“Really?”
“Well, yeah,” he answered.
Psychic Jennie held her hand out, waiting for mine. I hesitated, peeked down at the fingers clutching my thighs and shrugged. What could this girl tell me that I didn’t already know?
Finally, palm up, I placed my right hand in Jennie’s. I flinched at her icy skin.
She winced. “Sorry. For some reason, my hands are always freezing.” Jennie picked my hand up and bent over it. “Any particular question you have?" she asked, still staring at my palm, moving it up and down and side-to-side to get a better view.
“Well, I…um…”
When I didn’t say anything, the palm reader looked up, a small smile on her face. “You’re not into this are you?”
“No. Not really,” I admitted.
Jennie tilted my palm and pointed at a creased line. “I can tell. It’s all right here.”
She tapped one of the long lines spanning the width of my palm. I bent over, studying the line. I didn’t know how anyone could read anything from a wrinkle in the skin.
A short chuckle caught my attention. When I looked up at Jennie, she burst out laughing.
My face grew hot. This was such a stupid idea.
Jennie glanced at Drake and then back at me. Finally composed, she dropped my hand. “Listen, I know it’s hard to believe in things you don’t understand, but sometime, you just might need something to believe in. When the time comes, you should believe in it.”
I stared at her, blinking.
“Nice,” Drake said as he pulled out a five-dollar bill from his wallet. “You got a spooky one.”
Jennie took the money and motioned for Drake and I to switch places. “I’ll do you both for five, okay?”
I broke into a huge smile and nodded. He laughed as grabbed his hand and handed it to Jennie across the table. If I got a crazy psychic reading, would he too.
Jennie did the same to him, twisting and turning his palm, trying to find the lines she needed. “Do you have a specific question?”
“Hmmm. Let me think.” He drummed his fingers against his chin with his free hand. “What does my love life look like?”
Jennie smirked, eyes peeking to me. She brought his hand closer to her face, staring at it awhile before her eyes fluttered closed. Her chest rose and fell with an enormous breath. She repeated that a few times before I nudged Drake’s leg and choked back a giggle. He shifted his gaze to me with an ‘Is this girl crazy?’ face.
Jennie’s eyes popped open. We both snapped back to attention, like we were scared of getting caught slipping notes back and forth in health class. “Your lines are much like hers.” She motioned with his palm toward me. “The heart line is deep and crisp and starts below your index finger, meaning you’ll be content. See the way it curves upwards?” Jennie asked, tracing her finger along Drake’s line. “That means you’re a romantic. The intersecting lines here, which look like an asterisk? Palm readers call that a star. A star along the heart line means you’ll have a happy marriage. You also have another fainter line here. It kind of mirrors your true heart line, runs parallel with it. That means your loved one will always protect you.”
“Thank you,” Drake said, his voice freakishly even and lacking any of the earlier humor. When he looked over at me, his eyes were glassy pools.
When we stood together, the spell broke immediately. He winked at me, his usual good-natured fun taking over. “Whew. I’m glad she didn’t bring up my other girlfriends."
I nudged him with my shoulder. “Do you mean Marlene?”
His mouth snapped shut. “That’s just not funny.”
“I thought it was.”
He squeezed my fingers and led me through the crowd. “So, you liked it?”
I shrugged. Yes and no. I thought it was interesting but I didn’t think I’d put any real stock into any of it. “For entertainment purposes only."
“Good. I was worried you’d think it was stupid.”
“I do kinda. I’m glad you didn’t take me to anyone