The Palm Reading Mission

Maya's iPhone flashed 3% battery. Death was imminent.

"You got the cable?" she whispered to Kai, leaning against the gym wall.

Kai fished through his pockets like a panicked squirrel. "Left it in my locker. We're gonna die out here."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Dramatic much? It's just We—"

"Just WHAT?" A voice boomed behind them. Mr. Harrison, the bio teacher who'd been a zombie since before it was cool. His eyes glazed over their phone screens like he sensed unauthorized technology.

"Just... studying for Western Civ," Maya lied smoothly, slipping her phone into her back pocket.

Mr. Harrison grunted, seemingly satisfied, and shambled away toward the punch bowl.

"Dude," Kai whispered. "You're such a natural spy. I would've cracked."

Maya smirked. "Amateur hour. Now go get that cable before Jordan leaves."

This was Operation: Palm Reading — the stupidest mission ever. Jordan, Maya's crush since seventh grade, had downloaded this palm reading app that supposedly analyzed your palm through the camera and told your future. The catch? He'd only show it to people if they promised to upload their "reading" to his Instagram story. Maya had been plotting ways to get her palm read for three weeks.

Kai returned, cable in hand, breathless. "Got it. But you owe me."

Jordan stood by the bleachers, surrounded by his usual squad. His casual laugh floated across the gym, making Maya's palms sweat. Actually sweaty. Gross.

"You got this," Kai said, plugging the cable into the wall outlet behind them. "Charge up, go over there, be like 'hey Jordan, I hear you're a fortune teller now, read my fate.'"

"That sounded weirdly formal," Maya said, watching her phone light up. 4%. "And what if I say something dumb? What if my palm says I'll die alone?"

"Then you die alone with dignity," Kai said. "Go."

Maya took a breath, grabbed her phone, and marched across the gym. Jordan noticed her approach and smiled — actually smiled, not just polite smiling.

"Hey Maya," he said. "What's up?"

"Heard you're doing palm readings now," she said, holding out her hand. "Read my future, mystic Jordan."

He laughed, that actual laugh she'd been hoping for. "Only if you promise to post the results. My followers need to see this."

"Deal."

His fingers brushed her palm as he positioned her hand for the camera. Her heart did this full-on gymnastics routine. He held his phone above her hand, the app loading, and suddenly —

The screen went black. Jordan's phone was dead.

"Seriously?" He groaned. "I swear I charged it —"

Maya reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPhone, freshly revived to 12%. "Use mine."

He looked at her like she'd just saved his life. "You're a lifesaver."

She unlocked it and handed it over, their fingers touching again, and tried to play it cool even though her internal monologue was screaming at maximum volume.

Jordan opened the palm reading app, positioned the camera over her hand, and waited. The app's mystical loading screen spun.

"Okay," it announced in a robotic voice. "Palm analysis complete. Your future says..."

They both leaned in.

"Your future says... you'll be using someone else's phone charger again. In five minutes. Also: you're going to prom with the guy holding this phone."

Silence.

Then Jordan's face turned bright red. "That app is glitched as hell."

Maya's palms were sweating again. "Glitched, huh?"

"Totally glitched," he said, but he didn't hand the phone back right away. "But... prom's not until May. That's, like, four months away."

"Yeah?"

"So if we wanted to test if the app's actually psychic," Jordan said, finally meeting her eyes, "we'd have to hang out before then. You know, for science."

Maya's phone battery was at 11%. Her palms were sweating. Jordan was blushing. The app glitched, but somehow, Maya didn't think it was wrong.

"For science," she agreed.

Kai gave her a thumbs-up from across the gym. Operation: Palm Reading was officially a success.