The Palm Reader's Prophecy

Maya's palms were sweating. Like, actually dripping onto her favorite ripped jeans. She was standing outside Luna's house, where the party of the year was happening, and she couldn't make her feet move.

"You good?" Jordan appeared beside her, their family's golden retriever Max trotting at their heels. How Jordan had snuck the dog into their fancy neighborhood party, Maya had no clue.

"I can't go in there," Maya said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Everyone's gonna be doing their cool thing, and I'm just... me."

Max barked, suddenly excited, and bolted toward the buffet table. Inside the house, chaos erupted. Maya's stomach dropped.

They rushed in after the dog, and Maya froze. The entire soccer team was there. Sarah—the girl Maya had been crushing on since seventh grade—was laughing near the fountain. Maya backed away, her heart pounding, and crashed right into Luna's mom, who was holding a tray of appetizers.

"Oh! I'm so sorry—" Maya started, then froze. Mrs. Chen was staring at her oddly.

"You have... something..." Mrs. Chen pointed to her own teeth.

Maya's face burned. She'd had spinach dip earlier. Of course. This was actually happening.

She ran to the bathroom, locked the door, and stared at herself in the mirror. Green flecks stuck in her braces. This was it. This was her villain origin story. She would never recover.

"Hey."

Maya jumped. Sarah was standing in the doorway, holding Max's leash. "Your dog was destroying the spinach dip."

"He's not my—" Maya started, then sighed. "Yeah, that's my life right now."

Sarah stepped inside, closed the door, and leaned against the counter. "You know Luna's grandma is literally a palm reader? She's in the backyard if you want your future told."

"My future is already pretty clear," Maya said bitterly. "Social death."

Sarah laughed, and something in Maya's chest tightened. "Or," Sarah said, "you could own it. We've all been there. Freshman year, I had broccoli in my teeth during my class presentation. For like, ten minutes."

"No way."

"Unfortunately, yes." Sarah grinned. "So? You gonna let the sphinx win?"

"The what?"

"The sphinx," Sarah said. "You know—riddles and fear and all that. Luna's grandma calls herself the sphinx 'cause she speaks in puzzles. But the real riddle is why we're all so terrified of being ourselves."

Maya looked at Sarah, really looked at her. The cool, confident girl who apparently had her own embarrassing moments.

"Okay," Maya said, her palms suddenly dry. "Let's go see the sphinx."