“Thanks.” Her arms crossed in front of her. I was about to suggest a shower again when another idea occurred to me.
“Do you know what me and my roommates used to do when we had a big test the next day and we needed to pump ourselves up?”
“What?” Her tone was still flat, but her expression showed a hint of curiosity.
“We would play the song ‘Defying Gravity’ from the musicalWicked, dance around the room, and belt it at the top of our lungs. Have you heard of it?”
“No.”
“Can we play it?” I asked her, already making my way to the living room.
“Um, sure.”
“So the backstory is Elphaba is our underestimated and ridiculed heroine. She wants to learn magic and help animals, but she discovers that their leader is actually a bad guy. He tries to ensnare her in his wrongdoing, but she refuses and flies off to lead her life on her own terms. That’s what the song is about—believing in yourself and defying everyone’s expectations of you.” By the time I finished the description, I had the video up on the TV.
“Ready?” My long-buried theater kid heart was actually pretty excited about this. “Defying Gravity” had never failed to improve my mood.
Luna shrugged and I said a little prayer that Idina’s vocals could get this girl out of her funk.
“Oh, one more thing, we need microphones. I pulled up a version with the lyrics.” I hopped over the couch and darted into the kitchen, pulling two kitchen spoons out of the holder by the stove. I handed one to Luna on the way back. She looked at me with thinly veiled skepticism.
I pressed play and Kristin Chenoweth’s voice filled the house. “Give it a sec, it starts slow.”
Luna had one hand on her hip, the other holding the spoon by her side.
I sang the opening lines, and by the time I got to the first timethey say “defying gravity” I was fully belting into the black plastic spoon, gesticulating with my other hand, and moving around the living room. Luna was staring at me, eyes bugging out of her skull, with a closed lip smirk that revealed a hint of concern, like I just might be crazy. But that little smirk was stretching on her face, and the next time I looked, I caught her reading the lyrics on the screen.
“C’mon,” I called over the music. “It’s the defying gravity part again.”
She timidly brought the spoon up to her lips and spoke—not sang—the first few words of the chorus. But it was progress.
I kept singing like I was back in my law school living room with Natalie. I walked over to Luna and sang the part about deserving a chance to fly just for her.Damn, these lyrics are so motivational.I smiled to myself before throwing all my vocal power into the final words.
Panting, I asked, “What do you think?”
She pursed her lips, but then a smile broke on her face. “I like it. You’re a good singer, you know.”
I laughed. “Oh, thank you, Luna. I did theater in high school.” I never didWicked, though. Even if the performance rights were available, which they weren’t, it would have been too big a production for a small public high school theater program.
“It seems like it would be fun. I like singing sometimes, but only when I know the words.”
“Want to play it again? So you can learn the words?”
“Yeah.”
I tried not to smile too wide.
The second time through, Luna was a more enthusiastic participant. She scrutinized the lyrics on the screen and sang rather than spoke the choruses and some of the verses. By the end, we both screamed the final extended note.
Luna beamed. “One more time? I think I know the words now.”
Got her.
By the fourth time through Luna—bless her—was really getting into it. I was out of breath. My vocal chords hadn’t gotten a workout like this in a long time. I only sang in the car these days. But it was worth it.
Luna and I took turns singing certain parts and had climbed up on each of the couches. I’d turned the volume up the last time and wondered if the neighbors would hear us and question what the hell we were doing over here.
Luna belted one of the lines without looking at the screen, using the spoon microphone like a pro, and I beamed. For the last part, I jumped from my couch to hers, and we leaned our heads together, screaming into our respective spoons.
