Before You Get Hit by a Car

"Hello?"

"Cassie, hi, it's me, it's, uh, Jordan." I forget that we all know who's calling now.

"Hey, Jordan, what's up?"

"Um, I just, uh, I just almost got hit by a car—"

"Oh my god!"

"—I think—?"

"Oh my god, are you OK?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm talking on the phone."

"Oh, right."

"Yeah. So, um..."

"Yeah?" I'm out of breath, I'm dizzy, I think I'm dizzy, I'm impulsive and rash and without plan. "You... sure you're OK, Jor?" I love it when she calls me Jor. I'm not OK. Maybe I am.

"Yeah, no, yeah, it's just—I'm fine. Really, I am."

"OK," she said, "good."

"It's just a thing like that... I mean, it really came close to hitting me, Cass, like, really close."

"It sounds awful."

"And, uh... I mean, I guess I don't know what would've happened had it hit me, you know, I don't know if I would've broken some... legs, or worse, you know..."

"Yeah."

"Or, like... died. Right? I mean, I could've died."

"Right."

"Potentially."

"Was it going that fast?"

"It was going really fast."

"Oh my god."

"So anyway, I..." Just take a deep breath and get it over with. You've been pulling on this bandage for years. "Anything could happen, you know? At any time. You can be crossing the street and... bam." Nothing. Silence. "And after I crossed the street, and almost went bam, I wanted to..." breath, "call you and say that you... you mean a lot to me." Close enough. "And that's the kind of thing you tell someone before you get hit by a car."

More nothing. More silence. And then.

"That's really sweet, Jordan."

If only I could see how she was saying it.

"Yeah. Well. Couldn't hurt, I figured."

If only I hadn't waited so long.

"Yeah."

If only.

"I gotta run now, actually—"

"Oh, oh yeah, sure—"

"Sorry."

"No, no, no, it's fine, yeah. Yeah."

"But uh..." She could say anything. She could say absolutely anything in this moment. "Thanks for calling," she chose. "I'm glad you're OK."

"Ha. Yeah," I say. "Me, too."