Checking the Phone for Two Dates at the Bus Stop

Checking the Phone for Two Dates at the Bus Stop

I was late for the 8:15 bus to work, standing at our usual stop by the pharmacy, except the street was our street and also the one by my old high school at the same time. I kept checking my phone for the time but the lock screen showed two dates stacked on top of each other, like I’d woken up in the wrong week. A neighbor from our building got on with me, only she also felt like my college roommate, same voice, different face. We sat down and she asked if I was coming from the apartment we have now or the one I almost rented in 2019. I couldn’t remember which keys were in my pocket. The bus never moved even though the driver kept saying we were already downtown. I felt this low, embarrassed panic that I’d clock in at the office and nobody would know which version of me had shown up.