Page 156 of Hello Stranger

“Exactly.”

But I was calling it: “I don’t think you get to mock me for not recognizing you from that day. You were basically ninety-eight percent beard.” I reminded myself to stay bitter. We were not friends.

“I’m just amazed that you didn’t know who I was,” he said. “That whole time.”

I conceded. “I did not know you were Art Supply Guy.”

“I said hi to you sometimes, even—but nothing.”

“Did you?”

“I’m just thinking about how it wasn’t until after you got face blindness that you started to recognize me.”

“I recognized the bowling jacket,” I corrected. “Not you.”

“How are you doing now?” he asked. Like he really wanted to know.

HowwasI doing now? “Better, maybe?” I said. “I had swelling in my brain right near the area that recognizes faces. They kept telling me I might get the ability to see them back once the swelling went down… but it kept not going down. Until recently.”

“And did you get the ability back?”

“Sort of?” I said. “Partly. I can see some faces, but not others.”

“But you can see mine.”

“Weirdly, yes. Even though I’ve never seen you before.”

“But as we’ve just established, you’ve seen me a lot.”

“Apparently so.”

“I guess your brain remembers me, even if you don’t.”

“I guess it must.”

“Well,” Joe said then, like maybe he was winding it down, “I really am sorry. I would have been nicer to you if I’d known.” And then, like an afterthought, he added the most wrong thing I’d ever heard anyone say. “Even after you dumped me.”

Even after I—what? What was he saying? “I didn’t dump you, dude.Youdumpedme.”

Joe looked at me like I was nuts. “I didn’t dump you.”

“You fully did,” I said. “You ghosted me.”

“I ghosted you,” Joe admitted, “but only afteryoudumpedme.”

Wait.

Hold on.

“Joe,” I said. “I did not dump you. I’m madly in love with you. So, A, I would never do that. And B, I would definitely remember.”

But Joe stepped closer, looking into my eyes in wonder. “You’re madly in love with me?”

I looked away. “Was,” I corrected. “Past tense. Was.”

“Why did you break up with me if you were madly in love with me?”

“I didn’t break up with you!”

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