Palm Reader's Prophecy

The humidity hit Marco like a physical force the second he stepped into Jada's backyard. Her parents' pool party was already bumping—Bad Bunny thumping from portable speakers, chlorine and sunscreen mixing in the air, what felt like the entire sophomore class scattered across lounge chairs and floats.

"Yo! Marco made it!" Tyler shouted, splashing water from the pool. "Finally! We were about to send a search party."

Marco forced a laugh, sliding his phone into his pocket. His social battery was already at 17%. "Yeah, sorry. Had to help my abuela with something."

He spotted Jada immediately—of course she looked flawless, leaning against a palm tree with her friends, laughing at something. She caught his eye and waved. Marco's stomach did that stupid flip thing it always did around her.

"Check it out," Tyler said, swimming to the edge. "My tía brought this weird fruit from her garden. Says it's called papaya."

He held up what looked like an oversized melon with orange flesh. "Wanna try?"

"Uh, sure?" Marco leaned closer. The smell was weirdly sweet, like nothing he'd encountered before.

"Bro, it's actually fire," Tyler promised, slicing a piece. "Just don't think about what it looks like."

Marco took a bite. The texture caught him off guard—soft, almost buttery—but the flavor was incredible. Like if mango and cantaloupe had a glow-up and started hitting the gym.

"Okay, this slaps," Marco admitted, reaching for another piece.

"Yo, let me see your hand," Jada said, appearing beside him. Her friends were watching, giggling.

"My hand?" Marco's brain short-circuited. "Why?"

"I'm into palm reading now," she said, grabbing his hand before he could process. "Learned it from this YouTube series. It's actually low-key scary accurate."

Her fingers traced the lines on his palm. The physical contact sent electric shocks up his arm. This was fine. Everything was fine. His face probably wasn't bright red at all.

"Hmm," Jada murmured, studying his hand intently. "You've got a really long life line. That's good. But this"—she tapped a diagonal line—"this says you're holding back something big. Something you want but are scared to go for."

The pool went quiet. Tyler stopped mid-splash. Marco's heart hammered against his ribs. Had she figured it out? Could palms actually reveal that he'd been crushing on her since seventh grade?

"Okay, prove it," someone called out. "Read my palm!"

Jada laughed, dropping Marco's hand. The spell broke. "Maybe later. I'm gonna grab some food."

She walked toward the snack table, and Marco exhaled. His palms were literally sweating.

"Bro," Tyler said quietly. "You should just talk to her. The cable guy over there has more game than you, and he's literally here to fix the Wi-Fi."

Marco looked where Tyler was pointing—some middle-aged guy in a uniform crouched by the router, looking completely out of place.

"Shut up," Marco muttered, but he was smiling.

His phone buzzed. A text from Jada: palm reading was fun :) you should come by the snack table

Marco stared at his screen, the papaya still sweet on his tongue. Sometimes the universe dropped hints you couldn't ignore.

"Be right back," he told Tyler, standing up. His legs felt shaky but determined.

The papaya had been unexpected. The palm reading had been terrifying. But sometimes you just had to take a bite of something new, even when you had no idea what it would taste like.