Author's Note: Last chapter Alice clashed with her mother, and met her neighbors Sav and Ali. It is now time for the entrance of the third and final original character, Odette...

I'm Slowly Turning Into You

Yesterday it hit me that I do all the little things that you do

Except the same little things that you do are annoying

In one of the pamphlets Odette had read at the hospital, it had said that amputees often had "phantom limbs," the sensation that the missing appendage was still connected and moving with the rest of the body. However, the phantom limb was never entirely like the original, as patients would complain that they were aware of its presence only when it was causing them pain, or when they forgot and attempted to reach out and grab what wasn't there.

For Odette, losing her twin sister was a giant phantom limb. She still heard her voice, saw glimpses of things that reminded her of Julia out of the corner of her eye. And feeling her presence so often, Odette almost forgot she was dead.

She would find herself talking out loud to her sister, as if she were still there. And sometimes, she thought she would hear her answer. But when she would turn and find herself alone in the room, she would burst into heaving sobs.

Like a phantom limb, Julia only seemed to appear to Odette in times of doubt. The Julia that came to visit her in the afterlife was the Julia who picked Odette apart. The biting sarcasm, the taunting, the backhanded comments..the Julia that appeared only when they were fighting over something important. It was the Julia that Odette hated, but to her, it was better than not having a Julia at all.

Today, Julia was bugging her sister more than normal.

This is not a good idea 'Detta. Tell him its not a good idea!

Sometimes, as awful as her sister could be, Odette knew she was right. It was easier to blame the manifestations of her doubts on her dead sister than to admit she was thinking the same exact thing. Julia also seemed less malicious when she used her sister's pet name. In better times, whenever her sister had started a sentence with "Detta," it usually ended with Odette lending her twenty dollars.

Fine. I'll do it.

If anyone had passed by, they would have assumed from the look on her face that Odette had a serious beef with the shrubbery. "Are you sure this is a good idea Bullfrog?"

He slapped a giant, meaty hand across her back, causing her to lurch forward slightly. "C'mon. Odette, darlin' we've been talking about this for months. There's no backing out now!"

She felt stupid for giving in to her sister's imaginary pleas when she knew he spoke the truth. They had been talking about this for months, that as soon as she was well enough to leave the hospital she would move in with her new foster parents. She didn't have anywhere else to go, especially after her own parents decided they couldn't handle her anymore.

"I know. I'm just scared as hell about Eli." Sure, he had visited her enough times in the hospital for her to know they were still friends, they had always been friends, even before Julia had ever come into the picture, but his parents were expecting her to offer some sort of "group healing in the home" program. Like they could be forced to get over Julia together. And if there was one thing she knew about Eli, was that he didn't need to be forced to confront his problems. He internalized them enough.

"Odette, you know damn well that we don't swear in this house. Now that you're part of the family you gotta abide by the rules."

Her sister started up again in her head. He's such a hypocrite! Call him a hypocrite!

No Julia!

Ugh! Come on 'Detta! Do it!

No!

You were always too afraid to do what you really wanted!

Odette sighed, only half-giving in to her sister, just to make her shut up. "Hell is more like a destination Bullfrog. You wouldn't get on me for saying 'Florida' now would you?"

"Well Satan doesn't reside in Florida."

"How would you know! You're not even religious!"

He turned to her and let out a deep chuckle. "I missed that sense of humor. You and Julia were always so funny without trying."

"Yeah..." Sometimes, because she only ever appeared to Odette as angry, she forgot how wonderful her sister had been.

Bullfrog put his hand against her back again, pushing her forward gently. "Stop stalling. You have to go inside eventually."

"Eventually, yes. But 'eventually' and 'now' are two entirely diff..." She stopped mid-sentence as the door to her new home opened from the inside. One look from him sent Odette running into his arms. They said nothing, holding each other tightly, as if the sum of their broken parts could bring back a whole.

Someone broke the silence. Herself, Eli, or Julia...she wasn't sure. But she knew she heard someone say it.

"I missed you."

Then something else came to mind

That was the mirror

It made everything clearer

That you're more beautiful compelling and stronger

It didn't take much longer

Just for me to realize I love all the little things

And the beauty that they're gonna bring

I dig your little laugh and I'm lovin' your quick wit

I even love when you're faking it

And it might sound a little strange for me to say to you

But I'm proud to be you.