When Double Take Is Aptly Named

(My younger sister and I are both attending college at the same time, and this semester we have different classes with the same psychology professor back-to-back. The professor is known to have a good sense of humor, so the two of us decide to prank him, since we look enough alike to be mistaken for one another despite our age difference. For my sister’s class, I walk in and sit in the seat she usually sits in, and am wearing the cat-ear hat she usually wears.)

Professor: *taking attendance* “[Sister]?”

Me: “Present!”

(It actually works, despite the fact we both sit in the front row in our respective classes and he’s spoken to both of us often enough, and despite my sister’s classmates all looking at me oddly. I sit through my sister’s entire class and take notes for her, while she listens in from the hallway. At the end of class, I walk out, and my sister walks in for my class, her hair down like I usually wear mine, and she sits in my usual seat while I get comfortable in the hallway to eavesdrop.)

Professor: *again taking attendance* “[My Name]?”

Sister: “Here!”

(It works again! She goes through my class taking notes for me while I listen to the lecture from outside. After class is over, she waits to talk to the professor and I walk in to chat with her while the professor talks to one of my classmates about the homework assignment.)

Professor: *after finishing with my classmate, looks up to talk to my sister* “Okay, so, [My Name]—”

(He stops dead seeing us standing side by side, me in the cat ears and my sister with her hair down, both of us grinning like maniacs while trying not to dissolve into a fit of giggles at the stupefied expression on his face as the realization belatedly dawns.)

Professor: “…how did I not notice this?!”

(It later was used as an example in my class when we got to the section about memory and pattern recognition.  The following semester, I take the class my sister had taken previously…. and walk in the first day wearing the cat ears, and sit in my sister’s usual seat.)

Professor: *taking roll the first day* “[My Name].” *looks up at me, does a double take* “Wait, what are you doing in here? You aced this course last semester.”

Me: *grinning like an idiot* “[Sister] said to say hi!”

Professor: *realization dawns* “D*** it, [My Name]! You two aren’t even twins! How do you keep doing that?!”