cone that had seen better days.

"You look... intentional," said Leo, leaning against the punch bowl like he owned it. Leo, whose hair somehow always fell perfectly across his forehead, whose vintage band tees were actually vintage and not from Urban Outfitters' distressed collection. Leo, who'd called her "Fox" back in eighth grade because she was "sly and quick-witted," which was honestly the nicest thing anyone had ever said about her tendency to overthink everything.

"Intentional is one word for it," Maya said, pulling at the hem of her dress. She felt like everyone was staring. Probably no one was staring. That was the whole problem with anxiety – your brain was basically a paranoid sphinx, posing you impossible riddles you couldn't solve.

Speak of the devil. The sphinx.

Maya froze. The Sphinx. Capital S. The group chat that half the junior class was in, the one that "accidentally" leaked who had crushes on whom, whose screenshots ended up on everyone's Instagram stories. Someone had tagged her in something.

Her phone buzzed in her clutch. Once. Twice. The vibration felt like electricity against her palm.

"You gonna check that?" Leo asked, suddenly interested in his solo cup.

"It's probably nothing."

"Maya."

"What if it's about me? What if they're making fun of my hair or my dress or—"

"Or what if they're not?" Leo stepped closer, and Maya's heart did that embarrassing flutter thing. "What if the riddle the sphinx is asking isn't as scary as you think?"

The phone buzzed again. Maya unlocked it with trembling fingers.

The Sphinx group chat: @mayaxo omg your hair looks SO GOOD tonight, who did it???

Not a riddle. Not a joke. Just... a compliment.

Maya looked up, and Leo was already smiling, like he'd known somehow. "See? Sometimes traffic cones have their moment."

"Shut up, Leo."

"Seriously though, Fox. You look great."

The gym spun, just a little. The orange hair, the sphinx's secrets, the boy who'd called her sly when she felt so small. Some riddles you didn't solve alone. Some riddles, you realized, had never been riddles at all.

Maya smiled. "Thanks. I think I'm done hiding out by the punch bowl."

"Bold move."

"Watch me learn."