The Cat Who Called My Bluff

My palms were sweating so bad I could barely grip the $20 bill. Summer bash at Maya's house, me in the corner while everyone else was in the pool, because that's just who I am — the girl who doesn't know how to exist in groups larger than three.

Then there was Leo. The new kid who'd somehow already accumulated approximately seven trillion friends. He caught me staring and walked over, all golden retriever energy and zero boundaries.

"You doing tarot or something?" He pointed at my phone, where I'd been refreshing Instagram for the last hour.

"Palm reading," I blurted, because my brain decided now was the time to start lying extravagantly. "I'm, like, really good at it. It's my whole thing."

His eyes went wide. "No way. Read mine."

Every instinct screamed to abort, but instead I stuck out my hand like I knew what I was doing. He placed his palm in mine, and I'm pretty sure my face went full tomato.

"Um," I said intelligently. "This line... means you're going to meet someone important. Soon."

Before he could respond, a mangy orange cat catapulted over the fence and landed directly in the middle of our circle, yowling like it was being personally victimized.

Everyone stopped talking. The cat made direct eye contact with me and trotted over, rubbing against my leg like we'd known each other for years.

"That's literally Mrs. Henderson's cat," Leo said, kneeling down. "How are you doing that? She hates everyone."

"I speak fluent cat," I said, because at this point, why not commit to the bit?

Leo looked at me, really looked at me, and started laughing. Not the mean kind. The real kind.

"You're hilarious," he said. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang out and play Fortnite or whatever, but now? We're definitely doing that."

The cat curled up in my lap like she owned me. My palm was still pressed against Leo's from the reading, and for the first time all night, I wasn't counting down the seconds until I could bail.

Sometimes the universe doesn't send you a sign. Sometimes it sends you a chaotic orange cat and a boy who believes your terrible lies. And sometimes that's enough.