I’m sitting on the sofa in my pajamas across from two of my best friends, sophomores Grace and Margaret Akins. Music echoes throughout the house through their Sonos surround-sound speakers. About ten other girls can be heard laughing and chatting in the room next to us as we’d all gotten together for the snow day during Winter Storm Stella.

I place my recorder on the coffee table and the interview begins.

“Oh god,” Margaret mumbles under her breath.

Despite her obvious anxiety about getting interviewed, an infectious smile is plastered across her face as she tucks her hair behind her ear. Grace, whose demeanor seems much more relaxed,  turns to her right to flash an equally bright reassuring smile at her twin.

At first glance, the identical twins seem indistinguishable in the clothes that they were wearing. Margaret is wearing an oversized white t-shirt with striped pajama pants. She sits crisscrossed on a chair with Grace directly to her left. Grace is sitting in an overstuffed, brown, leather armchair with her legs crossed, wearing a yellow t-shirt and black sweatpants.

I throw them a smile from across the table and Margaret lets out a giggle. I start off our conversation with a basic question that I’m sure they’ve heard a million times already.

“What’s it like having a twin?” I asked.

Grace responded immediately, “We share a room and we have the same friends, so we’re really close and we pretty much go everywhere together. It’s fun.”

Margaret gave her nod of agreement.

The two, being identical twins, have gotten used to people mixing them up. However, it doesn’t really bother them.

“If anyone asks me how they can tell us apart, I have a list ready for them in my mind,” said Margaret with a laugh. “So it’s not really annoying when people ask me because I’m just so used to it.”

“Some people say that we’re different, but I think we’re kind of the same,” said Grace with a smile as she looked towards Margaret.

“We like the same movies, music, and TV shows. We get around the same grades and take the same classes,” said Margaret, listing their similarities.

The two love science-fiction and adventure like “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” “Star Wars,” “Interstellar” and “Game of Thrones.” They both love classic rock and indie folk rock. The girls are also avid Steelers fans, along with the rest of their family, which includes their parents and a younger sister, Caroline.

Despite their almost identical similarities the twins have their differences, just like any other siblings would.

“I’m definitely more of the gamer twin,” said Margaret following laughter from the pair at my question about her love of “Clash of Clans” and “Clash Royal.” “I have a natural born talent of playing Clash Royal. I was just born good at that game.”

Margaret throws a sideward glance at Grace. “She makes fun of me sometimes, but it’s ok. I’m used to it.”

“[We’re] not really the same in sports,” said Margaret.

“Yeah because she plays rec and I play high school sports,” added Grace, tauntingly.

“Also for clothes, I try to look fashionable. Most of the time, Margaret just wears pajamas to school,” giggled Grace.

“We’re not really apart a lot of the time, but when we are I miss having her to hang out with. When I’m alone I get kind of bored,” said Margaret. “Now since Grace has lacrosse, I’m home without her and it’s so weird.”

“This is going to sound so cheesy, don’t kill me Margaret, but it’s hard to go to sleep when Margaret’s not here,” said Grace.

I can’t help but to react with an “aww” in admiration, but the mushy twin love quickly came to an end when I asked them more about their differences.

“Margaret hates oranges, like she can’t even smell them, but I eat them, so sometimes I throw oranges at her.” said Grace.

Margaret explains how Grace cares a lot more about being messy than she does.

“Oh my God, yes!” cried Grace in agreement. “My side of the room is clean and organized, but Margaret’s… Disaster!”

The two girls are not your average set of twins. Their unique personalities guarantee that any time spent with the Akins will never be boring. Whether you’re caught in the midst of a dance party, or a conversation about their experience at a “Game of Thrones” concert, or even an orange fight, Grace and Margaret’s charisma and entertaining nature never fail to make a day with them, a day to remember.

“It’s so weird when people say, ‘you guys look exactly the same’. I don’t think that there’s resemblance at all,” Margaret said.

“But sometimes in pictures, I’m like ‘Oh my God, I look exactly like Margaret in this’,” Grace added.

We always joke about how the two could’ve been switched at birth because it’s so hard to tell them apart in their baby pictures.

“Grace and Margaret are the most genuinely kind and trusting people you will find,” sophomore Lila Washa said. “They will always be there for you no matter what and they never fail to make you smile. They have so much love to spread, no matter who you are.”

The two, despite their differences, are always there for each other and were born as automatic best friends. Their unique personalities, infectious smiles, amazing senses of humor, and their overall love and kindness for everyone they come in contact with are some of the many things that Grace and Margaret have in common.