Continued from page 1

Two Cool

Friday April 30, 2004 09:25 AM EDT

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More reliable are reports of the girls' blossoming love lives: Ashley has been in a relationship with Columbia University quarterback Matt Kaplan, 20, for three years; recently Mary-Kate began dating David Katzenberg, 21, a Boston University student and the son of DreamWorks studio cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg. With the twins attending a private school in their hometown of Los Angeles and their boyfriends on the other side of the country, "it's been hard," says Ashley. "A long-distance relationship is tough, no matter what." In fact, Ashley and Matt "talk constantly," says Ashley's close friend Megan Hubbell, 17. "The second she's got a two-minute break, they'll talk."

Just don't expect either Olsen to make Britney-style declarations of virginity – or to make any sort of declaration at all on the subject of premarital sex. "That's like me meeting you for the first time and asking you about your sex life," says Ashley. "It's personal, and I hope everyone's making the right decisions for themselves."

Both girls are aware of the scrutiny they face. "As a parent, hopefully you can understand," says Mary-Kate. "You were 18 once. Your kids will be 18. If you can't respect us growing up, I don't know what to say. We are growing up." A generation of girls has grown up right along with them, amassing libraries of the twins' 47 straight-to-video films and emulating their style. More recently the Olsens have attracted a male fan base, a group that has been counting down the days until the girls turn 18. (There are thousands of Web sites devoted to the count.) On the MTV show Cribs last year, comic Jamie Kennedy even confessed to keeping a photo of the pair on his desk, explaining, "I just thought they were really hot, like, mini Cameron Diaz one, mini Cameron Diaz two." Says Riley Smith, 25, who plays Ashley's boyfriend in New York Minute: "I know guys that are literally obsessed with them. When I started I had a call from every one of my friends – 'Hook me up, dude!'"

The twins shrug off the attention in much the same way that they remain reluctant role models for the tween set. "They've been put on such a pedestal – I'd have shaky knees," says their father, Dave, 52, who shares custody of the girls with ex-wife Jarnette, 50. "They're not Disneyland kids. They're just real kids with real issues."

Media scrutiny doesn't help. "Those articles are sold in Wal-Mart, where our fans shop," says Mary-Kate. "Do you know how much responsibility that puts on me for something I didn't do?"