Palm Reader's Friday Night

Maya stood in the corner of Jordan's crowded basement, clutching her phone like a lifeline. Her iPhone had been her only friend at this party so far, and even that relationship was one-sided. No new notifications. No texts from him. Just her thumb hovering over their conversation from yesterday, overthinking every emoji, every punctuation mark.

"Hey! You want your palm read?" Sofia waved her over from the makeshift fortune-teller station she'd set up with a lace tablecloth and half-melted candles. "My cousin taught me at summer camp. I'm basically a pro."

Maya's palms were already sweating—gross, why did they always do that when she was nervous? But the alternative was standing here awkwardly while everyone else seemed so effortlessly cool. So she sat.

Sofia took her hand, tracing the lines with dramatically serious concentration. "You're going to meet someone soon. Someone unexpected."

Maya laughed nervously. "That sounds like every fortune ever."

"No, seriously!" Sofia's eyes widened. "Like, literally look behind you."

Maya turned. There was Liam—the guy from her English class who always drew anime characters in his notebook—standing there with the biggest dog she'd ever seen. It was some kind of golden retriever mix, fur everywhere, tongue out like it was having the time of its life.

"Sorry!" Liam said, practically wrestling the dog. "This is Buster. He escaped my aunt's backyard and I was chasing him and—" The dog lunged forward, snorting happily.

Buster decided Maya was his new best friend. Within seconds, her carefully chosen outfit was covered in golden fur. Her phone, still clutched in her hand, got a thorough nose-bump inspection.

"I'm so sorry," Liam said again, reaching for her—but instead of grabbing Buster, he accidentally knocked into the snack table. A bowl of spinach dip went everywhere. All over his shoes. Some on hers.

They stared at each other for one second. Then they were both laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

"Well," Sofia called from behind them, still holding Maya's other hand, "I DID say unexpected."

Later that night, Maya's phone finally buzzed. But it wasn't from the person she'd been waiting for all night. It was Liam: "Buster says thanks for not hating him. Also, my aunt's making me clean her entire basement as punishment. Want to come help and suffer together?"

She typed back yes before she could overthink it. Her palms were still sweating, but somehow, that didn't matter anymore.