Poolside Palm Reading

The humidity hit me like a wall as I stepped outside, my phone showing three missed texts from Maya. We'd been best friend since sixth grade, but lately she'd been acting weird—distant, like she was trading up for the cooler crowd. I squeezed my eyes shut and checked my palms. sweating. Always sweating. Elena's mom did palm readings at the carnival, and Elena swore she'd learned enough to read mine last night.

"You're gonna meet someone," she'd whispered during our midnight swim session in her backyard pool. "A fox. And it's gonna happen when you least expect it."

I'd laughed so hard I'd done a perfect belly flop. Now I stood by the community pool, watching Maya hold court with the varsity girls. They were all—perfect hair, perfect lives, perfectly uninterested in my existence.

"Need some vitamin D?"

I jumped. A guy materialized beside me, holding out two neon orange bottles. He had messy dark hair and the kind of smile that made my stomach do that annoying fluttery thing.

"What?"

"Vitamin D supplements," he said, wiggling the bottles. "My mom's a health nut. She thinks everyone looks pale and needs them. Including you." He paused. "You look like you could use some. You know, for the... swimming."

I stared at him. Was this flirting? Was this a joke? Was he about to ask if I wanted his vitamins?

"I'm Leo," he added, extending his free hand. "And I'm conducting a very scientific survey about pool chair preferences. Metal or plastic?"

"Plastic," I heard myself say. "Metal burns your thighs."

"Exactly." He sat beside me, close enough that I could smell chlorine and something else—cinnamon? "So what's your deal? You come here to plot world domination or just to subtly judge everyone's swimming technique?"

"Both," I said, and for the first time all summer, I didn't feel like the awkward friend who got left behind. "And sometimes I come to read palms."

Leo's eyebrows shot up. "For real? Read mine."

I took his hand, trying to remember what Elena had shown me. The lifeline, the heart line, the—

"You're going to meet someone," I said, improvising wildly. "Soon. And they're going to think you're absolutely ridiculous."

Leo laughed. "Already happened."

He looked at me, and suddenly the pool wasn't just Maya's domain anymore. It was mine. And somewhere, Elena's prediction about the fox didn't seem so crazy after all.