The Palm Reader's Sphinx

Maya's golden retriever, Buster, was currently losing his mind at the absolutely sphinx-like expression on Maya's face. Her best friend Leo had just convinced her to let the weird palm-reading girl at school read her hand during lunch.

"You're actually doing this?" Leo cracked up, grabbing an orange from his lunch bag. "This is peak cringe, Maya."

"Shut up," Maya muttered, though she was definitely nervous. The girl—Chloe, who wore vintage band tees and somehow made sitting alone look cool—had this mysterious vibe that Maya simultaneously wanted to be and wanted to avoid.

"Let me see," Chloe said, not looking up from her sketchbook. Maya hesitated, then extended her palm. Chloe's fingers traced the lines with surprising gentleness.

"You're... afraid of being seen," Chloe said softly. "Like, really seen. You think if you show people who you actually are, they'll bounce. So you perform being chill instead of just being chill."

Maya's stomach dropped. Because, like, TRUE. She'd been performing chill since middle school, ever since she realized that caring too much was basically social suicide. Buster pressed his head against her leg, sensing her mood shift.

"That's... weirdly accurate," Maya admitted.

"And," Chloe added, finally looking up with this tiny, knowing smile, "you're about to take a huge risk on something that matters. I can see it in your fate line."

Maya thought about the art portfolio she'd been secretly building. The one she was terrified to submit for the summer program because what if she wasn't actually good enough? What if people laughed? What if she failed spectacularly and publicly?

"Risk is scarier than regret," Chloe said, as if reading her mind. "Trust me, I learned that the hard way."

The bell rang, but Maya didn't move immediately. She looked at Leo, who was legit confused, then at Chloe, who was already back to drawing. The orange sky outside through the cafeteria windows looked like something painted.

"Yo," Maya said, her voice steadier than she felt. "You want to see my portfolio?"

Leo raised his eyebrows but didn't roast her. Buster let out this soft whine of approval. And for the first time in forever, Maya didn't feel like she was performing anything at all.