Sweaty Palms & Pyramid Schemes

Maya stood at the edge of the party, her palms sweating so much she could practically water plants with them. She'd spent forty minutes perfecting her outfit, only to realize she looked like every other basic girl trying way too hard. Her dad's old baseball cap sat low on her forehead, hiding the fact that she hadn't even bothered with eyeliner tonight.

"Yo, Maya! Come join the circle!" Jason yelled from the patio. He was that kind of popular—everyone loved him, no one knew why.

She shuffled over, feeling like a **zombie** navigating an apocalypse. The circle turned out to be Sarah doing palm readings like she'd suddenly become psychic after watching three YouTube tutorials.

"Let me see your **palm**," Sarah demanded, grabbing Maya's hand before she could protest. "Ooh, your life line is super deep. You're gonna live to be, like, a hundred. Or maybe it means you're just stressed about finals."

"Probably finals," Maya mumbled, pulling her hand back. Her crush, Leo, was watching from across the circle. She could feel her face heating up.

"Dude, check out this **pyramid scheme** Ethan's trying to get us into," Jason said, gesturing at Ethan who was literally standing on a patio chair, preaching about some energy drink MLM like it was gospel. "He thinks he's gonna be a millionaire by graduation."

Leo snorted. "He's gonna be that guy who loses all his friends selling protein powder."

Maya accidentally made eye contact with Leo. He smiled. Her brain short-circuited.

"So," Leo said, sliding into the seat next to hers. "You watching the game tomorrow?"

"**Baseball**?" she squeaked, then immediately wanted to die. "I mean, yeah, maybe. If I'm not busy."

"Cool." He tipped his **hat** at her. A backwards cap, of course. "Save me a seat?"

"Yeah. Totally."

As he walked away, Maya caught Sarah watching her with a knowing grin. For the first time all night, her palms stopped sweating. Maybe high school wasn't so terrifying after all—at least until finals week hit.