The Palm Reader's Secret

Maya's palms were practically dripping onto the folding table. Great. Exactly the vibe you want when you're supposed to be a mystical fortune teller at the school fall festival.

"Next!" she called, trying to channel her inner mysterious woman and failing. Her voice cracked.

A guy slid into the chair across from her. Liam. The Liam. The one whose Spotifywrapped she'd been lowkey spying on since freshman year because they shared a mutual friend who accidentally leaked the link. (Was it creepy? Maybe. Did she stop? Also no.)

"What's the verdict, fortune teller?" Liam grinned, all perfect teeth and easy confidence. "Am I gonna pass algebra?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. "Um, give me your hand."

Liam extended his palm. It was warm and somehow everything. Maya stared at the lines like they contained the meaning of the universe, or at least the meaning of why her stomach felt like it was doing gymnastics.

"You're... " She squinted dramatically. "You're gonna pass algebra. But you have to actually study. The spirits are very clear on this."

Liam laughed, and the sound was nicer than it had any right to be. "What else?"

Maya traced a line on his palm with her finger, trying to ignore how her own hands were basically fountains right now. "This line means... you're secretly really into vintage vinyl? And this one says you still sleep with a childhood stuffed animal."

Liam's smile faltered for exactly half a second before recovering. "Wow, you're good. Or maybe you've been spying on my Instagram highlights."

Touché.

Suddenly, something crashed into the table. A dog. A very large, very wet golden retriever had materialized from nowhere and was now enthusiastically licking Maya's elbow.

"Buster!" Liam grabbed the dog's collar. "Dude, not cool."

"That's your dog?" Maya asked, trying to salvage her dignity while being molested by a very friendly canine.

"My little sister's. We're watching him this weekend. He's a total escape artist." Liam looked genuinely mortified. "So sorry about your fortune-telling setup."

But Maya was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. Because of course. Of course the universe would send a chaotic golden retriever to ruin her moment with her crush, and somehow that made everything better.

"It's perfect," she said, wiping dog drool from her arm. "The spirits clearly wanted some comic relief."

Liam's eyes softened. "Hey, after this, wanna help me track down which exit he used? I'll buy you a pretzel."

Maya's palms were still sweaty, her psychic credibility was destroyed, and a dog had just face-planted into her career as a mystic. But as she watched Liam try to wrangle his sister's escape artist, she thought: best festival ever.