April 29, 2025 by Jordan Hayes

I’ve told this lie countless times, and I’ve gotten away with it every time. So many times that it’s become second nature, like a reflex. No one questions it, and I don’t think they ever will.

I’ve lied about being a twin.

The truth is, I’m not a twin. I’ve never had one. But whenever someone asks me if I have a twin or if I’m related to the other biracial person in the room, I say yes. Every single time. It just slips out, and before I know it, the conversation’s moved on, and no one’s the wiser.

I’m mixed race — half Black, half white. And growing up, that made me stand out in ways I didn’t always want. It wasn’t just that I didn’t look like anyone else in the room; it was that I didn’t always see anyone who looked like me. Sure, I had classmates who were also biracial, but the chances of us having the same skin tone and hair texture were rare. So when I did see someone who looked like me, people would immediately assume we were related. “Are you two twins?” they’d ask.

The first time it happened, I was surprised. I had never even considered that I could be a twin, but the question felt familiar in some way. There was this unspoken connection in the way we looked alike, and for a moment, it seemed like it would make things simpler if I just went with it. So, I did. I said yes. And I’ve said yes countless times since then.

It’s almost funny how easy it was to keep the lie going. I didn’t even think twice about it. People seem to want to believe it, and for once, I didn’t feel so out of place.

The truth is, I don’t really know why I’ve kept up with the lie all these years. Maybe it’s because, for once, it felt like I wasn’t the only one. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent so much of my life feeling like I was an outsider that pretending to have someone who understood me, who looked like me, gave me some small sense of belonging. Or maybe it’s just easier to fit in when you don’t have to explain who you are.

Either way, I’ve lied about being a twin, and I’ll probably keep doing it. Maybe one day, I’ll stop, but for now, it feels like the only story that fits.