Palm Reading in Orange County

Maya felt like a zombie. Not the cool, Netflix kind with perfect smoky eye makeup and dramatic plot arcs. The walking-through-school-halls-half-asleep kind, where her body showed up but her brain was still in bed, scrolling through the void.

"You alive?" Chloe snapped her fingers. "Jayden's asking if you want to go to the carnival tonight."

"Maybe." Maya's phone buzzed. Another notification. Another dopamine hit that wasn't hitting anymore.

She ended up going. Because that's what you did when you were sixteen and your friends were going places, and you didn't want to be the one who stayed home feeling like a zombie while everyone else's Instagram stories looked like a movie.

The carnival smelled like funnel cake and desperation. Chloe immediately disappeared into the crowd with Jayden—definitely not a zombie, more like a butterfly that couldn't sit still. Maya ended up at a purple tent with a neon sign: MYSTIC PALM READINGS. Because of course she did.

Inside, a woman with actual dreadlocks and an actual crystal ball waved Maya into a folding chair.

"Your palm," the woman said. Maya extended her hand. "You're waiting for something to happen to you. But the fire's already in your hands."

Maya stared at her palm. It looked like a regular palm. Nothing fiery about it.

"Change comes from inside," the woman continued, already gesturing for the next customer. "But sometimes you have to set it on fire yourself."

Outside, Maya found Chloe by the funnel cake stand, laughing at something Jayden said. The carnival lights spun orange and pink against the darkness. Something shifted in Maya's chest—not a zombie awakening, but something more like a spark.

"I'm leaving," she said. Chloe looked confused. "I mean, not permanently. Just—I need to do something."

She walked to the drug store two blocks away, bought a box of orange hair dye, and locked herself in the bathroom. Her hands shook while she mixed the dye. Her palms were stained orange by the time she finished.

When Maya emerged, her hair was the color of a traffic cone. Chloe stared. Jayden stared. Maya didn't feel like a zombie anymore. She felt like someone who had set herself on fire.

"Your hair," Chloe said. "It's... very orange."

"Yeah," Maya grinned, and it was the first real grin in months. "I think I'm finally awake."