The Zombie Sphinx Incident

Maya's hair refused to cooperate. Again. She stood in front of her mirror, surrounded by bobby pins and failed attempts at sleek sophistication. Tonight was Jackson's Halloween party—literally her shot at finally talking to him after months of crushing from the back of AP English—and her hair was staging a rebellion.

"You look like a zombie that crawled out of a graveyard," her little brother Leo announced from her doorway, accompanied by Buster, their elderly golden retriever who proceeded to sneeze on her combat boots.

"Thanks, Leo. Really helpful." Maya adjusted her top hat—part of her magician costume she'd thrown together three hours ago when her original sphinx costume plan fell apart. The sphinx idea had seemed brilliant in September: mysterious, intellectual, intriguing. But the homemade cardboard wings had collapsed, and now she was a magician with a top hat and zero actual magic tricks.

At the party, Maya hovered near the snack table, nursing some suspiciously red punch. Jackson was across the room, dressed as—naturally—a zombie football player. His makeup was actually impressive. Maybe too impressive. Was that a girl hanging on his arm? Of course it was. Taylor, from varsity cheerleading.

Maya's hat slid sideways. She adjusted it, feeling like an imposter.

"Nice hat," said someone behind her. She turned to see Danny, Jackson's best friend, dressed in a dog costume. A golden retriever costume, specifically.

"Thanks. I'm a magician. Obviously."

"Obviously." Danny grinned. "I lost a bet to Jackson. Had to be his 'good boy' for the night."

Maya snorted before she could stop herself. Danny laughed too, and suddenly she wasn't hovering alone anymore. They spent the next hour making fun of everyone's costumes, critiquing the zombie makeup fails, and discovering they both hated scary movies but watched them anyway.

When Jackson finally wandered over, still with Taylor attached to his arm, Maya found she didn't care anymore. She was too busy listening to Danny describe how his dog costume was mysteriously attracting every actual dog at the party.

"Want to get out of here?" Danny asked. "There's this diner down the street..."

Maya straightened her hat, finally feeling like herself. "Yes. Absolutely."

Sometimes the best magic wasn't in the costume or the crush you'd built up in your head. Sometimes it was just finding someone who made you laugh at your own awkwardness.