The Palm Reader's Prophecy

Maya's palms were sweating so much she could practically water plants with them. Senior Prom was three days away, and she didn't have a date. Again.

"You've got a long life line," said Luna, reading her palm at their lunch table. "But your love line is... complicated."

Maya rolled her eyes. "That's just bull, Luna. You're making this up."

"Am not!" Luna protested, but her tiny goldfish backpack charm swung as she moved, giving away her amusement. "Fine, what if I prove it? There's that traveling carnival in town. I've heard the palm reader there is scary accurate."

The carnival was everything Maya expected: neon lights, overpriced funnel cakes, and that distinctive smell of sugar and desperation. But when they reached the purple tent, a crowd had gathered.

A massive brown bear — okay, a guy in a surprisingly realistic bear costume — was breakdancing to electronic music while a cat rode on his shoulders. The crowd was filming it, of course.

"What is happening?" Maya whispered.

"This is content, Maya. This is THE content."

Inside the tent, the palm reader didn't look like Maya expected. She was maybe twenty, with streaked hair and a nose ring. "Sit," she said, not looking up from her phone. "Fifteen bucks."

Maya hesitated, then placed her hand on the crystal ball-covered table.

The woman traced the lines on Maya's palm with manicured fingers. She stopped cold.

"What?" Maya asked, heart pounding.

"You're going to prom with someone who's been right in front of you the whole time."

Maya thought it was total BS — until she walked outside and saw Jordan standing by the bear-costume guy, apparently waiting for his turn to film content. He'd been in her history class all year. They'd exchanged exactly seven words, mostly "can I borrow a pencil."

His palms were sweating too.

"Hey," he said. "Were you going to... do you want to..."

"Go see the bear guy?" Maya finished.

"No." Jordan's face turned red. "I meant, do you want to go to prom? With me?"

Maya looked at Luna, who was dramatically fake-sobbing into her goldfish backpack.

"Yes," Maya said. "Like, actually yes."

Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it sends breakdancing bears and shoulder-riding cats to push you in the right direction. And sometimes, just sometimes, your best friend is right about the palm reader thing being totally worth fifteen dollars.