The Fall Ball

28.Lucy

Five years ago; Sixth Grade

"Clap, clap, tap, tap, tap," Della's fingers drummed the plastic cup effortlessly as we sat cross-legged on my bedroom floor, facing each other. I tried to mimic her moves, my own attempts falling short as I struggled to keep up. We had just returned from piano classes and found ourselves surfing YouTube on my mom's laptop when we stumbled upon the cup song trend.

Della was a natural, picking up the rhythm with ease. With just one tutorial and three tries, she had mastered the sequence. Meanwhile, after ten failed attempts, I was still grappling with the basics.

"Clap, up, down, clap, grab, palm-" Della went on.

In an attempt to get the move right, my wrist twisted in the wrong direction, causing the cup to topple and roll over to her side, making us both burst into laughter. "That part can be tricky, but all it takes is a little practice," she reassured me.

"Okay, one more try!" I cried, setting the cup down again.

Just as we geared up for another round, the door creaked open, and Mom peered in. "Della, sweetie, get your stuff ready. Your mom just called and said she'll be here in ten minutes."

"No!" I whined. "Can't she stay for the night, Mom? She can wear something of mine and go to school tomorrow."

"I wouldn't mind, but we'll have to ask Della's mommy," Mom replied.

"Her mom would let her stay if you ask her! Mom, please!" I pleaded.

"Hmm, maybe after midterms." Mom said squinting at me. "I'd like you to get cleaned up and ready for homework."

"But I hate Midterms!" I groaned in response, sprawling on my wooden bedroom floor. Mom shook her head in dismay and walked away.

Then I got an idea, "What if we study together?" I yelled.

"We'll see, Lucy," my mom answered out loud from the corridor.

"Alright. Anyway, we've got ten minutes left. We should practice," Della suggested.

"How about I just handle the singing, and you focus on the cup routine?" I proposed, pushing the cup towards her.

"Okay!" She shrugged, positioning her cup in front of her. "Are we going to record this?"

"We should! Let me just-" I dragged the laptop closer to us, flipping on the camera app and adjusting the screen so we were both visible. Suddenly we were both nervous for the performance even though we had no one but ourselves as our audience. Spent way too much time fixing each other's hair, and more time laughing when we got the lyrics.

I was glad Della's mom took more than ten minutes to come pick her up from my house.

***

Present Day

When I get overcome with emotion, music always helps to calm me down. Sometimes it just makes me sadder. In the past two years, my song mix never played one song, and then tonight it just did. Right when I needed a song that would help me fix my mood. Not ruin it.

Just the sound of a simple and happy cup routine made me tear up. Never in a million years did I expect that sixth-grade memory that would make me feel bad. Me and Della, on the bedroom floor of our old house. I felt worse not remembering where the video of us singing was saved. Was it still saved on my mom's old laptop? I had to find out.

"When I'm gone, When I'm gone,

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone,

You're gonna miss me by my walk,