The Cat, The Crush, and The Crash

Maya's sweaty palm hovered over her phone screen as she typed, then deleted, then retyped the text. *You going to Jordan's party tonight?* Simple. Casual. Not desperate. She hit send before she could overthink it again. When her iphone buzzed seconds later with *yeah r u?*, she literally fell backward onto her bed, heart hammering like she'd just won the lottery.

Three hours later, Maya stood in Jordan's kitchen holding a red solo cup she wasn't drinking from, watching him laugh across the room with his friends. His hair was perfect. Everything about him was perfect. Meanwhile, she'd spent twenty minutes straightening her hair only for the humidity to make it look like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket.

"You should get your palm read," someone announced from the living room. "My cousin does readings and she's scary accurate."

Maya wandered over to where a girl with too much eyeliner sat cross-legged on a coffee table. This was stupid. This was absolutely, completely stupid. But when the reader grabbed her hand and traced her lifeline, then frowned dramatically at her heart line, Maya found herself leaning in.

"You're going to have to make a choice soon," the girl said mysteriously. "Between what's safe and what you really want."

Okay, that was totally bull. Obviously she'd just said something vague enough to apply to anyone. But then Jordan appeared beside her, grinning that crooked grin that made her stomach flip.

"Your turn," he said, nudging her shoulder with his. The reader took his hand and immediately cracked up. "Dude, your heart line is a mess."

Jordan's face turned the color of a tomato. "Whatever, that's not even real—"

Just then, a gray cat that had been sleeping on the bookshelf chose that exact moment to knock over a lit candle. The flame caught the edge of a decorative tapestry, and suddenly everyone was screaming and Jordan was ripping the burning fabric down while someone dumped a pitcher of water on it.

Later, after the fire department had left and everyone was sitting on the front lawn, Jordan dropped down beside her. "That was probably the worst party ever, right?"

"Yeah," Maya said. But she was smiling. "Yeah, it pretty much was."

His hand found hers in the grass. "Worst first date ever?"

Her palm was sweaty again but she didn't care. "Definitely."