Palm Readings and Pool Parties

The Saturday night party at Dustin's house was supposed to be chill, but Maya's palms were sweating like crazy. She clutched her red Solo cup tighter, watching Jake across the pool deck. He was laughing with his friends, shirt somehow already off, looking annoyingly confident.

"You're staring again," whispered her best friend Chloe, shoving Maya's shoulder. "Just go talk to him or stop being creepy about it."

"I can't just—" Maya started, but cut off when Jake's golden retriever, Buster, came bounding over, nearly knocking her into the dips. The dog sniffed her enthusiastically, tail wagging like crazy. "Okay, hello to you too, buddy."

"That's literally your in," Chloe said, like Maya was an idiot. "The dog loves you. Jake loves the dog. It's basic networking."

Before Maya could respond, Jake ambled over, running a hand through his messy hair. "Buster leave you alone? He's got zero boundaries, man."

"He's cool," Maya managed, her voice doing that weird shaky thing it sometimes did when she was nervous. "Your dog's got good taste."

Jake grinned, and oh no, it was even better up close. "You here with anyone?"

"Just my friend Chloe," she said, gesturing vaguely toward where Chloe was now aggressively pretending to be interested in some conversation about AP Chemistry.

"Cool." Jake leaned against the pool railing. "Hey, my cousin's doing palm readings inside if you're down. She thinks she's psychic or something. It's honestly pretty funny—she told me I'd meet someone tonight who'd change my summer, and I was like, that's so bull, but—"

He stopped, eyes widening slightly as he looked at Maya, really looked at her.

"Wait," he said. "Are you Maya from Mr. Henderson's English class? You did that presentation on dystopian novels that was actually fire?"

Maya felt her face heating up. "Yeah?"

"That presentation was badass," Jake said sincerely. "I've been meaning to ask if you wanted to grab boba sometime, but I never got the chance."

Behind her, Chloe made an excited squeaking sound that she immediately tried to cover up with a cough.

Maya looked at Jake—really looked at him—and decided maybe palm readings weren't so dumb after all. "Yeah," she said, finally letting herself smile. "I'd like that."