The Palm Reader's Pool Party Disaster

Maya's palms were literally sweating through her jean shorts. Standing at the gate to Tyler's pool party, she could already hear the bass vibrating through the fence and the splashing that meant people were having way more fun than she was capable of having. This was it — her chance to finally stop being the new girl and actually become someone at Ridgeview High.

She'd been practicing palm reading all summer after watching some YouTube tutorials. Tonight was her moment to debut this weird talent and maybe, just maybe, seem interesting instead of just "that quiet girl in AP Bio."

"Hey! You made it!" Tyler called from the pool, dripping wet and way too comfortable. He waved her over like they'd been friends forever instead of having shared exactly two classes.

Maya grabbed a punch, pretended to sip it, and immediately had spinach stuck in her teeth from the vegetable platter. Of course. Because the universe had personally decided to make her life a running joke. She spent ten minutes hiding in the bathroom, picking green bits out with her fingernail until her gums were raw.

When she finally emerged, determined to just power through and read someone's palm already, she spotted Liam from her English class sitting alone on a lounge chair. Perfect. He seemed approachable, not too popular to laugh in her face.

"Hey Liam," she said, sliding onto the chair next to him. "Want me to read your palm?"

He looked at her, confused. "What?"

"I read palms," Maya said, channeling confidence she absolutely did not feel. "It's... a thing I do."

Liam hesitated, then held out his hand. His palm was soft, with calloused fingertips from playing guitar. Maya traced the lines, trying to remember what the YouTube videos had said about life lines and heart lines, improvising dramatically about his creativity and future success.

"You're going to do something big with music," she said, feeling like a total fraud but also kind of loving the way he was actually listening.

Suddenly, Tyler's voice cut through everything. "Yo! Check this out!" He was pointing at something across the pool, grinning like he'd just discovered gravity. "My little sister left her giant teddy bear on the diving board. Someone should push it in."

Maya turned to look, and there it was — a massive stuffed bear perched precariously on the diving board's edge, looking like it was contemplating whether life was worth living.

"Don't!" Maya blurted out, louder than she intended. "I mean... it's actually kind of cute?"

But it was too late. Tyler had already shoved the bear into the pool with a splash. Everyone laughed. Except Maya, who suddenly felt like she was going to cry, which was ridiculous because it was just a stupid stuffed animal.

Then Liam started laughing too. Not mean laughing, but genuine, bent-over laughing. "That bear just executed a perfect dive," he said between breaths. "I wish I'd gotten that on video."

Maya cracked up despite herself. The image of that stuffed bear plunging into the pool was actually kind of hilarious. She and Liam spent the next hour making up increasingly ridiculous backstories for the bear — former Olympic athlete, depressed philosopher, secret agent.

"You're actually really funny," Liam said when the party started winding down. "We should hang out at school."

Maya walked home with spinach-free teeth, damp hair from when Liam had splashed her, and something that felt suspiciously like hope. Maybe high school wasn't going to be so terrible after all.