Palm Readings & Vitamin Water

The bathroom line at Jake's party stretched down the hallway like a snake. Maya leaned against the wall, clutching her plastic cup of flat vitamin water—her mom's text still lit up on her phone: "Have fun! Be safe! Take your vitamins!" Right. Because nothing screams party like vitamin-fortified hydration.

Then she saw her.

Chloe stood near the sliding glass door, orange oversized hoodie swallowing her frame, watching everything but saying nothing. She was like a sphinx, perched above the social chaos, eyes scanning the room with deliberate mystery. Three guys had already approached her, struck down by whatever riddle she wasn't even trying to solve.

"You're gonna stare all night or actually talk to her?" Marcus appeared beside Maya, grinning. "She's not gonna eat you."

"She's orange, Marcus. Like, full-on traffic cone." Which wasn't true—the hoodie was actually kinda cute—but Maya's nerves were manifesting as weird aggression.

"Maya." Marcus stepped closer, voice dropping. "Your palm is literally sweating through your cup."

He laughed. She didn't.

"My mom does this thing," Maya said suddenly. "Where she reads my palm every Sunday. Claims she can see my future in those little lines. But last week she told me my life line looked 'stressfully fractured' which I'm pretty sure is just fortune-teller code for 'you think too much about everything.'"

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"I'm saying—what if Chloe's a palm reader too? What if she grabs my hand and goes 'wow, your future is awkward and alone' and I have to transfer schools?"

Marcus groaned. "You're overthinking this. Just go say hi. She likes the same anime we do. I heard her talking about it earlier."

Maya's heart did that stupid fluttery thing. "Really?"

"Really. Now go before I make you."

She approached Chloe, who turned. Their eyes met.

"Nice hoodie," Maya heard herself say.

Chloe's neutral expression cracked—a tiny smile. "Thanks. My brother got it for my birthday last year. It's two sizes too big but I refuse to take it off."

"I like orange. It's..." Maya searched for words that wouldn't sound lame. "Brave?"

Chloe laughed—actually laughed. "Brave. Yeah. That's one way to put 'I look like a walking traffic sign.'"

They talked for twenty minutes about anime and homework and how Jake's parents were definitely going to find out about the party. Chloe wasn't sphinx-like at all. She was just thoughtful. And kind.

Later, Chloe grabbed Maya's hand to show her a TikTok. "Your hands are cold," she said, interlacing their fingers without thinking.

Maya's palm stopped sweating.

"I take vitamins," Maya blurted out. "Every morning. Because my mom says—"

"I take them too," Chloe said. "The gummy ones shaped like dinosaurs. They're actually kinda good."

Maya smiled. "Yeah. Mine too."