Page 76 of Spectacular Things
The Dream
“Wanna hear a fun fact?” Mia asks Oliver as they enter the stadium. “The National Team stole their cheer from the Italians.”
“The Italians?”
“Your mom tell you that?” Oliver asks.
“She sure did.” Mia grins, resting her head on Oliver’s shoulder. Liz told her the history of the chant on their flight home from Paris, nearly a decade ago, and then again on the flight here, while Mia was dreaming of her.
Because this was always the dream.
It’s all upside down, but this was the dream and they’re here. For so long, Cricket in a USA jersey was what all three Lowe women worked toward, and for a moment, Mia tells herself this is good enough. They are Lowes, and so they don’t quit on each other.
As unfair as it is, being the older sister has always meant brokering peace.
This trip is already helping Mia understand Cricket’s reluctance to give it all up.
The career of a professional athlete, at best, is extremely brief.
Before even getting to see her sister emerge from the players’ tunnel for warm-ups, Mia knows in her bones that this trip was worth ignoring her nephrologist’s warning.
Fisting a soggy hot dog bun in one hand, an American flag in the other, Betty yells “Oosa!” from Oliver’s lap.
Or at least, that’s what Mia hears amid the ricocheting energy of the packed Rose Bowl stadium as she tries to soak up every detail, every memory as it happens.
Her daughter, despite having more leg rolls than lexicon, seems to understand how special today is, her “Lowe” jersey dangling past her feet.
“It’s so nice here,” Mia says to Oliver, lifting her face to the sun. “Maybe I really should have gone to UCLA with Cricket.”
“You could have married a surfer,” Oliver agrees wistfully. “Opened a chia seed café.”
“This was a good idea,” Mia says, grabbing him by the elbow, overcome with gratitude.
Before she even sees Cricket, Mia knows she will forgive her sister.
They will be okay. Mia has been on the donor list for almost a year now, and her donor-transplant coordinator feels certain that she will get a new kidney before Betty’s third birthday. She just has to hang on until then.
“Here it comes!” Oliver yells, lifting the baby up for The Wave. Betty claps and squeals, and as the three of them throw their arms up in unison, their world—ever so briefly—becomes perfect.
But despite Mia’s best efforts to balance her hydration levels on the cross-country flight, the long plane ride was too much.
Mia tries to tell Oliver that she can’t catch her breath.
Only the words suddenly elude her. She can’t speak and she can’t get Oliver’s attention.
Black spots speckle her view. The blue sky dims.
Mia collapses. From the depths of where she’s landed, she can’t hear Betty crying out or Oliver shouting for help.
Instead, she hears the ocean waves crashing back in Victory and her mother’s voice promising a reset.
Mia knows she needs to dunk her head under the water for it to count, but she’s so scared.
As medics weave through the crowd, Betty’s cries turn into terrified wails. She screams, reaching for her mother, for the one person she believes to be part of herself.
But even through Betty’s pleading howls, Mia remains unresponsive. Crumpled on the ground between the row of seats, she is gone. And somewhere down below on that lush field of green with clearly drawn lines and agreed-upon rules, a whistle bleats for a game to begin.