The Sphinx's Riddle

The kitchen was packed, the air thick with cheap body spray and the bass from a speaker that was definitely too loud for this space. I leaned against the counter, nursing a lukewarm soda, feeling like a zombie at a feast — technically present, but definitely not alive.

I checked my iphone for the third time in two minutes. Still nothing from Maya. Not that I expected her to text me first. She was the kind of girl who left guys on read for sport.

"You know, staring at it won't make it buzz," said a voice behind me.

I turned to find Leo Torres, varsity baseball star and possibly the only person here who looked more out of place than me. His hair was messy in that way that probably took twenty minutes to perfect.

"I'm not staring," I lied. "I'm... monitoring. For emergencies."

Leo laughed, and the sound was surprisingly genuine. "Right. Emergency avoidance maneuvers." He gestured toward the living room where everyone was dancing. "You're not feeling it either?"

"I'm here because my friend said she'd introduce me to Maya," I admitted. "She's been ignoring me all week, and tonight she's acting like I'm invisible."

"Maya Rodriguez?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Bro, she's playing you. The sphinx had nothing on her — at least it gave you a chance to solve its riddle before it ate you alive."

I blinked. "Since when does the baseball team know Greek mythology?"

"AP English is killing me slowly," he said, then leaned closer. "Look, here's the thing about riddles — you can spend forever trying to solve them, or you can realize some questions aren't worth answering."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've been standing in the kitchen all night, hair looking fire, actually funny when you stop overthinking everything... and you're wasting energy on someone who doesn't see you. While I've been noticing." He held up his hands. "No pressure. Just saying."

My phone buzzed. Maya finally. But for the first time all night, I didn't check it.

"You play baseball?" I asked.

"Center field," Leo grinned. "Why?"

"I've got extra tickets to the game next Friday. If you're not busy being a sphinx and dispensing wisdom to lost freshmen."

"I'm never too busy for that," he said, and somehow the kitchen didn't feel so crowded anymore.

The zombie was dead. Long live whatever came next.