Lightning in the Palm

The bonfire crackled like somebody's nervous laugh. Maya sat cross-legged in the sand, her Vera Bradley skirt fanned out, watching Sophie—perfect, popular Sophie—hold court like she owned this patch of beach. The party had been Chloe's idea, something about "seizing the summer" before junior year chewed them up and spit them out different people. Maya wasn't sure she wanted to be different. She just wanted to be seen.

"Your palm says you're hiding something," Chloe announced, grabbing Maya's hand and flattening it under the flickering light. May-palm. Palm reading. Because that was a thing now. "See this line? It's all broken up. That means you're carrying baggage."

Baggage. Yeah, no kidding.

"Whatever," Maya mumbled, pulling her hand back. "It's just a hand."

But then the sky opened up. One minute stars, the next—*lightning* fractured the darkness, a jagged spine of white-purple that painted everyone's faces in electric shock. Thunder followed immediately, shaking the ground beneath them. Someone screamed. Sophie's boyfriend Ethan started herding everyone toward the beach house like he'd just invented the concept of shelter.

Maya stayed put. The rain hit warm and sudden, plastering her hair to her face, washing away the carefully applied concealer, the persona she'd been curating like a social media feed. Sophie hadn't moved either. She stood knee-deep in the surf, dress clinging to her legs, while lightning *lit* the ocean behind her in strobe flashes, catching the curve of her smile.

"You're not running?" Maya called over the rain.

Sophie turned, water streaming down her face like she'd been crying, only she hadn't. "Why would I? This is the most real thing that's happened all night."

Something cracked in Maya's chest. She walked into the waves, let the ocean *bear* her weight, stood beside the most beautiful girl she'd ever secretly loved and said, "I have something to tell you."

Sophie didn't laugh. She didn't look away. Another bolt of lightning arced across the sky, and in that electric second, Maya saw it—fear, recognition, the same weight she'd been carrying.

"Me too," Sophie said, and took Maya's palm in hers.