Palm Readers and Party Crashes

Maya's **palm**s were sweating. Literally sweating. She wiped them on her jeans for the third time, clutching her cracked **iphone** like it was a lifeline. Which, honestly, it kinda was.

"I can't believe we're doing this," she whispered to Jaz.

Jaz, her ride-or-die since sixth grade, just smirked. "Maya, chill. We're literally just gonna peek through the fence. It's not like we're actual **spy**s or something."

They were crouched behind the Hendersons' hedge, trying to catch a glimpse of Jake Miller's legendary Friday night party. The one half their grade had been obsessing over all week. The one Maya definitely wasn't invited to, even though Jake had been her lab partner since August and she'd helped him pass chemistry twice.

Social dynamics were exhausting.

Just as Jaz lifted her phone to snap a pic for their Snapchat stories, something brushed against Maya's ankle. She jumped, stifling a scream.

A massive orange **cat** stared up at them, tail twitching with judgment.

"You have got to be kidding me," Maya hissed. The cat chose that exact moment to let out the most ungodly yowl, shattering the suburban silence like glass.

Footsteps. Laughter. The fence creaked open.

Maya's heart hammered. This was it. Social suicide. She'd be "that weirdo who spies on parties" for the rest of high school. She'd have to transfer schools. Move to another country. Change her name.

"Hey!" Jake Miller himself stood there, red cup in hand, looking more confused than annoyed. "Maya? From chem?"

The orange cat wound through his legs, purring like a tractor engine. "Oh, that's Churro," Jake said. "He always escapes. You guys trying to catch him?"

Jaz, bless her chaotic energy, didn't miss a beat. "Totally. We're basically animal rescuers now."

Jake laughed. "Well, since you're here... wanna come in?"

Maya's palms stopped sweating. Sometimes the universe didn't give you what you thought you wanted. It gave you something better.

"Yeah," she said, following Jaz and Jake and the judgmental cat through the gate. "Actually, we'd love to."