Something red catches my eye and I slam on the breaks. My car skids and I feel the back tires slide before finding a hold on the road and stopping. Where did he come from? My heart pounds in my throat.

I try to avoid the glaring eyes from the driver in front of me. Surely he saw that I nearly hit his car. I wipe my hand on my jeans and click my turn signal on. As soon as I can, I pull into the left lane and wait at the stoplight for my turn.

The light turns green and my foot hits the floor. I turn into the parking lot of  my favorite book store and stop the car.

I’ve always been fond of second hand bookstores. Maybe I’ll finally find Interstellar: the original copy.

I pull open the shop door; my hair spills over my shoulders from the rush of cool air escaping. A bell chimes quietly and I’m greeted with a smile from the shop owner.

I scan the rows and rows of books, looking for the genre I desire. I itch to get out of the owner’s sight and into the confines of bookshelves.  When I see the science fiction section, I move to the shelves as quickly but as unsuspiciously as possible.

There’s a man further down. He doesn’t look at me and I pretend I don’t notice him. I search for the author’s name, skimming the creased spines.

When I spot several editions of his book, I look for the one that resembles the edition I want. I reach for it the same time another hand does.

I pull my hand back, shocked by the iciness of his. I look up at the man I ignored the same time he looks at me.

“Do I…?”

“Have we…?”

We say in unison.

I smile and look down before glancing back up. Something in my mind and eye sync up. I’ve seen this before. I’ve met him before. I know I have. I cock my head the same time his eyes narrow.

“This is going to sound insane,” I say, “but is your name Nicolas?”

His body subtly flinches. “Yeah… Is your name Nicole?”

“How do you know my name?”

“How’d you know mine?” he replies.

“Prove it.”

Without hesitation, he pulls out his wallet and flicks his ID at me. “Where’s your proof?” I don’t answer. Instead, I grab his ID and examine it closely.

“Hello?”

“Your last name,” I say. I pull out mine and show him. “That’s my last name.”

He grabs the ID’s. His mouth falls open as his eyes skim our cards. “Our birthdays too.”

“What?” I peer over his arm at the cards and sure enough, our birthdays are the same, right down to the year.

I take my ID back and give him a good look. He has blue eyes and black hair. Same as me. And he seems to be my height. We have the same birthdays and last names. What if we’re long lost siblings? Twins even?

“What’s your mom’s name?” I ask.

“Nancy.”

I frown. My mother’s name is Drew.

“Did you have a dog growing up?” he asks. I have no idea where he’s going with this but I nod. “What was his name?”

“Her name was Amber.”

“I had a dog named Amber.”

“Stop lying. You said ‘he’.”

“To trick you. Here, I’ll show you a picture.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. I pull out my phone too and search for a good picture of my late dog.

Just as I land on the photo I want to show him, he shoves his phone in my face.

“Stop it,” I say, turning my phone to show him the identical photo he showed me. “Have you been stalking me?”

“Yeah, totally. And I changed my name to match yours and then I planned that we would meet and just guess each others name. I totally did that.” He pockets his phone and rolls his eyes.

“Well I know I’ve seen you before,” I say.

He nods and we fall into silence which we both want to fill. I can feel all the books screaming at us with their dialogues.

“Maybe we’re each other’s alternate self,” I say, only half joking.

“What? And we’re from different dimensions that somehow intertwined?” He chuckles. “When pigs fly.”

“Cops have helicopters.” I shrug. “Maybe its not too far off. I mean, we were reaching for the same book. And that book happens to be about space and the fifth dimension.”

“Maybe you’re right,” he says. “But what do we do about it?”

I shrug. “Neither of us are scientists. So nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I nod. “It was nice meeting you, male version of me from another dimension.”

He smiles. “I hope our dimensions cross again.”

We go our separate ways and on my way home, a car behind me disappears.