My twin brother learned to walk before I did. As legend goes, one day, he stole my Barbie doll, and toddled away with it like the devious kid he still is today. I crawled after him as fast as my little legs could take me and bit his diaper. Apparently, that was my way of getting payback? Yeah, I don't know either.

People often ask me what it's like to grow up with a twin. You have a built-in best friend. He is the first person I go to for comfort, and he's also the person who knows how to make me the most annoyed. One minute, we could be arguing and yelling at each other, the next we're singing loud, made up songs in the kitchen and annoying everyone else in our family instead.

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Having a twin brother is way different than having a twin sister. Talking to him about guys is just about the most awkward conversation that's avoided until the most dire of situations. He doesn't want to talk about emotions, whereas I could talk about my emotions all day. He stays out of any drama I have until he needs to come to my defense, and I am thankful for that.

I stressed myself out worrying about him when we were younger. We had the same teachers for a lot of the time in middle school, so I would always wonder if he had even started the same project that I had been working on for weeks. It was unneeded stress that I put on myself. He'd always get his work done, just not in the timely manner that I wished he would.

As we've gotten older, I've learned to quell that habit, but it hasn't been easy, and I don't think it will ever go away completely. Even while we are both at different colleges, part of me will often wonder if he's getting his work done and succeeding in his classes.

We've seen each other grow up. We're not one of those twins who can feel when the other has been hurt, but I can say that when he isn't around, it feels like a piece of me is missing. We balance each other. Up until college, we hadn't spent more than a week apart from each other. Even if he was up in his room and I was down in the kitchen, I knew he was around. College changed that. FaceTime, phone calls, and texts aren't the same, but I remember how soon we'll see each other again, and it makes it worthwhile.

For both of us, having a twin means having similar friend groups back home. We didn't have to put any thought into who we were hanging out with. He's the one person I can send random Stephen Colbert videos and text at one in the morning even if we haven't spoken for weeks.

There's also days where I text him and don't hear back for hours. But I will text him nonetheless.

I have collected a few gems of texts we've sent each other. This one is my favorite.

This conversation was anxiety-inducing, and now it just makes me laugh.

He is a star of my Twitter account:

He hasn't cut it in so long. It is ponytail length. Mom is not happy.

There was a lot of food at UMD's family weekend.

Obviously, first thing to do is listen to music and not talk to your family that you haven't seen since August. Obviously.

No matter how long it's been, I'm still pumped to see him.

Love you, Leighton. Thank you for being the weird goofball you are. Have a great semester, and I will see you very soon!