The Pyramid Scheme

Maya's palms were sweating — like, actually dripping — which was ironic considering she was about to give Sierra a palm reading at the biggest party of sophomore year.

"You got this," Chloe whispered, handing her a deck of tarot cards she'd clearly just printed from the internet. "Everyone knows you're the mystical one since that one TikTok went semi-viral."

Maya wasn't mystical. She was just really good at Googling and even better at pretending she wasn't terrified.

Sierra sat cross-legged on the carpet, surrounded by a crowd that included Jordan, who Maya had been lowkey crushing on since volleyball season started. The pyramid of red Solo cups on the kitchen counter grew taller with every round of whatever drinking game the seniors were playing. Someone's phone blasted Doja Cat from somewhere.

"Okay," Maya said, trying to channel confidence she absolutely did not feel. She took Sierra's hand and pretended to study the lines. "This is your... life line. It's super long, which means you're either going to live forever or you're just really stubborn."

Sierra laughed. "Both, probably."

"And this line here—" Maya pointed at something random "—means you're going to have to make a huge decision soon. Like, life-altering."

Outside, lightning cracked so loud the windows shook. Half the party screamed. The power died, plunging them into darkness until someone's phone flashlight cut through.

"Okay, THAT was definitely a sign," someone said.

"You're psychic now too?" Jordan's voice came from somewhere behind her. Maya's stomach did that annoying flutter thing.

The lights flickered back on. Sierra was still waiting, looking at Maya with these huge eyes like she actually believed this nonsense. And suddenly Maya couldn't bear it. Not the lying, not the pretending, not the way everyone looked at her like she was something she wasn't.

"Look," Maya said, her voice shaking. "I made all this up. I'm not psychic. I just found this website and—"

Sierra started laughing. Not mean laughing. Genuine, doubled-over laughing. "Girl, I KNOW. Chloe told me. We wanted to see if you'd actually go through with it."

"Wait, what?"

"You walked in here looking like you'd rather face a bear than give a fake reading," Sierra said. "That was brave as hell."

Jordan appeared beside her. "Also, you got the stubborn part right."

Maya looked around at everyone grinning at her and felt something shift in her chest. Maybe it was okay to be the girl who pretended to be psychic. Maybe it was even better to be the girl who admitted she wasn't.

"Anyway," she said, grabbing a juice box from the pyramid on the counter, "who wants next? I'm predicting you'll all fail your math test Monday. That one's free."