When Your Life Becomes a Meme

Maya stood before the cardboard pyramid she'd spent three weeks constructing for the World History Fair, trying not to hyperventilate. The sphinx mask she'd hot-glued together at 2 AM kept sliding down her face, making her look less like "mysterious Egyptian guardian" and more like "deranged raccoon."

"You good, Maya?" Ethan asked, leaning against her display with that effortless baseball-player grace that made her knees feel like they'd forgotten how to human. He was wearing his jersey – number 7, because apparently the universe wanted her to suffer today.

"Totally good," she squeaked. "Just embracing my inner monument to human suffering."

Her phone buzzed. Jenna: *Dude, there's literal spinach in your braces. From lunch. THREE HOURS AGO.*

Maya's soul left her body. She was now a hollow shell, a zombie walking among the living, powered entirely by the crippling awkwardness of being fifteen and existing in proximity to cute boys.

"That's actually kind of cool, though," Ethan said, gesturing to her pyramid. "Like, you nailed the aging effect on the cardboard. Looks legit."

"Thanks," she managed, trying to discreetly check her teeth with her tongue. "I used actual dirt. Sacrificed my dignity for historical accuracy."

He laughed – actually laughed, and her heart did that embarrassing flutter thing that happened in movies but felt infinitely more terrifying in real life.

"Hey," he said, suddenly interested in the sphinx mask. "Can I try this on?"

"Be my guest."

Ethan put on the mask and struck a ridiculous pose. "I am the sphinx," he announced in his best booming voice. "Riddle me this: what's tall, awkward, and currently dying inside because there's spinach in her teeth?"

Maya froze.

"Wait, you heard that?" she whispered.

"Heard what?" Ethan lifted the mask, grinning. "I was just making sphinx jokes. But now that you mention it..."

He pulled a mirror from his backpack – a baseball player carrying a mirror, what even was her life – and handed it to her. Her teeth were clean. Jenna had trolled her.

"Your best friend is terrifying," Ethan said. "Also, the baseball team's doing karaoke at the fair tonight. You should come. I might need someone to judge my sphinx impression."

Maya smiled, finally. The pyramid could collapse. The sphinx mask could disintegrate. She'd survive. "Only if you promise to wear the mask."

"Deal."

Maybe fifteen wasn't so bad after all.