Palm Readings at Midnight

Maya's curly **hair** had frizzed into a magnificent halo by the time she reached the bonfire. Three hours of sleep would do that to you. She was basically a **zombie** functioning on caffeine and panic.

"You okay?" Chloe asked, handing her a seltzer.

"Fine. Just been up all night... studying." Maya hated lying, but admitting she'd spent the entire night **spy**-ing on her ex's Instagram stories felt pathetic. Even at sixteen, she had standards.

The bonfire crackled. Someone's phone was pumping waves into the darkness. Across the circle, Lucas was laughing at something, completely unaware that Maya had memorized his daily routine through social media like a total creep.

"Palm readings!" Kai announced, grabbing Maya's hand. "I watched a YouTube video, I'm basically professional now."

Maya tried to pull away. "No thanks, my palms are gross."

"Dude, let him." Chloe rolled her eyes. "It's not like he can actually predict your future or whatever."

Kai traced the lines on Maya's **palm** with theatrical seriousness. His face dropped.

"What?" Maya's stomach did that thing.

"Your lifeline is... concerning."

"Kai, stop."

"No, seriously. It's like you're barely hanging on. And your heart line..." He looked up. "When's the last time you actually talked to him?"

The laughably fake palm reading had somehow pinpointed exactly why she'd been functioning on zombie-mode for three weeks. Why she'd been **water**-ing down her emotions until everything felt diluted and distant.

"That's literally not real," she said, but her voice cracked.

Lucas caught her eye across the fire. For once, she didn't look away.

"Real or not," Chloe said quietly, "maybe it's time to actually sleep. And then maybe actually talk to him? Like, with words? In person?"

Maya looked at her hand. Kai had drawn a tiny heart in marker on her wrist.

"Fine," she said. "But I'm definitely taking a shower first. This hair is a crime against humanity."