“I know you,” Ayanna said. “You’re the guy who got hit by the bike.”

“You saved my life,” he said. “Well, I mean, you made me feel better. But I can’t stop thinking about the guy who touched my face.”

“This is a weird question, but how did it feel?”

“Too hot. Like accidentally touching a skillet. I keep looking at my face, expecting burn marks.”

Bike Guy was obviously a little wasted, but she was happy to see him alive and well. He showed her how there were still some scrapes on his arms. He talked about how he hadn’t even seen the bike coming, how one minute he was listening to his headphones and then he was on the sidewalk. It felt like he thought dying might happen like, you’re upright, then you’re on the ground and you don’t know what’s going on.

“Did you call your friend?”

“I did,” he said, “and then chickened out and instead we talked about this movie we had both seen.”

“What’s your name?”

“Turner. I have a fancy mom.”

“You can’t even nickname that.”

“People try and it’s always a mess. What’s your name?”

“Ayanna.”

“I’m glad we got to see each other again. Seeing you, knowing your name, it makes what happened feel more real.”

There was a beat where they both looked ahead to see how long the line was taking.

“Anyway,” Ayanna said, deciding to let alcohol guide her decision-making, “you’re clearly in love with that girl. You should tell her.”

Turner drained the beer he was holding. “What we have right now is also important to me. And it’s not like I think it will ruin everything to say something. I’m not that kind of person where if she doesn’t feel the same way, I’ll have a grudge. But I also like where I am now. I like having a crush, I like how I am right now. I don’t want to change. That’s what I learned from getting hit by a bike. I walked home and realized, whoa, I’m happy right now. Not about getting hit by a bike, but in general.”

Ayanna felt this was unexpectedly wise, but also a little annoying. They exchanged numbers, Turner promising to let her know if anything as weird happened to him ever again. One of his friends stopped to chat and Turner pointed her out as “the girl who saved my life.” It was embarrassing when he said it and it felt worse when his friend smiled and said, “You’re famous.”

“Turner, if you were being haunted, like by a weird ghost, not a chill ghost, what would you do to get rid of it?” Ayanna tried to say it like she was asking a fun, offbeat question.