Screen Light Palms

Maya's iphone clutched in her sweaty palm, the screen glowing with eleven unread messages. Friday night, and she was here—trapped in corner of some sophomore's basement party while everyone else seemed to float effortlessly through conversations she couldn't crack. Her thumb hovered over her rideshare app. One tap and she could escape back to her room, her cat, and the comforting safety of being alone.

"Hey."

Maya jumped. A girl with electric-blue hair and mismatched socks slid down the wall beside her. "I'm Jade. Your turn."

"My turn?"

Jade held out her palm, fingers slightly curled. "Palm reading. I learned from YouTube. You'd be surprised how accurate it is when you're three kool-aid cups deep."

Maya hesitated, then extended her hand. Jade's fingers traced the lines in her palm, her touch surprisingly gentle.

"You're overthinking everything," Jade said, examining Maya's lifeline. "You think everyone's watching you, but they're all just worried about themselves. And..." she tapped Maya's palm, "you're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Maya stared at her. "That's literally everyone."

"True." Jade grinned. "But your heart line goes all the way across—means you're loyal. The kind who shows up when it matters. That's rare."

Something shifted in Maya's chest. The background noise of the party—the laughs, the music, the performative chaos—faded. For the first time all night, she wasn't counting the minutes until she could leave.

"Your turn," Maya said.

Jade's palm revealed a chaos of intersecting lines. "What's that mean?"

"That you're messy," Maya said, surprising herself with a smile. "But in a good way. Like, you feel everything deeply. It's not a bug, it's a feature."

Jade's eyes widened. "Damn. You're good at this."

They spent the rest of the party reading palms and predicting futures that were probably 90% made up but 100% what the other person needed to hear. When Maya finally checked her phone again, the rideshare app was forgotten. She wasn't escaping tonight.

"Same time next week?" Jade asked as they walked out. "There's this party at—"

"I'll be there," Maya said, and for the first time in forever, she meant it. Her palm still tingled where Jade's fingers had traced her future, and somehow, against all probability, she couldn't wait to find out what happened next.