I was attacked by a plot bunny. There are several directions this could go (rating subject to change)
In this case 'OC' stands for 'other character' because Charlotte Jane wasn't an option (and isn't mine)
When Alexis was five, she had an imaginary friend. A friend who was there but wasn't, who only she could see, and who only she could hear.
The girl was five, with blond curls that bounced whenever she moved, and didn't get tangled when she slept. For the first two weeks she didn't talk at all, only followed Alexis around with a wide-eyed expression of shock, like she didn't understand what was going on either. At first Alexis was scared and tried to hide from her, but when she ran the girl began to cry, and she didn't like that at all.
"Are you all right?" Alexis asked on the third day, because no one else had bothered. "Where's your mommy and daddy?"
The girl bit her lip and closed her eyes, and between one blink and the next, she disappeared.
"Ghosts aren't real." Were the first words out of Alexis' mouth, when she reappeared the next day at breakfast.
Dad blinked at her from over his cup of coffee. "What makes you say that?" he asked, and Alexis didn't bother to tell him that she hadn't been talking to him.
On the fifth day, she asked the girl what her name was, but was again met by silence. By the end of the first week, she decided that maybe what the girl needed was for someone to take care of her, just like Dad did sometimes.
"You can be my sister, if you want." She offered. "That way you can live with me forever."
The girl smiled shyly, and didn't disappear.
"What are you doing?" Dad asked two days later, when he found them playing with the new Star Wars action figures.
"Playing with my friend." Alexis said, like it was obvious. Because it was. The blonde girl watched him, her head tilted to the side.
"Oh yeah? What's your friend's name?"
"I don't know, she won't tell me. She doesn't talk. Do you want to play? You can be Han Solo."
"I would be honored." Dad said, and that was that.
On day twelve Alexis woke up to find her new friend staring down at her. She looked troubled, and had a light frown on her face, but when Alexis asked what the matter was, she only smiled, and pointed to the door. They went down to breakfast together, but when Alexis tried to return to her room to get dressed, the girl reached out and grabbed her, her brow furrowed in something that could have been fear.
"But I need to get dressed!" she tried to pull away, but the girl had started to cry again. "Let go, why are you crying?" The girl's fingers were cool on her skin, and somehow solid but not. Alexis knew that if she pulled hard enough, her arm would pass straight through.
There was movement on the stairs, and the girl let go, still crying, and disappeared. Alexis turned to see her dad standing there, an expression of confusion on his face.
"Alexis? Who were you talking to?"
"My friend. She was crying." This bothered her immensely, because she didn't know why and she couldn't do anything about it.
"Is this your friend who doesn't have a name?" Dad came slowly down the stairs, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He had probably been up late, writing.
"She has a name, but she won't tell me! I don't know why she was crying." Alexis felt a bit like crying herself. Dad must have seen this, because he jumped the last steps and swept her into a hug.
"Well we know just the thing for that, don't we?"
"We do?" She asked, her voice muffled.
"Of course! Pancakes, that's what. Those'll cheer anyone up."
They made pancakes, and when Alexis set three plates, Dad loaded all of them with enough fluffy goodness to last the entire day. When they left for kindergarten, they left the third plate untouched, waiting for when the blonde girl returned.
She was standing over it when Alexis walked through the door that evening. Dad went to his office, and she walked to where her friend was staring down at the still untouched plate. She was smiling.
"Do you like it?" Alexis asked in a whisper. "We made them for you. See the smiley face? That's to cheer you up."
The girl reached out and traced her finger over the chocolates, and met Alexis' eyes. Her smile was shy, but happier than it had been before.
"My name is Charlotte." She whispered. "Do want to share?"
"My name's Alexis." Alexis whispered back. "And I'd love to."