Lightning in a sweaty palm

Maya's palm was sweating against the red solo cup. She'd been holding it for twenty minutes, taking tiny sips of watery punch just to look busy. House parties weren't really her thing — too many people, too much noise, too many opportunities to say something awkward.

Across the room, Tyler was holding court like he owned the place. His backwards hat, stupid grin, and absolute bull about "almost going pro" in skateboarding had half the freshman girls nodding like he'd just dropped wisdom instead of straight-up nonsense. Maya rolled her eyes so hard it actually hurt.

"Hey, you gonna drink that or marry it?"

Maya jumped. A guy she'd never seen before stood there, dark curls falling everywhere, actual amusement dancing in his eyes instead of that hungry look most guys got at parties.

"Uh, neither?" She winced. Smooth. Real smooth.

"I'm Leo." He held out his hand, then dramatically pulled it back. "Wait, let me guess." He closed his eyes, expression Serious with a capital S. "You're here because your best friend dragged you, you hate parties but don't want to miss out, and you're silently judging everyone while pretending to look cool."

Maya's mouth fell open. "Okay, are you psychic or just incredibly arrogant?"

"My abuela reads palms." He wiggled his fingers. "It's genetic. Let me see."

She hesitated, then plopped her cup down and held out her hand. Leo "examined" it with ridiculous intensity, tracing lines like he was solving a murder.

"This line here..." He tapped her palm. "That's the 'I see through everyone's nonsense' line. Very strong. Very rare. And this tiny one? That's your 'secretly brave' line. It's just waiting for the right moment."

Maya felt something shift in her chest. Warm. Scary good.

Suddenly, actual lightning flashed through the windows, thunder shaking the floorboards. The power died. Someone screamed. The room went pitch black — and then someone's phone flashlight flickered on.

"Maya," she said into the sudden quiet. "I'm Maya."

She couldn't see his smile, but she heard it. "Nice to meet you, Maya. You want to get out of here? I know a place with better lighting. Fewer hats."

Her heart was doing something embarrassing and fast. "Yeah," she said, and for the first time all night, her palm wasn't sweating at all. "Yeah, I do."