The Zombie Sphinx of Room 302

Maya's hands shook as she adjusted her orange-spotted fox ears in the bathroom mirror. First house party of sophomore year, and she'd gone full cosplay nerd while everyone else was doing sexy vampire or Instagram baddie vibes. Major fail.

"You good in there, Maya?" called Jordan, her voice muffled through the door. "People are asking about the sphinx riddle."

The sphinx riddle. That's what they were calling the drinking game Jordan had invented—stand on the coffee table, pose like the sphinx, answer questions or drink. Maya had been running from it all night, her social anxiety basically turning her into a zombie, dead-eyed and dissociating by the chips bowl.

The bathroom door creaked open. Jordan leaned against the frame, her cat-eye eyeliner sharp and perfect. "You're overthinking again."

"I look like a furry convention reject," Maya muttered, adjusting her fox tail for the hundredth time.

Jordan laughed. "Dude, you're literally the only person here who actually committed to a costume. Everyone else is half-assing it. Plus, someone said you looked cute."

Maya's stomach did that flippy thing it always did when Jordan got close like this. "Who?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Jordan bumped her shoulder. "Come on. Chris is doing the sphinx thing again and he's about to fall off the table. We need your riddle expertise."

The party was loud in that way where bass vibrates in your chest and conversations overlap into chaos. Someone had spilled orange soda on the carpet. A group of juniors were in the corner,

zombie-walking for TikTok, their arms outstretched and faces deadpan.

"Maya!" Chris shouted from atop the coffee table, doing a frankly terrible sphinx pose. "Solve this: What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon—"

"Three legs in the evening," Maya finished automatically. "It's a human, Chris. Baby, adult, old person with a cane."

The room went quiet for a second before someone yelled "NERRRRD" and everyone laughed. But Jordan was smiling at her like Maya had actually done something cool.

"See?" Jordan whispered, grabbing Maya's hand. "You're the smartest person here. Also, you're definitely not a zombie anymore."

Maya looked down at their intertwined fingers. Her fox ears were slightly crooked. Her heart was racing. For the first time all night, she didn't want to run.

"Yeah," Maya said, finally letting herself smile. "I think I'm okay with being the fox who knew the answer."