I ASKED MY HOT TWIN BROTHER TO HID MY IDENTITY

My name is Olive Tatcher and for three years at UCLA, I have been living a lie. Everyone thinks I am just the short, invisible tomboy in the Literature department who sits alone at the back of Powell Library with an oversized hoodie and a messy puff. Nobody knows that Dylan Tatcher - 6'3, Business major, basketball team captain, and the guy who has been on the Top 10 Hottest Guys at UCLA list every semester since freshman year - is my twin brother. We did it on purpose. During freshman orientation at De Neve dorm, I told Dylan, "If people know you are my brother, they will only be nice to me to get close to you. So at school, we are strangers." He looked at me like I was crazy, then said, "Fine. But if anyone messes with you, the deal is off. I will tell everyone you are my sister." For three years, it worked. I was invisible and I liked it. I had three real friends - Tracy who says she never lasts more than two weeks in a relationship, Nilsa who wants to be a lawyer, and Winnie Kim. Winnie is the reason everything changed. Winnie is half Korean, half American. Her mom is white from Portland. Her mom was a backpacker in Seoul, fell in love with a Korean man. His family refused to accept a white woman. They spread rumors that Winnie was not even his child, even though Winnie looks exactly like her dad. They made her mom's life miserable until her mom chose to leave Korea and raise Winnie alone in America. Winnie grew up learning some Korean from YouTube, feeling too Asian for America and too American for Korea. When Winnie transferred to UCLA, the stares turned into bullying. I was in Powell Library when I saw two sorority girls corner Winnie by the printer. "Say something in Korean. Say kimchi!" Winnie's hands were shaking. I walked straight up to them. "Leave her alone." They left, but one said, "You will regret standing up for her, tomboy." The next day, they trapped me in an empty lecture hall in Royce Hall. They pushed my books off the desk. Outside, Winnie was banging on the door screaming, "Stop! Please stop hurting her!" Her scream was so loud that Dylan and his crew - Luke, Duke - heard it as they walked to basketball practice. Dylan opened the door. He saw me on the floor. He pulled the girl who pushed me up by her backpack strap and said, "Do you know who she is? She is my twin sister. Olive Tatcher is my blood. Touch her or her friend Winnie again and you deal with me." Just like that, my three-year secret was over. By lunch, I was famous. Sesame Luther - senior, rich, Malibu mansion - suddenly wanted to be my best friend because she was obsessed with Dylan. And then Derek Thai transferred in. Half Thai, half American, 22, Architecture Masters from Columbia, richer than anyone. First week, everyone tried to talk to him. "Hi, I'm Jessica-" "Hi." "Wanna join-" "No." He became the 12th hottest guy on the Hot List in two days, but also voted Coldest Guy. Every Saturday, the crew came to our house in Pasadena to play PS5 - Luke, Duke, Tracy, Winnie, Sesame, and now Derek. Last Saturday, I fell asleep on the couch. Dylan took a feather from my mom's vase and tickled my ear. I kept slapping my ear in my sleep. "Stop... ant..." I woke up, threw a pillow at him. We chased each other laughing. Just then, the front door opened. Luke, Duke, Tracy, Winnie, Sesame - and Derek - walked in. I froze mid-throw, pillow in the air, hair messy. Derek looked at me for the first time and smirked, "You never told us your twin was... you hid her." I ran upstairs. Monday morning, I walked up to Powell Library door, heard girls whispering, "Isn't that Dylan's sister? She doesn't deserve Derek looking at her," sighed, turned to leave - and slammed straight into a hard chest. My books flew. Derek. Again. He caught my elbows before I fell. And this time, he said, "We need to stop meeting like this, Library Girl."