The Palm Reader's Secret

Maya's **palm** was sweaty against Jayden's as he traced the lines with exaggerated seriousness.

"This life line? Short. You're doomed," he pronounced, trying to suppress a grin.

"Shut up, you're not even doing it right," she laughed, pulling her hand away. Sleepovers were supposed to be fun, but ever since Kai joined their friend group, everything felt different. Kai was perfect—popular, gorgeous, somehow always knew the right thing to say. Maya felt like the extra in her own life.

The next week at school, Maya noticed Kai watching her during lunch. Not normal watching, but like she was studying something. Memorizing. It gave Maya chills, but she told herself she was being paranoid.

Then came the weird moments: Kai knowing Maya's coffee order before she asked. Using the exact same slang Maya had invented with her old friends. Wearing Maya's favorite band shirt—the obscure one Maya had special-ordered online.

"Great minds think alike," Kai'd say, flashing that perfect smile.

Maya started taking her **vitamin** D supplements again, even though she hated them. Her mom had insisted they'd help with her anxiety, and suddenly Maya needed all the help she could get. She felt like she was losing her mind.

"I think Kai's copying me," she finally confessed to her actual **friend**, Riley, as they sat on the floor of Riley's bedroom, surrounded by half-finished history projects.

Riley looked up from her phone. "Like,模仿你的风格？"

"No, like... everything." Maya's voice shook. "I caught her going through my phone while I was in the bathroom yesterday. She said she was 'just checking the time,' but she'd been through my photos, my notes, my DMs. Even the locked ones."

Riley's eyes went wide. "That's not copying, Maya. That's creepy."

That weekend, at Riley's suggestion, Maya pretended to leave her phone unlocked on the kitchen counter. She watched from the hallway as Kai snatched it up, fingers flying, screenshotting everything—private conversations with Riley, embarrassing old photos, secret poetry Maya had never shown anyone.

"What are you doing?" Maya stepped into the room.

Kai jumped, dropping the phone. "I—"

"You've been **spy**ing on me. For months."

"I just wanted to know how you were so... you," Kai whispered. "Everyone likes you. I thought if I could figure out your secrets, your vibe, maybe I could be that too."

Maya looked at this person she'd envied for months, who'd been envying her right back. "Kai, you could've just talked to me. We could've been actual friends."

The silence stretched between them, heavy with all the things neither had said.

"I know," Kai said finally. "I messed up. Bad."

Two months later, Maya and Kai sat on Maya's front porch, sharing a bag of chips. It wasn't perfect—trust takes time to rebuild—but they were trying. For real this time.

"Your palm," Kai said suddenly, grabbing Maya's hand. "This line is longer than I thought."

Maya laughed. "Still not a psychic."

"No," Kai smiled. "Just a friend who's learning."