Palm Reading by the Pool

Lila's palms were sweating—like, actually dripping—while she gripped her phone, scrolling through TikToks she wasn't even seeing. The pool party raged around her, bodies splashing in the blue **water**, laughter cutting through the humidity. She'd been invited by Jessica, the friend she pretended to still have, but had spent two hours hiding in the bathroom with zombie-like dissociation, refreshing Instagram every three seconds.

"You look like you're about to puke," said a voice. Lila looked up to see Raven, that artsy girl from AP English who sat in the back and always smelled like incense and rebellion. Raven held a mysterious air, like she knew secrets about everyone.

"Just... social battery dead," Lila mumbled, horrified her voice cracked.

Raven plopped down beside her, cross-legged on the concrete. "Let me see your hand."

"What?"

"Your palm. I'm kinda into that stuff." Raven wiggled her fingers, silver rings catching the porch light.

Lila hesitated, then extended her hand. Raven traced the lines with surprising gentleness.

"You're waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen," Raven said suddenly. "That's your problem. You're sleepwalking through your own life."

Lila felt called out. Hard.

Just then, **lightning** cracked across the sky—thunder shook the ground. The party noise surged with excitement. Someone yelled that it was basically free real estate for a dramatic moment.

Raven's phone buzzed. She checked it and smirked. "Speak of making things happen. Ryan's asking where I am. That boy is persistent."

Ryan. The one Lila had been crushing on since seventh period Spanish. The one whose Instagram she'd been stalking for months.

"Wait—you and Ryan?" Lila's voice squeaked.

"Nah, he's not my type." Raven stood up, brushing grass from her vintage shorts. "But he's been asking about you all week. Says you're sly as a **fox** in class but won't talk to him at parties."

Lila blinked. "What?"

"You think you're invisible, but you're not." Raven winked. "Sometimes the scariest thing is actually being seen."

She walked off toward Ryan, leaving Lila sitting there with her heart hammering against her ribs. The rain started falling—big warm drops—and Lila realized she'd been the zombie all along, moving through a life she wasn't even living.

She stood up, wiped her sweaty palms on her dress, and walked toward Ryan.

For the first time, she wasn't watching from the sidelines. She was finally in the scene.