When the Sphinx DMs Back

Maya clutched her **iPhone** like it was a lifeline, thumb hovering over Jake's text that still sat unanswered after three hours. The freshman cafeteria was basically a social **pyramid** scheme, and she was currently paying dues at the bottom.

"Hey, Earth to Maya."

She jumped, nearly dropping her phone onto the suspicious-looking fruit salad. Chloe slid onto the bench opposite her, flicking her perfectly glossed hair over one shoulder like she was in a hair commercial. "You're staring at your screen like it holds the meaning of life."

"Just waiting for..." Maya swallowed the **papaya** that suddenly tasted like betrayal. "Nothing."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. She was what everyone called 'the **Sphinx**' of sophomore year—mysterious, untouchable, rumored to have rejected three varsity quarterbacks via group chat. Girls like her didn't sit with girls like Maya unless they wanted something.

"Jake's not gonna text back," Chloe said, stabbing at her own salad. "He's too busy orbiting Vanessa's Instagram like a lost planet."

Maya felt her face burn. "I wasn't—"

"Save it. I've been there." Chloe actually smiled, and it wasn't mean. "Last year? I spent seventh period crafting the perfect DM to his older brother. Spent two hours on three sentences."

"What happened?"

"He left me on read for three weeks, then posted a selfie with my ex-best friend." Chloe rolled her eyes. "Moral of the story: The social pyramid's just a bunch of people pretending they know what they're doing. Nobody actually does."

Maya's phone buzzed. Not Jake. Her mom, asking if she needed a ride from debate practice.

She typed back a quick yeah, then looked at Chloe, who was somehow already five feet away, surrounded by a swarm of sophomores who acted like her breathing patterns held cosmic significance.

But for a second, their eyes met across the cafeteria. Chloe winked.

Maya deleted her unsent message to Jake, then opened Notes and started drafting her debate rebuttal instead. The pyramid would still be there tomorrow, but at least now she knew the Sphinx was just another girl who'd survived eighth grade with her dignity mostly intact.