Yes, it’s true. I can read my brother’s mind, and he can read mine. We can communicate with each other through telepathic communication, and we often use this twin superpower to blow our friends’ minds. I feel the things he’s feeling. In fact, he’s a little hungry right now.
It’s pretty cool, right? Totally realistic right? WRONG! So before you ask; no, I can not read my brother’s mind and he can’t read mine. No, we can’t communicate telepathically (although we try to trick people into thinking we can). No, I don’t feel the things he’s feeling, and that “hunger” is because I skipped breakfast. Whenever my brother and I meet someone and they find out we are twins, these are the first things people ask us. After they are disappointed that we don’t have superpowers they follow up with this question: “So, what’s it like to be a twin?”
Think about it this way. Every year your birthday comes around, you’re excited for birthday wishes, birthday parties, birthday cakes, and birthday presents. You get a call from your grandmother, and if she’s anything like my grandma she sings Happy Birthday to you over the phone. Actually, let me rephrase that, she sings happy birthday to you AND your twin because not only is it your special day, it’s theirs too. Your mom decides to throw you a birthday party. Wait, scratch that. Your mom decides to throw you AND your twin a birthday party. People come to celebrate you AND your twin. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I have no idea what it’s like to celebrate my own birthday or to have a birthday party that was all about me. But this isn’t me complaining, because I’ve always had my own cake that read “Happy Birthday Haylee”.
Now, this “reality of being a twin” may only apply to my situation or the fact that my twin is a boy, but this is definitely the downfall of being a twin. Being a twin meant that my friends were also my brother’s friends, and his friends were mine. Unfortunately for me, that made me “one of the guys,” which sucked because some of his friends are REALLY cute. I was always thought of as “Hunter’s sister” rather than “Haylee.” Being a twin means being constantly associated with the other. Which could be a good or bad thing, and in the case of my brother’s cute friends, it’s not the best.
Even though I will never know what it is like to celebrate my own birthday, and I am constantly associated with my brother, the best part about being a twin is that I have a built-in best friend. Sure, we fight and annoy each other, but my twin is genuinely my best friend. Imagine having someone the same age as you, go to the same school as you, lives with you (the list goes on and on). My brother and I have a bond no one can truly understand and a lot of it is due to the fact that we were womb mates.
So no, we don’t have superpowers, but what it’s REALLY like to be a twin is like growing up with your best friend. And sure, I’ve never had my own birthday, but at least I always have two cakes:)