The Palm Reader's Prophecy

Maya's mom had dropped her off at Jade's house with that look — the one that screamed 'please make actual friends this time.' Maya clutched her phone like a lifeline, the charging cable still dangling from her backpack. She'd forgotten to plug it in last night. Classic Maya.

Inside, Jade's living room already buzzed with energy. Three girls from school sat in a circle on the floor, and Jade's ginger cat, Nacho, was sprawled across someone's denim jacket like he owned the place.

"OMG, finally!" Jade waved her over. "We were just about to do palm readings. Raven's grandma taught her."

Raven — who'd dyed her hair black three times this semester and wore combat boots with everything — grabbed Maya's hand. "You have a long lifeline," she said dramatically. "But see this break? Big heartbreak coming."

The other girls gasped. Maya wanted to roll her eyes but instead felt weirdly exposed.

"Whatever," someone said. "Maya, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who do you have a crush on?"

The room went silent. Nacho the cat chose that moment to yawn dramatically, stretching his claws into the carpet. Maya thought about Liam in her history class, who always smelled like cinnamon gum and had this tiny scar through his eyebrow from where his brother hit him with a frisbee. But saying his name out loud felt impossible.

"No one," she lied.

"Boring," Raven said. "Okay, I dare you to text your crush right now."

"I literally don't have one."

"Then text your ex," someone else suggested.

Maya didn't have an ex either. She was sixteen and somehow had managed to bypass every normal teenage milestone. No boyfriend, no first kiss, no heartbreak — just her phone's dead battery and a cat staring at her like she was pathetic.

"You know what?" Maya stood up. "I need to go. My phone's dying anyway."

"Wait!" Jade called. "You can't leave without your reading finished!"

"Bear with me," Maya said, grabbing her backpack. "I'll be right back."

She stepped onto the back porch, where the air was finally cool and quiet. Her palm still tingled where Raven had traced its lines. She looked at her hand — the lines were just lines. But the other part, the part about heartbreak, that she couldn't stop thinking about.

Maybe heartbreak was better than nothing at all.

Her phone screen flickered with its last 2%. Enough for one text.

She typed: 'hey liam want to study for the history test together?'

Sent.

Then she waited, heart hammering, palm sweating, wondering if this was brave or completely stupid. The cat scratched at the back door. Somewhere inside, the girls laughed.

Three minutes later: 'yeah! thursdday?'

Maya typed back: 'Thursday's perfect.'