“Since forever. Haven’t you heard me talk about the documentary I want to make about British crime writers?” Ollie shrugs. “I talk about it all the time!”

“No, you don’t!” But I can’t help laughing.

“And who isn’t dying to try some authentic bangers and mash? Because me. I am.”

I smile, giving him a peck on the cheek before reminding him to work on his film reel for NYU. Then I go, returning to my room. On my tablet, I pull up my college essay, the one I started that was all about Levi, and really not suitable as a personal statement at all. I begin again, this time giving it a title. A little pretentious, I know, but I have a point to make. The title helps with that.

The Case for Clones

The first time I met a clone, I was mourning the death of my best friend, Oliver. At the time, I cared about little else besides my grief. That’s when I met Levi—Oliver’s exact DNA copy.

I wanted to hate Levi. I wanted to blame him for having Ollie’s face. It was more than that; I wanted to blame him for existing. Even though it wasn’t his fault he looked just like Oliver. It certainly wasn’t his doing; he was created from cells in a test tube, much like many babies are created and gestated these days, via fertility treatments and artificial wombs. No, it was not Levi’s fault that he looked just like the friend I missed, on a cellular level. Still, I couldn’t forgive him for doing something he had no control over—wearing my best friend’s face.

Then something happened. I got to know Levi. I got to know the boy behind the face. The boy who was kind and thoughtful and cleverer than anyone I’d ever met. He wasn’t perfect; far from it. He could also be aloof and frustrating and sarcastic. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t some perfect specimen who always did or said the right thing. He was human.

He was also completely different from my friend Oliver, in every way that counted. He had hard edges where Oliver was soft. His words could bite, while Oliver’s had usually comforted. Levi also knew pain that Ollie never did. He knew suffering, and he was strong because of it.

I realize now that I judged Levi—pre-judged him—and how unfair that was. Because little did I know that nearly eight months later, I would receive news that would change everything. Change the way I saw myself.