Palm Lines & Poolside Lies

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she could barely grip the gate latch. First real high school party, and she was five minutes early. Classic.

The backyard was already alive with chlorine and cheap body spray. Tyler's pool glowed like something from a music video, strings of lights reflecting off the water. Maya made a beeline for the drink table, grabbing a bright orange soda that matched her nerves perfectly.

"Hey, you're Maya from AP Bio, right?"

She turned, spilling a little soda on her dress. There was Riley, the actual cutest junior in existence, standing way too close. His orange-tinted curls caught the backyard lights like he was in a hair commercial.

"Yeah, that's me," she managed. Her palms were now officially catastrophic.

"Cool. Cool." Riley nodded like he'd said something profound. "So, Chloe over there thinks she's psychic now. She's doing palm readings."

Maya blinked. "Seriously?"

"Dude, she told Jake he'd meet a tall stranger. Then his cousin showed up from Canada. Jake's like six-foot-two."

Maya laughed before she could stop herself. Riley's grin did things to her stomach that definitely wasn't the vitamin C deficiency her mom was always worried about.

"You should let her read yours," Riley said. "I dare you."

"What? No."

"Come on." He was already walking toward the patio where Chloe held court, surrounded by giggling girls. Maya followed, her heartbeat loud enough to drown out the bass from someone's phone.

"Okay," Chloe said, grabbing Maya's hand with zero hesitation. "Ooh, you've got interesting lines." She traced Maya's palm with fake concentration. "This one means you're gonna take a big risk before the night's over."

Maya looked up to find Riley watching her, not even pretending to check out the pool.

"And this one?" Riley pointed at her other hand.

"That's the love line, genius." Chloe rolled her eyes. "Maya, whoever you're crushing on? They might actually notice you tonight."

Maya's face burned. But Riley was still watching her, kind of soft around the edges.

"Hey," he said, as the group moved on to the next victim. "Wanna get out of here? There's a 24-hour diner down the street."

Maya wiped her palms on her dress and smiled. "Yeah. Actually, I do."