Palm Reader's Dilemma

The baseball hit my glove with a satisfying thwack, but my mind was somewhere else—specifically, on Maya's Insta story from five minutes ago. I'd been basically cyber-stalking her since freshman orientation, which officially made me the world's worst spy.

"You good, man?" Liam asked, tossing me a Gatorade.

"Yeah. Just... thinking."

About how Maya had posted a photo of some vitamin gummies shaped like dinosaurs with the caption "my emotional support supplements." I'd commented "cool" and immediately wanted to die.

The real problem wasn't my terrible flirting skills. It was that I'd accidentally developed this reputation for reading palms at parties (one time, ONE TIME I did it as a joke, and now I'm basically a fortune teller?). And somehow Maya had heard about it and actually wanted hers read.

Which was how I ended up at her house that Friday, my palms sweating so much I could practically water-ski on my hands.

"So you can really see my future?" She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, holding out her hand.

I stared at her palm, thinking about how I was currently running track from my actual feelings. "Uh, I see... you're going to meet someone really cool soon."

"Someone like you?" The way she said it made my stomach do that weird thing it does when you're going down a roller coaster hill.

Then her phone buzzed. It was some notification from her baseball group chat—she played travel softball, which I'd learned from my extensive "research" (spying).

"Actually," I said, something brave waking up in my chest, "I was wondering if you wanted to come watch my game tomorrow? I pitch."

Maya grinned. "Is that what my palm said?"

"No," I admitted. "That's what I'm hoping."

She took a vitamin gummy from the jar on her nightstand and popped it in her mouth. "I'll be there. But you owe me a proper palm reading after."

"Deal."

Walking home, I realized I'd been running from the wrong thing all along. Sometimes the scariest move isn't striking out or embarrassing yourself—it's actually stepping up to the plate.