Palm Reading at the Carnival

Maya's palm was sweating. Literally. Like, could barely grip her phone sweating.

"You nervous?" Marcus asked, leaning against the carnival entrance gate like he owned it. His aunt was running the palm reading booth, giving them free passes after closing.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." Maya wiped her hand on her jeans. "Is this even real?"

Marcus shrugged. "Aunt Rina's been reading palms since before I could walk. She predicted my mom would win the lottery. She won $50."

"That's literally the most millennial thing I've ever heard."

The carnival lights flickered as a storm rolled in. First **lightning** struck somewhere distant, illuminating the ferris wheel like a frozen photograph. Maya felt it in her chest - that weird electric feeling she got whenever she was about to do something completely out of character.

Like this whole thing with Marcus. Three weeks ago she was just the girl who sat third row in AP Bio, accidentally getting **spinach** stuck in her teeth on pizza day and becoming "Spinach Girl" for a solid month.

Now she was sneaking into a closed carnival with the guy she'd been lowkey crushing on since homecoming.

"You coming?" Marcus motioned toward the purple tent.

Inside, Aunt Rina's face was half-illuminated by fairy lights. She grabbed Maya's hand, turned it over, traced the lines with weathered fingers.

"Hmmm. Interesting."

"Is that good or bad?" Maya's voice cracked.

Aunt Rina laughed. "You've got a strong lifeline, kid. But here -" she tapped Maya's **palm** - "this cross means you're at a fork in the road. Big decisions coming."

Maya thought about the **vitamin** gummies she'd started taking because her doctor said she needed more D. How she'd started running every morning because she read somewhere it helped with anxiety. How she'd finally started saying yes to things instead of her default no.

"What kind of decisions?"

"The kind that shape who you become." Aunt Rina's eyes crinkled. "Whatever you choose, make it yours. Not what your friends want, not what looks good on Instagram. Yours."

Outside, lightning cracked closer. The ferris wheel sparked with emergency lights.

Marcus grabbed her hand. "We should probably bail before this gets real."

Maya looked at their hands, then back at the tent. "Actually... let's run in the rain."

"What?"

"I've never done it. Always been too scared of messing up my hair or whatever. But right now?" She squeezed his hand. "Let's be the people who run in the rain."

Marcus's grin could've powered the whole carnival.

They burst through the gates just as the sky opened up, drowning everything in thunder and water and perfect chaos. Maya's sneakers filled with water. Her makeup was definitely ruined. Her hair was a lost cause.

She'd never felt more alive.