Daniel repeats the ominous message pinched between El's fingers.

"Run?"

"See?" El reveals the paper fortune. The word clearly stands out against the white background. "It knows me!"

Daniel interprets the word as some coincidental, inconclusive warning.

"Maybe, I can tell you something you don't know."

El stares at the top of the table where Daniel's hands rest in a way that El mimics, as a stutter of doubt resounds in his reply.

"Y-y-you're going to read my future? Isn't palm reading like voo-doo? I saw this movie once..."

"No. Voo-doo is for movies," Daniel interrupts, sounding insulted. "C'mon. Aren't you interested to know about your chances with that girl in the phone booth?"

El recalls the hour spent arguing with his mother on the phone about changing his hairstyle to look like his fashion idol, Andrew Ridgele and decides there is nothing to lose.

Daniel reassures him. "Come Monday, El, whether I read your palm or not, you're going to find out if that girl is a fan of the '80s. Hopefully, she likes ESPIRIT sweaters, too. You do know that is a girl's brand that you're wearing, right?"

El looks at the ESPIRIT logo printed across in large rainbow colors.

"My mom said this sweater looks good on me."

Out of pity, Daniel decides not to make a humorous comment.

"I'm a complete loser," El slowly admits to himself.

"Let me see your palm, El."

Though curious to know about his future, El feels strongly about his future involving baseball and the freedom to enjoy episodes of 'The Simpsons.' However, his hesitance to accept Daniel's invitation suggests doubt.

"Women aren't shallow," El states, "My mom told me it takes more than fashion to find the right person."

El continues rambling in hopes he may discover one comforting reason to justify his naive optimism in meeting the girl in the phone booth. "My little sister did a book report in the sixth grade about a Japanese girl, Sadako, who tried folding a thousand paper origami cranes."

"Why?" Daniel asks perplexed at the random statement.

"Because, the book report was part of my sister's weekly homework assignment."

Daniel eyes roll to his roommate's cluelessness. "I mean WHY would the girl fold a thousand paper cranes?"

"She wanted a wish. She figured she could get cured of cancer if she folded a thousand," he explains. "A hundred, I guess, is too small a number to appease the Gods of love."

"You're saying," Daniel pauses, as he has many times before to give time for the pressure of laughter to alleviate from inside.

"You're saying," he repeats, "that you plan to ask this girl out with a haircut of the guy responsible for the song, 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!' while sporting a girl's ESPIRIT sweater, AND giving her a bunch of paper cranes?!"

El's optimism remains visible, though the tears from Daniel's laughter imply a comical, but ominous outcome to El's plan.

"Yup," El replies confidently, the naivety becoming more and more apparent with each word.

Still laughing, Daniel struggles to ask, "What do you hope she sees in that?!"

"That my patience, actions and love for her are equally as superhuman as the attributes of Superman, the greatest superhero in the comic universe."

Daniel catches his breath. El's response was enough to light a flame of inspiration within Daniel's doubts.

"Show me your hand, El," Daniel, again, requests.

Daniel, his curiosity outweighing any amount of pessimism, insists to El, "Instead of telling your future, I'll prove to you how palm reading is legit. I'll reveal something only you would know."

"You're going to tell me about my past? You can convince me more if you tell me what will happen in the next hour."

"It doesn't work like that."

Convinced, and equally as curious, El places his hands on top of the table. Using small random motions, he adjusts his palms like a person overcomed with OCD until it becomes an exact reflection of Daniel's hands that are directly placed across from his.

"Dummy!" Daniel shouts, slapping El's hand. "The right hand is for girls! I only need your left!"

Taking his left hand, he presses El's palm. He closely examines each unique line that, according to Chinese palm reading, defines each person's past, present and future. With each release, El's circulation returns the natural glow in his skin's tone.

"Your blood flow is good. You never smoked?"

"That's something Super-man would never do," El proudly admits.

Arriving at a notable discovery in one of the many lines, Daniel changes his focus to El's eyes. He looks more concerned than before.

"Running is in your nature. It's been with you before you could walk. But, according to your palm," Daniel points at a specific line. "There is an imperfection."

"This line here," Daniel says, pointing, "It tells a very interesting story."