Drumbeats into My Heart

41. Seth Walks on Air

When I get home, I'm walking on air. Best day of my life. Hands down.

"A little late, isn't it?" my mother says from the couch.

I glance at the clock. It's eight-thirty.

I feel so good, the smile doesn't slip from my face. "I had a good time."

"That's great, Seth!" Dad says. It sounds like he means it too.

Mom mutes the television and asks, "Where did you go?"

"They took me to a drum circle."

"They?" She raises an eyebrow, already suspicious of something, though I don't know what. It's not like I ever hang out with drug dealers.

"A drum circle?" Dad inquires at the same time.

I ignore Mom's edged tone and grin. "Yeah. Jordi and her dad go to this drum circle every month, and they invited me to go. It was so awesome. A whole bunch of drummers get together and just... create music." I start slapping on my thighs like a drum.

"That does sound fun." Dad gives me one of his rare smiles and genuinely looks happy for me.

I grin back at him, pleased.

"You got to meet her parents?" That edge in her voice is still there, making me uneasy.

My grin slips a little. "Just one. Her mom died. But her dad's a cool guy."

"Invite her to dinner," Mom blurts.

I blink at her. "What?"

"Dinner. Invite her over. I'd like to meet her."

"Um..." No, no, no! My mind is screaming, reeling. I want no such thing. My mother makes the Spanish Inquisition seem like a theme park. "I-I don't know..."

"Why not?"

I look to Dad for support, but I only get a shrug in response. "Well, um..." I can't exactly tell her the truth, that I don't want her scaring Jordi out of my life. "She's pretty busy."

"Not too busy for drum circles," she shoots back.

"That's only once a month."

She considers this and sighs. "Just invite her and let her make the excuses, okay?"

"Okay," I mumble and stick my hands into my pockets. It's pointless to argue. Besides, she never said when I had to ask.

That night, as I lay in bed, I relive my time at the drum circle. The energy was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, including that baseball game my dad had taken me to last year where I'd almost caught a fly ball. If I'd been more coordinated, I might have actually caught it. Instead, I'd knocked it into the glove of a ten-year-old sitting three seats away.

My vibrating phone jars me from semi-sleep. When I see Jordi's name on the display, I instantly snap awake and answer the call, too happy to remember I'm supposed to freak out over what to say on the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey."

Her voice sounds so good, I want to reach through the phone and touch her. "Hi!" I glance at my closed door and lower my voice. "You're calling me." I'm stating the obvious, but I don't care because I get to listen to her voice now.

She chuckles. "I figured my chances of talking to you between farmer's markets would be much higher if I called you, instead of the other way around."

She's not wrong. "Yeah, I'm kind of terrible on the phone."

"It's okay. It adds to your mystique."

I grin. "I knew my nerdtastic charm was irresistible."

She laughs then. "Seth, you're kind of awesome."

I close my eyes to savor her words. "So are you."

"Thanks." The smile in her voice makes me imagine her cheerful face. "Are you glad you went to the drum circle?"

"Glad? Today was the best day, ever! I'm not even exaggerating. It was so cool. I can't even begin to tell you." Wait, I am telling her. Oh well, so what. I let the words continue gushing out. "The whole thing was beyond incredible. I want my own drum now."

She laughs again. "So you liked it."

"Like is the understatement of the year. When I get married, I want a drum circle at my wedding reception."

Another peal of laughter wafts through the phone, making me grin. "You're already thinking about your wedding day?"

My exuberant thoughts screech to a grinding halt. "Um, no. What? No!" A strange, nervous chortle escapes my throat. Seth, what are you doing? Talking about your wedding day? To a girl you're barely getting to know? Get a hold of yourself! "All I meant was that drum circle was life-changing."

I hold my breath, still mentally kicking myself.

Wedding day. Seriously.

There's a brief pause, during which I'm convinced she's freaking out that I'm way too intense and she should drop me now.

But then she says, "You really want your own drum?"

I let out my breath. "Definitely."

"Another convert. Dad's gonna be thrilled. Does this mean you'll want to go next month?"

I let some of my excitement rise up again. "I don't think I can wait an entire month before drumming again. I have no idea where to get one of those, but I think it'll be fun to practice, y'know? Hey, why don't you play your drum at the market instead of all those pots and pans?"

"I actually have, but it turns out one drum isn't gimmicky enough to get people's attention. Start banging on things you normally cook with, and you've got a crowd-pleaser."

"That's pretty smart," I say, meaning it.

"I guess."

"Can I have your email address?" I ask suddenly when an idea hits me.

"My email?"

"Yeah, I have the perfect song to describe today, and I want to share it with you." The more I think about it, the more perfect it is.

"Um." She seems to hesitate. "You can send it to my phone."

"It'll sound terrible on a phone speaker. I'll email you a link, and you can listen to it on those great computer speakers your dad has."

"Well... okay." She recites her email address.

I gleefully jot it down. "Hey, Jordi?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you called."

It's the perfect end to a perfect day.

I've actually been to some drum circles. They are so much fun! I would vote for them every time.