Odessa

Odessa had come with baggage. We all knew that, and we had all come to accept that. She was strong for a teenager, never letting hardly anyone past her guards and defenses. She walked with a limp that never quite went away. Ever since she crashed her car on Christmas after her 17th birthday, she’d walked with that limp because her broken bones never completely healed. She never completely healed emotionally, either, because she had also lost her boyfriend in the car accident. She was known for her fire and her Irish lilt. Living in Ireland for 12 years caused that, I guess. She missed the island nation terribly when she moved here to the States to get away from her brother’s psycho father. She knew what she had to do though to survive, especially since she couldn’t rely on their adoptive father, and her mother had passed away from a heart defect.1

She had sapphire blue eyes that were tinged in gold, especially when she was happy. There was one color that she had held in reserve for one person. Eighteen and she was in love again. She was still withdrawn, but Mark had definitely brought her out of her shell since her move to the States. She hadn’t accepted him at first because of her loss, but eventually she couldn’t completely ignore her feelings. Unfortunately, she was also pregnant with her ex-boyfriend, and she was going to have the baby. Thankfully, though, Mark had decided to fully support the baby. No one thought that Odessa could have survived another blow to her heart. She was a loving person, allowing everyone to speak before she made any judgment or decision. She just decided it was the right way to handle things. When she did talk, her voice was melodic, like a summer breeze whipping through your hair. It was definitely calming in a crisis. We fell in love with her that summer, and we weren’t going to let her go.2