Seeing double

Sophomores Rachael and Jessica Sorcher prove that two is better than one

As a child, watching the movie “The Parent Trap” sparked a fantasy in every little girl’s mind that maybe, somewhere out there in a world, she has a long lost identical twin. Now, this movie was clearly fiction, and Lindsay Lohan’s portrayal of a UK native sparked skepticism, but suddenly every girl wanted to have a built-in-buddy that she could always confide in.

Sophomores Rachael and Jessica Sorcher were two girls who particularly enjoyed the 1998 film, not because they dreamt of being Lohan, but because they identified with her. They are twins, fraternal, but twins nonetheless. These girls have been together literally since birth, and they know firsthand everything about twin-hood: the good things, bad things, and everything in between.

The Sorcher Twins has become a proper noun to Rachael and Jessica. They get called by their joint nickname often, sometimes more often than their actual names. When they were younger, Rachael and Jessica felt like most people looked at them as two separate people, but as they have gotten older, it’s easier to look at them as The Sorcher Twins.

“Most people, they know you’re twins, but growing up people are good about knowing your name,” Rachael said. “I think it gets harder as you get older into middle school and high school because if you have classes together people kind of group you as one person.”

To Jessica, not having Rachael around would be odd. She is so used to always having someone there; someone to talk to, to hang out with, to help out and listen.

“You don’t really realize that anything’s different because that’s just how you’ve grown up, we don’t know how it is to not have a twin,” Jessica said.

Having a sibling is a generally common thing. Being twins is different though, there is a special bond between them that is so different from the one formed between regular sisters and brothers. Rachael and Jessica have a younger sister, 9 year old Caroline. Many aspects of the twin relationship could possibly make Caroline feel like an outsider to her sisters. One thing that separates the girls is the large age gap between Rachael and Jessica and their younger sister. Another is the close-knit friendship between the twins.

“Sometimes I try to put myself in her shoes. My parents say, how would you feel if you didn’t have a friend all the time? It’s hard to think of what being, like, an only child would be like,” Rachael said.

Caroline thinks it is cool having two older twin sisters, and she seldom feels left out or alone.

“They are just my sisters to me, and it doesn’t matter that they are twins,” Caroline said.

Watching Rachael and Jessica and Caroline together, an onlooker would never guess that anything could ever separate the three girls. If anything, Caroline has only brought Rachael and Jessica closer.

Rachael and Jessica are fraternal twins, which means they don’t look the same. In fact, the girls really don’t look that similar at all. Jessica clearly resembles her mother, while Rachael looks just like her dad. Being fraternal twins has allowed them to retain individuality.

“I think that if we were identical twins it would be worse,” Jessica said.

The girls have cousins who are identical twins and when they went off to college, their sorority thought they were the same person and they both had trouble being their own person. The Sorchers are happy that they get the perks of being twins without the daunting idea of looking exactly the same.

Jessica and Rachael know that they always have a built in best friend

Though Jessica and Rachael enjoy each other’s company most of the time, they fight just as much, if not more, than normal siblings.

“I think we get along better because we’re the same age and fight worse because we’re the same age,” Jessica said.

The twins’ mother, Jill Sorcher, remembers times when Rachael and Jessica fought more often than they got along.

“When they were growing up, they would fight all the time, about everything,” Jill said. “They were together all the time, which probably encouraged silly disagreements.”

Some twins enjoy dressing the same and doing the same activities. Rachael and Jessica started out doing just that. They would wear the same outfits and do their hair the same way. They both played soccer and danced and later on they both played volleyball. As they grew older though, the high school environment encouraged both girls to branch out and explore new activities on their own.

Rachael gravitated towards the Glitter Girls, which is Blue Valley Southwest’s dance team. She has found a new circle of sisters in her sporting activity, and was the only freshman accepted to the team in the 2012-2013 school year. Jessica was drawn to tennis, and she was ranked No. 1 on varsity in the 2013 season.

Though both girls have excelled in their separate endeavors, there are still many things they do together. Rachael and Jessica are involved in S.M.I.L.E club and National Art Honor Society together, not to mention their activities outside of school, like participation in National Charity League.

Even though Rachael and Jessica have established their individuality, they still admit to doing typical “twin things” now and then.

“People laugh because she’ll be talking about something and it makes no sense and then i’ll finish her sentence,” Jessica said. “We’ll be talking about something and we’ll kind of be in our own little world and no one else knows what we’re talking about.”

College is rapidly approaching and Rachael and Jessica are conflicted on whether they will be headed in the same direction, or if they will part ways to begin a new chapter of their lives.

“I think we will go to the same college, but not study the same thing,” Jessica said.

Rachael has a different take on the subject.

“I don’t think we’re going to end up at the same college, we’re not going to go some place just because the other is going there,” Rachael said. “We have been together our whole lives and we can’t marry the same person or do the same job and I don’t think we are going to base our future decisions off of each other.”

Wherever the girls end up, they know that they will always be close, no matter the miles between them. After all, the best part of being a twin to them is the special relationship that comes along with being born at the same time.

“My favorite thing about being a twin is you always have somebody, a built in best friend,” Jessica said.

In the end, both girls love being twins. They know that they will always be there for each other, through the good times and the bad times. Rachael and Jessica are a great pair, and they really understand that though they are fine apart, they are definitely better together.